R. A. MacAvoy
Tea with the Black Dragon (1999)
Author: R. A. MacAvoy
Genre: Fantasy
Plot Summary:
Ms. Macnamara is summoned to San Francisco by her daughter Elizabeth, but before her meeting with her daughter she meets the most intriguing man she has met in her life in a mister Mayland Long. When Ms. Macnamara finds that Liz is missing Mr. Long offers his services to help find her. In the course of the finding Liz, Ms. Macnamara is kidnapped and held for ransom by the thugs that Liz has been working for. After finding Liz and discovering the plot against Ms. Macnamara Long is on his way again to save her and almost gets killed himself. A side note that the reader discovers, which has little to do with the plot itself, is that Mr. long used to be the imperial black dragon turned man.
Geographical Setting: San Francisco
Time Period: present day (1999)
Series: First book in the Black Dragon series
Appeal Characteristics:
It is hard to classify this story as it has both metaphysical elements (Mr. Long is dragon turned man) and technical elements revolving around computer technology and programming and writing codes. True to the characteristics of fantasy novels the story starts out very slowly describing not only the physical setting, but also includes detailed descriptions of the characters themselves. It ends in a flurry of action sequences and narrow escapes, leading to a resolution many readers will be happy about, but still living some loose ends that are never quiet tied up. The pace is that of a mystery/thriller, very fast--unlike many Science Fiction/ Fantasy novels.
Read-alikes: The second novel in the series is Twisting the Rope (1986). An interested reader might also try Barry Hughart's Bridge of Birds : A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was, a similar read because of the treatment of Chinese matter. Brother's Price by Wen Spencer has a high level of romance and the metaphysical. Fool’s Errand by Robin Hobb contains romance, and a missing person. Scholar of Magic, part of the College of Magic series by Caroline Stevermer, involves magic, romance, and danger. New Spring (from Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series) is like Macavoy’s novel in that it involves a man meeting a woman that would change his destiny and a child who could have been a dragon in a former life.
Red Flags: brief language and violence
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