2004 "First Edition" stated; Harper Collins Publishers; hardbound with black ebony boards and gilt lettering on spine; very good condition, appears unread; dust jacket good with minor dings along edge.
Description -
The Saint of Dragons is a fantasy novel by Jason Hightman. It is his first book and the first of a series, the second of which is called Samurai.
Plot -
The story opens with a Dragonhunter named Aldric St George infiltrating the mansion of an ancient Dragon. The Dragon, despite his considerable age is still quite powerful and succeeds in killing Aldric's brother along with their entire party before finally being destroyed. As he dies, the creature mocks Aldric saying that he knows he has a son and his fellow Dragons are going after him.
The book then introduces the main character, thirteen-year-old Simon St George who attends the prestigious Lighthouse School for Boys in a fictional New England town called Ebony Hollow. He appears young for his age, has a crush on a girl in a novelty shop near his school and lives with the rather dull school caretakers. Simon has never known his parents and is treated as something of an oddity by his arrogant fellow school pupils.
One night when Simon is window-cleaning, (something he does as a favor for the school) he meets a somewhat deranged-looking man (who is actually Aldric) who claims to be his father and tries to get Simon to come with him. Simon refuses.
On Halloween Night, during a party Simon gets bored and goes out into a corridor where he overhears the headmaster talking to a man in a white suit who claims to be his father. The man leaves, leaving Simon feeling curious.
Whilst crossing a field Simon and some of his fellow pupils are attacked by some thugs who attempt to abduct Simon who is rescued by a man on horseback who is revealed to be Aldric and whom Simon recognises as the deranged-looking man who claimed to be his father. The man takes Simon back to his ship which is named The Ship With No Name. This is ironic as obviously the ship does have a name, that being The Ship With No Name, therefore its name is in fact a misnomer. Aldric reveals to Simon that the two of them are descended from Saint George the Dragonslayer and that Dragons are in fact very real and it is their job to hunt them down. Aldric is in possession of a book called the Book of Saint George...