All good fantasy literature touches the real world. In Lord of the Rings, the Dark Riders attack Frodo Baggins on a hill called Weathertop. Tolkien’s son, Christopher, has suggested that a real place inspired Weathertop, namely Dragon Hill in Oxfordshire, often visited by his father. Pondering on a new fantasy book, I wondered if a story could start at the real Weathertop. This story could be something to do with what the Dark Riders represent, in the sense that their nature is not evil in itself, but a diversion of something good, a desire for order, direction and security in life taken to disastrous extremes.
George Trellis, a young researcher and part-time teacher of fantasy literature, is at Dragon Hill when he realises that something is wrong. Scientists at the university, where he bumbles along in the English department, have developed a substance they call DRAGON, designed to counter the forces of breakdown and decay. There are, however, unintended consequences. DRAGON interprets any variety in its vicinity as something bad and broken. There is a manic tendency to conduct repairs on any messy situation and send all the individual elements in a single, relentless and ultimately catastrophic direction. Step forward George, our unlikely hero, an ordinary fellow who has a personality resistant to extremes. An exhausted science professor gives DRAGON to George in a sealed container disguised as a pen, and tells him to keep it moving. This serves to limit disruption to the surrounding environment. Meanwhile those who created a radical solution to life’s problems try to find a way to destroy it. A modern mythic journey follows, starting and ending at Dragon Hill.
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