First the disclaimer: Daniel Fox and Chaz Brenchley are one and the same person. I knew this when I bought the book, and am telling you folks before I say anything else about it. You don’t want to know why I felt it necessary to say that.

As long-time readers will know, I have been a big fan of Chaz’s writing for some time. He’s also a good friend. I am biased. But I have always felt that he was searching for something. Chaz’s prose can be very beautiful, but it can also come across as prose that has “style”, and there are a whole lot of readers out there who don’t want their reading to have “style”. (There are also lots of people out there who don’t want their cheese or their beer to have flavor. They are not right either, but that’s another story.) Dragon in Chains [buy isbn=”9780345503053″] is the first Brenchley novel where I think he has it spot on. The prose is still beautiful, but you don’t notice the style unless you are looking for it. And that’s the mark of a really clever writer.

As for the plot, it is fairly standard fantasy stuff. In a not-quite-China a young emperor is fleeing for his life from a military coup. He ends up on a remote island and allies with the local people against his enemies, against his domineering mother, and against traitors in his own camp. The good news is that the island happens to be the major center for jade mining, and in this universe jade has magical power. The bad news is that there is a dragon. No, correct that, there is a DRAGON. In the hands of someone else it could be dull. Chaz manages to make it feel fresh and new.

The sequel, Jade Man’s Skin [buy isbn=”9780345503046″], is now in the shops. I’ll be buying it.