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The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar
Ru is a boy from nowhere. Though he lives somewhere—the city of Calcutta—his classmates in school remind him he doesn’t look like them, and must come from somewhere else. When Ru asks his parents, they tell him they are descended from nomads. But even nomads must come from somewhere. The question, forever on the mind of the boy from nowhere, is where.
Ru dreams things that wouldn’t seem out of place in the fantasy novels his father read to him when young. Fragments of a culture that doesn’t exist in this world, but might in another, where sky and sea are one, and humans sail this eternal ocean on the backs of divine beasts.
Ru dreams of dragons, of serpents impossible. Perhaps Ru remembers dragons.
Alone in a city that’s home but doesn’t feel like it, Ru befriends Alice, his neighbor from the nearby Chinatown. As they grow with their friendship, Ru finds that Calcutta may yet be a home for him. But with his best friend starting to realize that Ru’s house and family hide a myriad of secrets, the question haunts him still—where is his family from? Are they truly from nowhere, migrants to this reality? And if so, what strange wings brought them across the vast reaches of impossibility to here—and what is their purpose?
Ru dreams things that wouldn’t seem out of place in the fantasy novels his father read to him when young. Fragments of a culture that doesn’t exist in this world, but might in another, where sky and sea are one, and humans sail this eternal ocean on the backs of divine beasts.
Ru dreams of dragons, of serpents impossible. Perhaps Ru remembers dragons.
Alone in a city that’s home but doesn’t feel like it, Ru befriends Alice, his neighbor from the nearby Chinatown. As they grow with their friendship, Ru finds that Calcutta may yet be a home for him. But with his best friend starting to realize that Ru’s house and family hide a myriad of secrets, the question haunts him still—where is his family from? Are they truly from nowhere, migrants to this reality? And if so, what strange wings brought them across the vast reaches of impossibility to here—and what is their purpose?
95 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2023
About the author
Indra Das
19 books199 followersSee also Indrapramit Das.
Indrapramit Das (aka Indra Das) is a writer and artist from Kolkata, India. His fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in several publications including Clarkesworld, Asimov’s, Strange Horizons, and Tor.com, and has also been widely anthologized. He is an Octavia E. Butler scholar and a grateful graduate of Clarion West 2012. He completed his M.F.A. at the University of British Columbia (class of ’11) in Vancouver, where he wore many hats, including dog hotel night shift attendant, TV background performer, minor film critic, occasional illustrator, environmental news writer, pretend-patient for med school students, and video game tester. He divides his time between India and Canada.
Indra has written about books, comics, TV and film for publications including Slant Magazine, VOGUE India, Strange Horizons and Vancouver Weekly.
Indrapramit Das (aka Indra Das) is a writer and artist from Kolkata, India. His fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in several publications including Clarkesworld, Asimov’s, Strange Horizons, and Tor.com, and has also been widely anthologized. He is an Octavia E. Butler scholar and a grateful graduate of Clarion West 2012. He completed his M.F.A. at the University of British Columbia (class of ’11) in Vancouver, where he wore many hats, including dog hotel night shift attendant, TV background performer, minor film critic, occasional illustrator, environmental news writer, pretend-patient for med school students, and video game tester. He divides his time between India and Canada.
Indra has written about books, comics, TV and film for publications including Slant Magazine, VOGUE India, Strange Horizons and Vancouver Weekly.
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June 7, 2023Oh my. Stunningly lyrical prose here as we see the growing-up of a boy whose family show him his roots and deny them, making him understand and forget over and over. It's weird and haunting and absolutely immersive and the *writing*, good god. A dance of shifting identity and queerness and loneliness and connection, and how we consume people we love, and of course dragons. What a truly magical jewel of a novella. Haunting.
September 5, 2023
“You deserve to be real in this world. It’s not an easy thing to be stuck between worlds. But stuck I was, and ever have been.”
This book was like stepping into another world. A cozy magical word where dragons grow on trees, a tea of forgetfulness exists (I’m in dire need of that after work!), and cultural secrets are abundant. Essentially, it’s a story of being “no one” and not knowing where you come from to turning into something far beyond what you ever could have imagined. Something no one could have ever expected. It's also a tale of culture, coming-of-age, and magical realism.
“You will dream for weeks of worlds unseen, of serpents in sky and sea..”
The main character Ru is extremely relatable, and you easily find yourself rooting for him. You follow him through his struggles with cultural identity, facing racism, trudging through first love, and uncovering his family’s truths.
“Will you remember that? People don’t know anything.”
The ending to this beautiful story is so powerful as it defines acceptance at its highest level. This is a such an interesting read. Very unique. Ever wondered what a dragon tastes like? The answer also lies within this story! 🐲 🔥
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
This book was like stepping into another world. A cozy magical word where dragons grow on trees, a tea of forgetfulness exists (I’m in dire need of that after work!), and cultural secrets are abundant. Essentially, it’s a story of being “no one” and not knowing where you come from to turning into something far beyond what you ever could have imagined. Something no one could have ever expected. It's also a tale of culture, coming-of-age, and magical realism.
“You will dream for weeks of worlds unseen, of serpents in sky and sea..”
The main character Ru is extremely relatable, and you easily find yourself rooting for him. You follow him through his struggles with cultural identity, facing racism, trudging through first love, and uncovering his family’s truths.
“Will you remember that? People don’t know anything.”
The ending to this beautiful story is so powerful as it defines acceptance at its highest level. This is a such an interesting read. Very unique. Ever wondered what a dragon tastes like? The answer also lies within this story! 🐲 🔥
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
June 24, 2023
This is a sweet coming of age story set against the backdrop of 20th century Calcutta. Our main boy, Ru, and his family are refugees who escaped from their war torn home. At least that is the story his family told him and the one he told others.
It is definitely a cozy fantasy, so lots of tea is made and consumed. It has a soft magic system that borders on magical realism. However, it also reminds me a lot of "Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe". It has the gentleness and sense of self discovery of that story.
Also, if you are ethnically and/or racially ambiguous, you will feel seen. One of my earliest memories is being asked, "what are you?" over and over again. Ru gets asked that a lot, too. Like many of us, there isn't a straightforward answer to that question, especially if you don't really know what you are either.
I don't think this story is for everyone, but is is beautifully written and I loved the world building and characters. It left me with warm fuzzy feelings...and yes, maybe there are dragons.
It is definitely a cozy fantasy, so lots of tea is made and consumed. It has a soft magic system that borders on magical realism. However, it also reminds me a lot of "Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe". It has the gentleness and sense of self discovery of that story.
Also, if you are ethnically and/or racially ambiguous, you will feel seen. One of my earliest memories is being asked, "what are you?" over and over again. Ru gets asked that a lot, too. Like many of us, there isn't a straightforward answer to that question, especially if you don't really know what you are either.
I don't think this story is for everyone, but is is beautifully written and I loved the world building and characters. It left me with warm fuzzy feelings...and yes, maybe there are dragons.
August 4, 2024
«Ahora sabía que olvidar y recordar era un ciclo que había vivido muchas veces, una serpiente que se comía la cola.»
CINCO ESTRELLAS como una CASA (de grande) para “Los últimos jinetes de dragón de Bowbazar” de
Indra Das. Pronto (extensa) reseña :)
CINCO ESTRELLAS como una CASA (de grande) para “Los últimos jinetes de dragón de Bowbazar” de
Indra Das. Pronto (extensa) reseña :)
June 12, 2023
When I saw this announced I was excited. Reviews of Indra Das' previous book were intriguing enough for me to buy it, but suggested a level of graphic kink I wasn't really in the market for and ultimately I didn't end up reading it. But a new novella (my favorite length) with a gorgeous cover, and a more YA vibe seemed like an excellent opportunity to try out this author without diving into The Devourers.
Based on the previous novel's reputation, I expected queer. And a large part of the draw for me was the seeming consensus around the quality of the author's writing. And indeed, the level of prose here is very high. The storytelling on the other hand... hmm. And the queer? Not so much.
For queer rep, we get reference to one (magically) trans character, but they're dead before the story starts, so we don't meet them. There's also a bi character, but we're not given anything really to indicate the main character, Ru, is anything but straight and cis.
Ru is a very isolated child and unable to reveal himself to the few non-family members he does get to interact with over the course of the story, so that will likely be relatable to many queer readers.
On the storytelling side... for starters, I don't feel like I should be spending half a novella set in our world trying to pin down when exactly it's taking place. In the beginning you're given nothing to anchor it, then references to VHS tapes and Lord of the Rings (the books) pop up, but not till the character mentions seeing specific movies are we given enough to pin it down.
But the real issue for me is perhaps to do with the type of story. You're not going to find problem-solution, or much, if any, cause-and-effect linkage between scenes here. This is really a melancholy coming-of-age, slice-of-life type story of a lonely boy whose family are immigrants from a fantastical world. I sympathized with Ru, but I wanted more of a plot.
If coming-of-age, or slice-of-life is your thing, or a fantasy version of the immigrant experience appeals, maybe it will work much better for you.
Based on the previous novel's reputation, I expected queer. And a large part of the draw for me was the seeming consensus around the quality of the author's writing. And indeed, the level of prose here is very high. The storytelling on the other hand... hmm. And the queer? Not so much.
For queer rep, we get reference to one (magically) trans character, but they're dead before the story starts, so we don't meet them. There's also a bi character, but we're not given anything really to indicate the main character, Ru, is anything but straight and cis.
Ru is a very isolated child and unable to reveal himself to the few non-family members he does get to interact with over the course of the story, so that will likely be relatable to many queer readers.
On the storytelling side... for starters, I don't feel like I should be spending half a novella set in our world trying to pin down when exactly it's taking place. In the beginning you're given nothing to anchor it, then references to VHS tapes and Lord of the Rings (the books) pop up, but not till the character mentions seeing specific movies are we given enough to pin it down.
But the real issue for me is perhaps to do with the type of story. You're not going to find problem-solution, or much, if any, cause-and-effect linkage between scenes here. This is really a melancholy coming-of-age, slice-of-life type story of a lonely boy whose family are immigrants from a fantastical world. I sympathized with Ru, but I wanted more of a plot.
If coming-of-age, or slice-of-life is your thing, or a fantasy version of the immigrant experience appeals, maybe it will work much better for you.
May 16, 2023
I have literally been waiting for another book by this author since I finished The Devourers in 2016. Now having read this, I don’t even know what to say - I basically sobbed through the last third of it. I legit think it’s made me dehydrated.
December 8, 2023
Ru is a young boy living in India. He has no idea where his parents are from, what specific culture, what religion they follow, what area of India, or even his ancestry. But he knows about the strange, giant tree in the middle of the house and remembers his parents taking care of dragons.
Or...does he?
As Ru grows up, past and present collide with each other. His family's strange, mystical history comes to light in patchwork memories, including their care of dragons. Those strange dragons from another world of only ocean and sky. However, Ru also faces how he feels about himself and his place in the world as he grows. Those feelings get further complicated when he befriend Alice, a Chinese girl whose family owns the restaurant below Ru's house.
Ru wants to show Alice who his family is. But how can he do that when his parents keep giving him the tea to forget. He wants to ride the dragons, but he is too part of this Earth. What will he do?
It's been awhile since Indra Das published a full book and I subsequently read it. Das' last book that I read was the enchanting yet terrifying The Devourers, a raw yet poignant novel about the relationship between men and women and the unstable liminality of bisexuality, genderfluidity, and being between beast and man. The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar is a much more beautiful story that is far less visceral. A coming-of-age story that, in Das' own words, can really be classed in any one genre, it's a tale of struggles that is still endearing and hopeful.
First off, the prose. The prose here is absolutely gorgeous, especially in Das' descriptions of the dragons and the world on unreality that they reside in and Ru's family originated from. While this novella's pacing is a bit on the slow side, it's not languorously slow. It's just right to enjoy Das' prose and absorb the themes of the story and Ru's experiences. To me, it was evocative of Tanith Lee's fantasy prose. In fact, this entire book feels like a mishmash between Lee's prose, a Gene Wolfe unreliable narrator with memory problems, Ursula K. Le Guin's perceptive outlook on who feels belonged and who doesn't, and J. R. R. Tolkien's love of myth. Both The Lord of the Rings and the Earthsea Cycle are even directly reference in the book; The Farthest Shore is even quoted in the beginning of the book. Anyway, the prose more florid side being used for the dragons and the dreams and memories of Das' ancestral homeland truly give the feeling that they are apart of another, unreal world. The prose when Ru speaks with Alice and navigates his youth is a bit calmer, but still lovely to read.
These different tones in prose lend aid to Ru's character development. He truly a boy stuck between two worlds, two identities: a boy desperately trying to live up to his dragoner heritage, that his family keeps trying to efface because of his birthplace and boy going through the motions of growing up in India. One thing that did not feel like a divide between the two worlds was the presentation of gender. Ru learns that his grandfather was non-binary, though it never outright uses that term, and he himself, although he is cis, presents femininely sometimes, not objecting to be called "queen" or "princess" by Alice. When Ru is thinking and dreaming of the dragons and their world of winds and tides, he feels as if he's desperately reaching toward something he cannot grab, you can feel his desire to do more and his want to be more. He speaks and thinks as if he's transcending this world to be with his dragoner family members who have faded away and ride their dragons. When Ru is talking about his everyday life and growing relationship with Alice he feels more straightforward, though still no less personal. He feels like a boy who wants to do and say more, but either just doesn't have the right words for it or feels like the mundane, immanent world smothers him some. Ru is a boy full of emotions and the way those feelings are shown feel so real. I giggle at his funny moments, I got misty-eyed at some more heartbreaking moments, and I gasped at his most beautiful moments, especially his first kiss with Alice where he felt they were flying above everything, straddling the dragon's silken web. And what he did at the very end of the book, but no spoilers from me on that.
Alice was a good character too. Spunky gal who had a lot of heart to her. She had her own struggles that she was working out too. Although they weren't as major, to me, as Ru's, I like that neither Ru nor Das felt the need to diminish the importance of Alice's struggles or compare or contrast them to Ru's. Ru truly did care for her. She makes a good friend and foil to Ru because how she is completely in the "real" world, whereas his family still mostly views the world through their "unreal" lenses. Ru wants to be with Alice, but he knows they must live their own lives, have their own freedoms. Ru's parents and grandmother always talk about their dragoner duties and heritage to Ru, but make him forget about it by drinking a special tea. This creates holes and doubts in Ru's memory and in the narration, intentionally. At some points you wonder, "Are they really dragons despite the fantastic moments we see?" "Are they from another world?" I myself did wonder at some points if the dragons and the unreal they came from were meant to be a metaphor or allegory. Ru's family keeps him focused on the unreal world, while also repeatedly denying it to him. His father is optimistic, even if to a naïve level, while his mother is strict and cold, but not without a tender heart, and his grandmother He is truly a boy trapped between two worlds.
Let's finally talk about those dragons. The dragons' influence can be felt throughout the text, even when they aren't on page. At first, the on page presence of the dragons is minimal, they aren't shown too much and when they are it isn't on a grand scale. There's difference types of dragons, mostly those of the sky and waters, and we learn that Ru's family's role as dragoners is akin to being farmers. Yes, they bring some dragons up to adulthood and return them to the unreal, but some they do eat. Nevertheless, the tree in middle of Ru's house, which might actually be a great dragon itself, and the dragons in Ru's dreams and memories feel grander. I want to go back to what I said about the possibility of metaphor or allegory here; don't ask me the difference, ask Tolkien or C. S. Lewis (badum-tsh!). While thinking about this review, I thought of Le Guin's essay Why are Americans Afraid of Dragons? from Language Of The Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction. In that essay, Le Guin states that (not just) Americans, especially adults, are being snobbish about fantasy.
"They are afraid of dragons, because they are afraid of freedom."
I have no idea if this essay influenced Das, but Le Guin and Earthsea are clearly influences. Either way, the dragons in The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar, while still maintaining that base ontology that traditional fantasy has given them, are neither ancient, immortal or near immortal neutral beings as Earthsea portrays them; nor war machines as A Song of Ice and Fire utilizes them; nor are they either great, inherently wrath beasts or godlike beast as in The Roots of Chaos. No, the dragons in this little novella are something great and beautiful, not gods, though the religion of Ru's family and people is never quite fleshed out (but I believe that intentional), but sources of nourishment and life for themselves and people. They pets and guides that bind the unreal and real together. They are real and unreal at the same time--they are the liminality.
Back to Le Guin's essay, she answers the naysayers of fantasy's purpose, answers when they ask what the purpose of dragons (and hobbits) are. She says:
"'The use of it is to give you pleasure and delight.'"
Le Guin is addressing different issues than Das. Their audiences are probably different. Both use dragons though and both find something great and beautiful in dragons. For Das, and ultimately for Ru and those of us who witness his story from obscure beginning to an awe-inspiring end, the dragons of The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar reminds us that there is something more. There is some place for us even if we are on the margins or in the liminality. Whether you're immanent or transcendent, have feet in one world or in two, you have a purpose, there is a place for you. And a dragon will always be there, waiting for you, to take flight upon it, to swim between the stars, the dive between the iridescent webs, to suspend between sky and ocean. There is a dragon you must live and bound with to go to your own distant shore.
This was one of the best books I've read; not only this year, but in general. The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar did something I never thought it would do: it made me love dragons again, after spending nearly a decade of not caring about them anymore.
Beautiful.
Or...does he?
As Ru grows up, past and present collide with each other. His family's strange, mystical history comes to light in patchwork memories, including their care of dragons. Those strange dragons from another world of only ocean and sky. However, Ru also faces how he feels about himself and his place in the world as he grows. Those feelings get further complicated when he befriend Alice, a Chinese girl whose family owns the restaurant below Ru's house.
Ru wants to show Alice who his family is. But how can he do that when his parents keep giving him the tea to forget. He wants to ride the dragons, but he is too part of this Earth. What will he do?
It's been awhile since Indra Das published a full book and I subsequently read it. Das' last book that I read was the enchanting yet terrifying The Devourers, a raw yet poignant novel about the relationship between men and women and the unstable liminality of bisexuality, genderfluidity, and being between beast and man. The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar is a much more beautiful story that is far less visceral. A coming-of-age story that, in Das' own words, can really be classed in any one genre, it's a tale of struggles that is still endearing and hopeful.
First off, the prose. The prose here is absolutely gorgeous, especially in Das' descriptions of the dragons and the world on unreality that they reside in and Ru's family originated from. While this novella's pacing is a bit on the slow side, it's not languorously slow. It's just right to enjoy Das' prose and absorb the themes of the story and Ru's experiences. To me, it was evocative of Tanith Lee's fantasy prose. In fact, this entire book feels like a mishmash between Lee's prose, a Gene Wolfe unreliable narrator with memory problems, Ursula K. Le Guin's perceptive outlook on who feels belonged and who doesn't, and J. R. R. Tolkien's love of myth. Both The Lord of the Rings and the Earthsea Cycle are even directly reference in the book; The Farthest Shore is even quoted in the beginning of the book. Anyway, the prose more florid side being used for the dragons and the dreams and memories of Das' ancestral homeland truly give the feeling that they are apart of another, unreal world. The prose when Ru speaks with Alice and navigates his youth is a bit calmer, but still lovely to read.
These different tones in prose lend aid to Ru's character development. He truly a boy stuck between two worlds, two identities: a boy desperately trying to live up to his dragoner heritage, that his family keeps trying to efface because of his birthplace and boy going through the motions of growing up in India. One thing that did not feel like a divide between the two worlds was the presentation of gender. Ru learns that his grandfather was non-binary, though it never outright uses that term, and he himself, although he is cis, presents femininely sometimes, not objecting to be called "queen" or "princess" by Alice. When Ru is thinking and dreaming of the dragons and their world of winds and tides, he feels as if he's desperately reaching toward something he cannot grab, you can feel his desire to do more and his want to be more. He speaks and thinks as if he's transcending this world to be with his dragoner family members who have faded away and ride their dragons. When Ru is talking about his everyday life and growing relationship with Alice he feels more straightforward, though still no less personal. He feels like a boy who wants to do and say more, but either just doesn't have the right words for it or feels like the mundane, immanent world smothers him some. Ru is a boy full of emotions and the way those feelings are shown feel so real. I giggle at his funny moments, I got misty-eyed at some more heartbreaking moments, and I gasped at his most beautiful moments, especially his first kiss with Alice where he felt they were flying above everything, straddling the dragon's silken web. And what he did at the very end of the book, but no spoilers from me on that.
Alice was a good character too. Spunky gal who had a lot of heart to her. She had her own struggles that she was working out too. Although they weren't as major, to me, as Ru's, I like that neither Ru nor Das felt the need to diminish the importance of Alice's struggles or compare or contrast them to Ru's. Ru truly did care for her. She makes a good friend and foil to Ru because how she is completely in the "real" world, whereas his family still mostly views the world through their "unreal" lenses. Ru wants to be with Alice, but he knows they must live their own lives, have their own freedoms. Ru's parents and grandmother always talk about their dragoner duties and heritage to Ru, but make him forget about it by drinking a special tea. This creates holes and doubts in Ru's memory and in the narration, intentionally. At some points you wonder, "Are they really dragons despite the fantastic moments we see?" "Are they from another world?" I myself did wonder at some points if the dragons and the unreal they came from were meant to be a metaphor or allegory. Ru's family keeps him focused on the unreal world, while also repeatedly denying it to him. His father is optimistic, even if to a naïve level, while his mother is strict and cold, but not without a tender heart, and his grandmother He is truly a boy trapped between two worlds.
Let's finally talk about those dragons. The dragons' influence can be felt throughout the text, even when they aren't on page. At first, the on page presence of the dragons is minimal, they aren't shown too much and when they are it isn't on a grand scale. There's difference types of dragons, mostly those of the sky and waters, and we learn that Ru's family's role as dragoners is akin to being farmers. Yes, they bring some dragons up to adulthood and return them to the unreal, but some they do eat. Nevertheless, the tree in middle of Ru's house, which might actually be a great dragon itself, and the dragons in Ru's dreams and memories feel grander. I want to go back to what I said about the possibility of metaphor or allegory here; don't ask me the difference, ask Tolkien or C. S. Lewis (badum-tsh!). While thinking about this review, I thought of Le Guin's essay Why are Americans Afraid of Dragons? from Language Of The Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction. In that essay, Le Guin states that (not just) Americans, especially adults, are being snobbish about fantasy.
"They are afraid of dragons, because they are afraid of freedom."
I have no idea if this essay influenced Das, but Le Guin and Earthsea are clearly influences. Either way, the dragons in The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar, while still maintaining that base ontology that traditional fantasy has given them, are neither ancient, immortal or near immortal neutral beings as Earthsea portrays them; nor war machines as A Song of Ice and Fire utilizes them; nor are they either great, inherently wrath beasts or godlike beast as in The Roots of Chaos. No, the dragons in this little novella are something great and beautiful, not gods, though the religion of Ru's family and people is never quite fleshed out (but I believe that intentional), but sources of nourishment and life for themselves and people. They pets and guides that bind the unreal and real together. They are real and unreal at the same time--they are the liminality.
Back to Le Guin's essay, she answers the naysayers of fantasy's purpose, answers when they ask what the purpose of dragons (and hobbits) are. She says:
"'The use of it is to give you pleasure and delight.'"
Le Guin is addressing different issues than Das. Their audiences are probably different. Both use dragons though and both find something great and beautiful in dragons. For Das, and ultimately for Ru and those of us who witness his story from obscure beginning to an awe-inspiring end, the dragons of The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar reminds us that there is something more. There is some place for us even if we are on the margins or in the liminality. Whether you're immanent or transcendent, have feet in one world or in two, you have a purpose, there is a place for you. And a dragon will always be there, waiting for you, to take flight upon it, to swim between the stars, the dive between the iridescent webs, to suspend between sky and ocean. There is a dragon you must live and bound with to go to your own distant shore.
This was one of the best books I've read; not only this year, but in general. The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar did something I never thought it would do: it made me love dragons again, after spending nearly a decade of not caring about them anymore.
Beautiful.
June 10, 2023
Breathtaking. My heart hurts from how beautiful this is.
August 1, 2024
Qué historia tan íntima, sutil, tierna, melancólica. Sentí que estaba escrita para mí (si eso es posible).
«Las gemas de sus ojos quedaron para mi imaginación, pues los tenía cerrados, sumida como estaba en algún sueño profundo.»
«Las gemas de sus ojos quedaron para mi imaginación, pues los tenía cerrados, sumida como estaba en algún sueño profundo.»
May 20, 2023
To have read something that straddles the line between reality and fantasy, blurs it to invite the reader into imagination, asking only for a moment of belief, I feel honoured.
So what is The Last Dragoners of Bowbazaar about?
Ru, a boy from nowhere, is desperate to find who he is but his parents don't tell him. Except that he remembers dragons. Or dreams of them. Impossibilities become real in this saga of family, finding, love and longing as Ru grows up with his childhood friend in the city of Calcutta, floating through life still desperate to find his place.
From the streets of Calcutta to realities beyond, The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar haunts you as you read it, transportive and grounding at once. Indra Das' writing is impossibly beautiful. It makes me want to believe the impossible, to touch reality and part it to trust in his imagination. Haven't read anything like it.
And short may this novella be, reading it was an ethereal experience. I don’t want to discuss plot, I want you to experience it. It is so aching and soft and I felt seen for the first time as a South Asian enby who belongs to nowhere.
This may sound silly but in another reality, I hope Ru is out there. I hope they are happy and I hope they soar above the skies. I hope Alice smiles against their skin and I hope they hug their Queen tight.
Thank you to Subterranean Press and Netgalley for the e-arc.
So what is The Last Dragoners of Bowbazaar about?
Ru, a boy from nowhere, is desperate to find who he is but his parents don't tell him. Except that he remembers dragons. Or dreams of them. Impossibilities become real in this saga of family, finding, love and longing as Ru grows up with his childhood friend in the city of Calcutta, floating through life still desperate to find his place.
From the streets of Calcutta to realities beyond, The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar haunts you as you read it, transportive and grounding at once. Indra Das' writing is impossibly beautiful. It makes me want to believe the impossible, to touch reality and part it to trust in his imagination. Haven't read anything like it.
And short may this novella be, reading it was an ethereal experience. I don’t want to discuss plot, I want you to experience it. It is so aching and soft and I felt seen for the first time as a South Asian enby who belongs to nowhere.
This may sound silly but in another reality, I hope Ru is out there. I hope they are happy and I hope they soar above the skies. I hope Alice smiles against their skin and I hope they hug their Queen tight.
Thank you to Subterranean Press and Netgalley for the e-arc.
July 22, 2023
A haunting novella with stunning prose, full of mystery, and sadness. It's about a boy who doesn't know who is is. His family show him his heritage, then makes him forget, again and again, trying to protect him. It's about loneliness, identity, lostness, love, and finding oneself. Heartbreaking, joyful. I loved it.
July 21, 2024
Indescriptiblemente hermoso.
January 31, 2024
such a beautiful little story about culture and identity and the implications of being from both somewhere and nowhere <3
rtc ~
rtc ~
December 4, 2023
A lovely story about Ru, a boy who feels like he comes from nowhere: he's not from any country because his family immigrated from another reality that they don't want to discuss. The tale is a slow, uncertain movement through his life through deliberately clouded memories, covering the years from early childhood to young adulthood. The vibes and prose style are great, but I think I wanted a pinch more focus or direction; everything is in so muted and in soft focus that at times it was hard to really get my teeth into it. RTC.
January 17, 2024
Really beautiful. This novella is a coming-of-age story about being a gender-less immigrant from an impossible reality built around dragons. Told in the first person through a series of memories, there are multi-layered themes here about belonging. But it's also just an incredibly creative story, with almost hypnotic prose writing.
Ru is growing up in 80s and 90s India, but he doesn't belong. His parents won't give him any straight answers, and to the extent that he finds a place anywhere, it's with his new best friend Alice, who's Chinese Indian. Together, these two navigate growing up and trying to make sense of the actual world that they live in, and the ones they are naturally drawn to - mostly represented by Western sci-fi and fantasy media they consume, but also stories (or memories?) of Ru's family's land and culture. As with all coming-of-age stories, both Ru and Alice eventually have to make a choice about how and where they're going to live their young adult lives.
Like in Das's other major work, The Devourers, the main character is born male but presents at time as androgynous or female. (Which by the way, you should absolutely read THE DEVOURERS.) Reading about dragons in the visceral way this story presents them is fun enough, but I also appreciated that gender is done totally differently in Ru's home world. Mild spoiler on queer content:
It's pretty amazing how Das manages to blend the concrete details of Calcutta in a specific time period with the very speculative world of Ru's family. For some, the juxtaposition between these two might be too confusing. Similarly, I could see a critique that the plot in this novella is a bit meandering, and doesn't leave enough clues as to where the ultimate end is headed.
But that's for literal-minded readers. If you're comfortable with metaphor and poetry, you should be right at home with this novella. It's a bit like verse translated into prose.
Ru is growing up in 80s and 90s India, but he doesn't belong. His parents won't give him any straight answers, and to the extent that he finds a place anywhere, it's with his new best friend Alice, who's Chinese Indian. Together, these two navigate growing up and trying to make sense of the actual world that they live in, and the ones they are naturally drawn to - mostly represented by Western sci-fi and fantasy media they consume, but also stories (or memories?) of Ru's family's land and culture. As with all coming-of-age stories, both Ru and Alice eventually have to make a choice about how and where they're going to live their young adult lives.
Like in Das's other major work, The Devourers, the main character is born male but presents at time as androgynous or female. (Which by the way, you should absolutely read THE DEVOURERS.) Reading about dragons in the visceral way this story presents them is fun enough, but I also appreciated that gender is done totally differently in Ru's home world. Mild spoiler on queer content:
It's pretty amazing how Das manages to blend the concrete details of Calcutta in a specific time period with the very speculative world of Ru's family. For some, the juxtaposition between these two might be too confusing. Similarly, I could see a critique that the plot in this novella is a bit meandering, and doesn't leave enough clues as to where the ultimate end is headed.
But that's for literal-minded readers. If you're comfortable with metaphor and poetry, you should be right at home with this novella. It's a bit like verse translated into prose.
June 28, 2023
Oh, this is stunning. ARC from Netgalley. Review to come.
July 12, 2024
Una preciosa novela coming of age con dragones, familias escondiendo secretos y un protagonista que se me mueve entre dos mundos, entre géneros y que salta entre el olvido y el recuerdo.
Una preciosidad.
Las ilustraciones de Almudena son un complemento perfecto a la poetica prosa del autor.
Una preciosidad.
Las ilustraciones de Almudena son un complemento perfecto a la poetica prosa del autor.
August 21, 2023
5 stars, a beautiful novella about identity and where you fit into the world
I've been eagerly awaiting Indra Das's next book since his 2015 The Devourers became one of my favorite reads of that year. Luckily, this newest novella does not disappoint in any way. It is a mesmerizing and gorgeously written story of Ru who is the descendant of dragoners from another world. Ru grows up anxious and a bit of an outcast who struggles to fit in but finds solace in his friend Alice, in learning about his heritage, and in the fantasy fiction that comes closest to matching his feelings and heritage. In this way, Last Dragoners is a book that occupies similar ground to Jo Walton's Among Others but in that book I often felt just a bit of pandering in the endless lists of great books the main character read where Last Dragoners does a slightly better job truly selling Ru as needing to escape to fantasy more than just needing to list off good books.
If I have any critique of the novella, it's that dragons are almost completely absent from it except in a few key moments which is a bit of a disappointment but hardly enough to hold against the novel. I get that dragons function as a symbol of the world Ru wants to belong to more than as creatures within the story which is a smart choice for the book and works well at keeping the mystery of what dragons are like alive until the final pages.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves beautiful prose, coming of age stories, and is interested in themes of identity and belonging. I once again eagerly await what Das will write next and hope that I won't have to wait another 8 years but also won't be mad about having to do so if the next book is just as good.
I've been eagerly awaiting Indra Das's next book since his 2015 The Devourers became one of my favorite reads of that year. Luckily, this newest novella does not disappoint in any way. It is a mesmerizing and gorgeously written story of Ru who is the descendant of dragoners from another world. Ru grows up anxious and a bit of an outcast who struggles to fit in but finds solace in his friend Alice, in learning about his heritage, and in the fantasy fiction that comes closest to matching his feelings and heritage. In this way, Last Dragoners is a book that occupies similar ground to Jo Walton's Among Others but in that book I often felt just a bit of pandering in the endless lists of great books the main character read where Last Dragoners does a slightly better job truly selling Ru as needing to escape to fantasy more than just needing to list off good books.
If I have any critique of the novella, it's that dragons are almost completely absent from it except in a few key moments which is a bit of a disappointment but hardly enough to hold against the novel. I get that dragons function as a symbol of the world Ru wants to belong to more than as creatures within the story which is a smart choice for the book and works well at keeping the mystery of what dragons are like alive until the final pages.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves beautiful prose, coming of age stories, and is interested in themes of identity and belonging. I once again eagerly await what Das will write next and hope that I won't have to wait another 8 years but also won't be mad about having to do so if the next book is just as good.
June 17, 2023
A coming-of-age novella, with gorgeous, lyrical, lush, and dream-like prose. Set in Calcutta in a time spanning from the 1990s to early 2000s — there's a lot here that is familiar yet surreal. The fantastic elements are such that they could both be taken as literal or magical realism - a metaphor for the experience of growing up undocumented and queer.
It's all so charming and feels like a love letter to fantasy and science fiction classics. After this and The Devourers, I'll likely read whatever Indra Das publishes.
It's all so charming and feels like a love letter to fantasy and science fiction classics. After this and The Devourers, I'll likely read whatever Indra Das publishes.
September 7, 2023
Beautiful, heartwarming and bitter sweet tale of growing up and learning to love magic, being human and also loving fantasy. A gorgeous read
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
May 28, 2023
This is not really the book I expected, but it’s a very good book nevertheless. It’s a slow-paced coming-of-age, so suffused with magic that I hesitate to call it magical realism, but with a quality of prose and an air of unreality that the term probably fits.
The big adventures, the magic system, all of that comes in oblique backstory references. There is magic in the here-and-now, but so much of it is kept from the lead that it mostly serves to make him feel uncertain, pulled between two worlds.
At heart, this is a story about someone pulled between two worlds, not really feeling like part of either of them. The magic is vital to one of those worlds, but the character work, the prose, the coming-of-age…that’s the real selling point here. There’s a satisfying enough ending that I won’t call it “no plot, just vibes,” but there are gestures in that direction. And it’s very well done.
First impression: 17/20. Full review to come at www.tarvolon.com
The big adventures, the magic system, all of that comes in oblique backstory references. There is magic in the here-and-now, but so much of it is kept from the lead that it mostly serves to make him feel uncertain, pulled between two worlds.
At heart, this is a story about someone pulled between two worlds, not really feeling like part of either of them. The magic is vital to one of those worlds, but the character work, the prose, the coming-of-age…that’s the real selling point here. There’s a satisfying enough ending that I won’t call it “no plot, just vibes,” but there are gestures in that direction. And it’s very well done.
First impression: 17/20. Full review to come at www.tarvolon.com
November 7, 2023
Ru is a teenager in Calcutta. He is Indian, but his family is from...elsewhere. They're vague about it. They look somewhat Chinese but say they aren't. They say they're nomads. They also have dragons – or Ru thinks they do, or had, but the Tea of Forgetfulness they keep giving him make things a little jumbled in his head.
This is a charming tale that could be read as a YA (Ru's only friend Alice Chen lives downstairs) but is not necessarily written that way. It's a lovely homage to dragons in literature, with name checks of Le Guin, McCaffrey, and Tolkien. When describing the dragons and their environment, Das's language is captivating. This novella (119 pages) is a reward for anyone who wants a quick dip in dragon lore in a setting that is not normally found in literature.
This is a charming tale that could be read as a YA (Ru's only friend Alice Chen lives downstairs) but is not necessarily written that way. It's a lovely homage to dragons in literature, with name checks of Le Guin, McCaffrey, and Tolkien. When describing the dragons and their environment, Das's language is captivating. This novella (119 pages) is a reward for anyone who wants a quick dip in dragon lore in a setting that is not normally found in literature.
June 29, 2023
I love this story. A coming of age story done well. A unique spin on dragons. I love the book references. I wish it was long or turned into a series. I also like how it incorporates the idea of culture.
August 18, 2024
Maravilloso.
De estos libros que te dejan sin palabras pero con un sentimiento reconfortante dentro del cuerpo.
De estos libros que te dejan sin palabras pero con un sentimiento reconfortante dentro del cuerpo.
July 6, 2023
Rating: 3 stars
★★★✩✩
The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar was a whimsical and short read. It had the coming of age element and a mysterious history which was just enough to keep the plot moving forward. But what I think didn't work was that the book was too short. If it was longer and more clear cut. I would've liked it and enjoyed it a lot more. Due to it being a novella (which I daresay could've been better) it couldn't quite achieve what it was supposed to.
There were also random moments in the plot that just existed. Sure, it does help in the pacing, but it felt kinda off the rhythm for me. And what really bothered me was the lack of explanation of the magic/folklore. Reading the book felt like we were constantly turning around in circles (which we were) that was done to create the whimsical vibes, but unfortunately didn't quite work for me.
In conclusion, I didn't quite love this book, but if you like light-hearted novellas that take you to an alternate world without much hardcore world building, you would love this.
— Thank you to Netgalley and Publisher for the e-ARC in exchange of a honest review. All opinions are my own
★★★✩✩
The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar was a whimsical and short read. It had the coming of age element and a mysterious history which was just enough to keep the plot moving forward. But what I think didn't work was that the book was too short. If it was longer and more clear cut. I would've liked it and enjoyed it a lot more. Due to it being a novella (which I daresay could've been better) it couldn't quite achieve what it was supposed to.
There were also random moments in the plot that just existed. Sure, it does help in the pacing, but it felt kinda off the rhythm for me. And what really bothered me was the lack of explanation of the magic/folklore. Reading the book felt like we were constantly turning around in circles (which we were) that was done to create the whimsical vibes, but unfortunately didn't quite work for me.
In conclusion, I didn't quite love this book, but if you like light-hearted novellas that take you to an alternate world without much hardcore world building, you would love this.
— Thank you to Netgalley and Publisher for the e-ARC in exchange of a honest review. All opinions are my own
March 31, 2024
This book feels so real, and so present. Like as I’m reading it I could fully allow myself to believe that the events happened, are happening, out in the world somewhere. It does a stellar job straddling that line of mythology that allows for fantasies, and absurd fabulisms to exist, just outside of our reach. That even as we are trapped in our own rooms, grappling with our realities, there are others in rooms, near or far, grappling with realities we’d be so lucky to only get a glimpse into. Not to over-reiterate a dud point, but, like, I believed it. Fully.
July 4, 2023
This is a beautifully written coming of age story. Sadly, I also thought it was boring. Luckily, it was short.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an e-arc.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an e-arc.
March 1, 2024
4.5
"The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar" is a lovely, lyrical, heartwarming coming-of-age story with a relatable main character and delicate layers of fantasy. It was especially relatable to me, currently 41, as the novella takes place in the 1990s and early 2000s, and the cultural references brought me vsicerally back to my own "coming of age," although mine was sadly was lacking in dragon-y mysteries.
Premise: Growing up in Caluctta, Ru knows he is different from the other kids at his school, but he can't explain why to them or himself. He doesn't know where he comes from, and his parents keep things vague - they are nomads, wanderers, but from where? Ru has dreams...or memories?...of other things that can't be explained: a tree with tiny buds that open into dragons, a meal of a roasted dragon drake that turns into air in his mouth. With his friend Alice, Ru goes on a slow and open-hearted journey of self-discovery that introduces him to many possibilities and impossibilities.
The writing in this slim little volume is superb, and Ru and Alice are very lovable characters. The fantasy elements are oblique, understated; you feel like you are only seeing them out of the corner of your eye. And yet they transfuse the whole story with weird, skin-prickly magic.
I read "The Last Dragons of Bowbazar" for my #beyondthebestsellers challenge this year, and it is certainly proof of the joy that can be found in books that don't have all the hype or appear on all the buzz lists. I would recommend this book to any reader who loves fantasy or is fantasy-curious, as the mix of fantasy and realism makes it a gentle entry point.
"The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar" is a lovely, lyrical, heartwarming coming-of-age story with a relatable main character and delicate layers of fantasy. It was especially relatable to me, currently 41, as the novella takes place in the 1990s and early 2000s, and the cultural references brought me vsicerally back to my own "coming of age," although mine was sadly was lacking in dragon-y mysteries.
Premise: Growing up in Caluctta, Ru knows he is different from the other kids at his school, but he can't explain why to them or himself. He doesn't know where he comes from, and his parents keep things vague - they are nomads, wanderers, but from where? Ru has dreams...or memories?...of other things that can't be explained: a tree with tiny buds that open into dragons, a meal of a roasted dragon drake that turns into air in his mouth. With his friend Alice, Ru goes on a slow and open-hearted journey of self-discovery that introduces him to many possibilities and impossibilities.
The writing in this slim little volume is superb, and Ru and Alice are very lovable characters. The fantasy elements are oblique, understated; you feel like you are only seeing them out of the corner of your eye. And yet they transfuse the whole story with weird, skin-prickly magic.
I read "The Last Dragons of Bowbazar" for my #beyondthebestsellers challenge this year, and it is certainly proof of the joy that can be found in books that don't have all the hype or appear on all the buzz lists. I would recommend this book to any reader who loves fantasy or is fantasy-curious, as the mix of fantasy and realism makes it a gentle entry point.
August 16, 2024
Ru es un niño que sueña con dragones sin saber que su familia procede de otra dimensión. Pero no quiero contar más sobre la trama porque este libro merece zambullirse en su prosa poética sin saber qué te vas a encontrar. Solo diré que Ru es una versión melancólica y más madura de Steven Universe pero con dragones en vez de gemas y con una Connie (aquí llamada Alice) que nos va a romper el corazón para rellenarlo con una luz tibia y delicada.
Cuánto amor hay en estas páginas y cuánta soledad e incertidumbre provocadas por el desarraigo. Qué potente es que una ficción de fantasía lírica sobre dragones celestiales y un niño en Calcuta en los años 80 nos hable más de nosotres mismes que la novela más realista que podamos echarnos a la cara.
Cuánto amor hay en estas páginas y cuánta soledad e incertidumbre provocadas por el desarraigo. Qué potente es que una ficción de fantasía lírica sobre dragones celestiales y un niño en Calcuta en los años 80 nos hable más de nosotres mismes que la novela más realista que podamos echarnos a la cara.
April 20, 2023
This was a cute, quick read. Kind of a palate cleanser for between heavier reads!
It's not an epic fantasy or anything, but it's a nice little tale of a boy growing up and finding himself. I really enjoyed Alice - She was a treat and I was rooting for them. Hopefully Ru continues on and becomes comfortable in his skin.
This didn't play in to my review, but the book wasn't formatted well for Kindle. There were odd spacing issues at the start of each chapter. I imagine each character at the start of the chapters is stylized in the hard copy of the book which is what caused the discrepancy. It cause some lines to get jumbled, so hopefully that gets worked out before release!
It's not an epic fantasy or anything, but it's a nice little tale of a boy growing up and finding himself. I really enjoyed Alice - She was a treat and I was rooting for them. Hopefully Ru continues on and becomes comfortable in his skin.
This didn't play in to my review, but the book wasn't formatted well for Kindle. There were odd spacing issues at the start of each chapter. I imagine each character at the start of the chapters is stylized in the hard copy of the book which is what caused the discrepancy. It cause some lines to get jumbled, so hopefully that gets worked out before release!
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