The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar by Indra Das

Publisher – Subterranean Press

Published – Out Now

Price – £31.83 hardback £3.98 Kindle eBook

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?

There is the experience for reading a fantasy novel and then being a fan of the fantastical. Stay for the adventures, the characters and the magic but also learning why we need to find the magic that doesn’t (well still yet to find it) exist. A world of stories that speak to us and perhaps offer us some colour in a sometimes cold and boring world. In the Indra Das’ excellent novella The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar we meet a young fantasy fan in growing up in 1980-90s Calcutta and as well as learning the joys of growing up is also constantly on the cusp of seeing the magic his family is so hard to hide from him.

Ru (short for Ruel) George is an outside in Calcutta. His family has no background, religion or history he is aware of. Quite unusual in an Indian city where everyone belongs to somewhere. Teased by classmates he can only make up tales of how his family were famed dragon-killers. His father has imbued Ru with a great love of classical fantasy and Ru loves the idea of magic being around. But his actions make his parent worry for him; and he is brought to be taught at home. Ru gets images of his family’s other life, their love of dragons and being in a strange symbiotic relationship caring for them but he always forgets. As Ru finally makes a friend, he treads between the two worlds, but will he ever get a chance to join them up?

This is a beautiful flowing read. The adult Ru is looking back at his life with an adult’s perspective so while we have young central character, the themes are very much looking back and reflecting on growing up. It creates tale I suspect many fantasy fans will connect with and on top of that Das brings such intricate use of language making a flowing colourful tale that soars and swoops with emotion just as much as the dragons we glimpse through Ru’s dreamlike encounters with them.

The theme of Ru as an outside is central. He is viewed as an immigrant by his fellow young students and the causal cruelty of kids and the need to for Ru to prove themselves with either using fists or telling smart stories may also strike a chord with many a school outsider. Ru is very much not allowed to know where he came from as his parents’ fear that could harm him, so we have someone cut off from the modern world and not able to know where they fit. Teenage isolation again many may feel and finally when Ru meets Alice another young immigrant in the city they bond over music, fantasy and find that things all teenagers want -  a life of their own (and perhaps they could find something more). It’s a beautifully accurate feeling of growing up, being awkward and learning the steps to becoming an adult.

But its also a tale of being a lover of fantasy. Ru being named Ruel is just one of many nods to classic tales that readers will spot. Ru got this via their father who got his love of fantasy from an American Vietnam vet turned Hippie. The father and son love of the world is very wonderfully done with a mention of the first viewing of a Lord of the Rings film many fellow geeks will respond to, and a fun look at the world of fantasy publishing that will equally raise a smile or two. Fantasy colours how Ru sees the world and fills a gap they’re aware of and it also becomes a bond with Alice. In an isolated childhood it is a saving grace.

But this is not a tale just of reality we also get Ru’s family being secrete Dragoners and the story’s magical elements are beautifully realised. We get interludes into their life tending dragons in plants and aquariums; the strange ways dragons help food and the results it has on the eaters and then the more personal glimpses of Ru’s family past that brought them to our world and also the family’s much more nuanced views on gender and sexuality that signify a different view of the world that opens up Ru’s late 20th century perspectives. Ru’s bonding with his grandmother and her insights into the past give him finally some answers but will it be enough. That blend of the human and the fantastical work powerfully in this story to represent the two sides of Ru’s life swirling around him just barely touching and rarely crossing until the final very powerful chapters on love and loss.

The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar is a story that captivates the reader through creating a familiar tale of growing up; learning to look for the magic in the world and finding it either that be through books, friendship or actual magic in the next room. Its wonderfully human, bittersweet and heart-warming all at the same time and was a splendid read and moment of thoughtfulness fantasy fans will love to pick up. Strongly recommended!