Garden of the Purple Dragon
Encyclopedia
Garden of the Purple Dragon is a children's fantasy novel by Carole Wilkinson
, published on September, 2005, by Macmillan Publishers
. It is the second in the Dragonkeeper series and the predecessor to Dragon Moon
. It is set in ancient China, during the Han Dynasty
, and continues the story of Ping, slave girl turned dragonkeeper.
Ping is living on the top of Tai Shan mountain trying to raise Kai, the stinking baby dragon.
Chapter 2: A Bowl, A Bucket and A Ladle
Ping learns that Kai can learn to shape-change and turns into firstly a soup ladle.
They are living happily until one day, their goat is found with its throat slit. Hua is also found to be back on a red phoenix's back. Ping and Kai flee but they run into the necromancer. After Hua uses his newfound powers to hold off the necromancer while Ping and Kai escape. Ping, Kai and Hua are later captured by guards and taken to Liu Che, Emperor of China, and Ping's 'friend' who drops all charges against them. Ping stays in the palace and meets Princess Yangxin and the two become friends, and the Princess begins to teach Ping how to read and write, since she is unable to do so already. Ping eventually convinces the Emperor to search for any other Dragon Keepers, she hopes to find her family. She, Kai and Dong Fang Suo (Fatso as Kai had begun to call him) go to a village in search of the next Dragon Keeper. But they do not find Ping's family, instead Jun is taken to be instructed as a Dragonkeeper, Ping becomes jealous when Kai seems to prefer Jun over her. Dong Fang Suo attempts to kill by Liu Che's orders Ping but she survives and returns to the palace for Kai. However the Necromancer is there, bleeding Kai. They duel and Ping, without Kai, escapes to warn the Emperor who reveals he is in league with the Necromancer. She is stripped of her position as Imperial Dragonkeeper and taken off to be sacrificed. During the sacrifice, Dong Fang Suo (who later says it was the Emperor who told him to kill Ping), Jun, Hua and Kai come to her aid and they defeat the necromancer though Dong Fang Suo is sadly killed. While Jun takes his body away, Ping and Kai (Ping had let Hua go free with other rats) escape with Princess Yangxin, with the final destination of the Kunlun Mountains in sight. But Princess Yangxin asks them to come to the Duke's with her, and the two agree. Kai is nearly two by now. Ping is actually the dragon keeper and Jun is a fake.
Carole Wilkinson
Carole Wilkinson is an award-winning Australian writer, best known for Dragonkeeper .-Career:Wilkinson's family emigrated to Australia when she was 12 in 1963. Up to the age of 40 she worked as a laboratory assistant until she decided on a change of career.To help her achieve her goal she studied...
, published on September, 2005, by Macmillan Publishers
Macmillan Publishers
Macmillan Publishers Ltd, also known as The Macmillan Group, is a privately held international publishing company owned by Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. It has offices in 41 countries worldwide and operates in more than thirty others.-History:...
. It is the second in the Dragonkeeper series and the predecessor to Dragon Moon
Dragon Moon
Dragon Moon is a children's fantasy novel by Carole Wilkinson, first published in 2007. It is the final book of the Dragonkeeper Trilogy. The books before it are Dragonkeeper and Garden of the Purple Dragon. The trilogy, based in ancient China, during the Han Dynasty, has won many awards...
. It is set in ancient China, during the Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
, and continues the story of Ping, slave girl turned dragonkeeper.
Plot
Chapter 1: Black Dragon PoolPing is living on the top of Tai Shan mountain trying to raise Kai, the stinking baby dragon.
Chapter 2: A Bowl, A Bucket and A Ladle
Ping learns that Kai can learn to shape-change and turns into firstly a soup ladle.
They are living happily until one day, their goat is found with its throat slit. Hua is also found to be back on a red phoenix's back. Ping and Kai flee but they run into the necromancer. After Hua uses his newfound powers to hold off the necromancer while Ping and Kai escape. Ping, Kai and Hua are later captured by guards and taken to Liu Che, Emperor of China, and Ping's 'friend' who drops all charges against them. Ping stays in the palace and meets Princess Yangxin and the two become friends, and the Princess begins to teach Ping how to read and write, since she is unable to do so already. Ping eventually convinces the Emperor to search for any other Dragon Keepers, she hopes to find her family. She, Kai and Dong Fang Suo (Fatso as Kai had begun to call him) go to a village in search of the next Dragon Keeper. But they do not find Ping's family, instead Jun is taken to be instructed as a Dragonkeeper, Ping becomes jealous when Kai seems to prefer Jun over her. Dong Fang Suo attempts to kill by Liu Che's orders Ping but she survives and returns to the palace for Kai. However the Necromancer is there, bleeding Kai. They duel and Ping, without Kai, escapes to warn the Emperor who reveals he is in league with the Necromancer. She is stripped of her position as Imperial Dragonkeeper and taken off to be sacrificed. During the sacrifice, Dong Fang Suo (who later says it was the Emperor who told him to kill Ping), Jun, Hua and Kai come to her aid and they defeat the necromancer though Dong Fang Suo is sadly killed. While Jun takes his body away, Ping and Kai (Ping had let Hua go free with other rats) escape with Princess Yangxin, with the final destination of the Kunlun Mountains in sight. But Princess Yangxin asks them to come to the Duke's with her, and the two agree. Kai is nearly two by now. Ping is actually the dragon keeper and Jun is a fake.
Major characters
- Ping - Formerly a slave girl, although she is now the Dragon Keeper of Kai. She is unsure of her position as Dragon Keeper, but tries the best she can.
- Hua - A pet rat of Ping. In 'Dragon Keeper' he was fatally wounded and Ping sent him with Danzi to the Isle of Blest. He was sent back to Ping on the back of a red phoenix by Danzi in 'Garden of the Purple Dragon'. He has developed the power to shoot flaming spit balls from his mouth and his fur and eyes have become blue.
- Long Danzi - An old and wise green dragon, father of Kai and formerly in the care of Ping. He is currently at the Isle of Blest but continues to guide and advise Ping through dreams.
- Kai - A young purple dragon, son of Long Danzi. He is a young dragon, recently born and lacks maturity. He has the ability to perfect his shapechanging.
- "The Necromancer" - An evil necromancer who is in search of Kai and Danzi in hope to sell their body parts for gold. Forms allegiance with Liu Che to help with his search for immortality and dies when he is poisoned through the livers he implants in himself to increase his abilities.
- Liu Che - The sixth emperor of the Han kingdom. He is desperately searching for eternal youth so he can rule his kingdom for the good of all forever but this gradually becomes an obsession to live forever.
- Princess Yangxin - The sister of Liu Che. Formerly betrothed to Duke of Yan until she left him for another, disgracing the Imperial family and has been sent back to China. She has a mortal fear of rats because after the Duke of Yan killed her lover, he hung the man up before her and forced her to watch everyday as rats devoured him. Her palace haunt is the spiral bamboo pavilion.
- Dong Fang Suo - The imperial magician. He initially attempts to kill Ping but later helps her in the defeat of the necromancer.
- Jun- A boy that Dong Fang Suo and Ping meets when searching for the Yu family. He is said to have the Dragon Keeping skills claimed by his parents but later, he turns out to be a false Dragon Keeper.
Awards
- 2006 West Australian Young Book Readers Awards - Winner
- 2006 Queensland Premier's Literary Awards - Shortlisted
- 2006 Kids Own Australian Literary Awards (KOALA) - Shortlisted
- 2006 COOL (Canberra's Own Outstanding List) Award - Shortlisted
See also
- Carole WilkinsonCarole WilkinsonCarole Wilkinson is an award-winning Australian writer, best known for Dragonkeeper .-Career:Wilkinson's family emigrated to Australia when she was 12 in 1963. Up to the age of 40 she worked as a laboratory assistant until she decided on a change of career.To help her achieve her goal she studied...
- Dragon KeeperDragon KeeperDragonkeeper is a children's fantasy novel by Australian author Carole Wilkinson. It is the first book of the Dragonkeeper trilogy. The second book is Garden of the Purple Dragon, first published in 2005, and the third Dragon Moon, first published in 2007. There is also a prequel to the original...