If you know Dickens’ original you have a pretty good idea of how this all plays out. Those who are weak, in his view, will quit and those are strong, or desperate, will stay. In his personal ethos a Thunderdome-like atmosphere in the work place is desirable. He values money, and power, so highly that he’s prepared to cut the wages of his staff before Christmas, just because, and steal the invention of his best employee and present it as his own. The professor has abandoned his mother and sisters, leaving them to a life of abject poverty, after he’s stolen money from their business, fired the only honest help they had, and then went on to corrupt an honest man leaving him to be doomed for all eternity to be a Siapheg dragon a creature that encourages evil in the hearts of men. Anderson goes out of her way to drive that point home when he’s visited by the first Immortal, a stand in for the ghosts of lore. Like Scrooge before him he’s a despicable human. But she handles her duties expertly and becomes our avenue into a fascinating universe.Īt the center of that universe is Professor Langford. It’s clear, early on, she’s not one hundred percent pleased with her existence. She’s a Teselym dragon tasked with bringing balance to the world. We are introduced to a woman named Wylie at the beginning. Yet Anderson has come up with a fun, and refreshing take on the mythos. Dickens’ A Christmas Carol has been bunged through the remake blender so many times that it’s difficult to imagine anything new attached to it.
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