The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
(But with Big Spaceships and a Small Dragon)

Blazing Reader,

I didn't think I was going to like this book about a boy and his dragon that I bought for my nineteen-year-old son, Jonah...

Back in December, with some reluctance, I purchased Storm-Dragon by Dave Freer as a Christmas gift. It's rated for ages eight and up — so I suspected we both might be too old to enjoy it.

I was wrong.

The novel has a delightful The Adventures of Tom Sawyer feel to it, but with big spaceships and a small dragon.

Tom Sawyer and Ender aside, I'm not a big fan of young adult fiction. I gave up halfway through Harry Potter (granted, I was trying to read it in Italian). I enjoyed C.S. Lewis' Narnia series, but didn't love it. And I've always thought The Little Prince was a little boring.

But Storm-Dragon had my son and me hooked by chapter two.

Now, the #1 reason I purchased Storm-Dragon was that it had been nominated for the 2026 Prometheus Award for Best Novel (as is my book, All the Humans Are Sleeping). The Prometheus Awards are for novels that promote freedom and oppose tyranny. So I assumed I'd find both the message and quality of Storm-Dragon to my liking — especially since Dave Freer won the 2022 Prometheus Award with his other novel, Cloud-Castles.

Next post, I'll share with you some of the novel's pro-liberty themes and explain why I enjoyed this far-flung Tom Sawyeresque adventure so much. Until then, you can purchase a copy of Storm-Dragon through my Blazing Bookshop.

John C.A. Manley

PS To see if Storm-Dragon becomes one of the finalists for the Prometheus Award, subscribe to the Libertarian Futurist Society's Prometheus blog.

PPS And, if you missed it, you can read "Please, would you be so kind as to spit my friend out?" (my review of How to Train Your Dragon) on Goodreads or my blog.

John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona, All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of philosophical fiction that are "so completely engaging that you find yourself alternately laughing, gasping, hanging on for dear life." Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber.