Dragons' Wrath (novel)

Dragons' Wrath is the sixty-third Virgin New Adventures novel. It reintroduced Irving Braxiatel, whose first appearance was alongside Benny in Theatre of War, and depicts his first meeting with Benny from his point of view.

Publisher's summary
"Trouble?"

"What makes you think that?"

''"Oh, you know, the usual. Cordoned-off area, security guards swapping war stories," Benny said, smiling. "The fact that you're here."''

The Gamalian Dragon — a jewel-encrusted statuette captured by the Imperator Gamaliel from the Knights of Jeneve at the legendary Battle of Bocaro.

When Bernice Summerfield gets asked on an expedition by Gamaliel's descendant, Romolo Nusek, it is an offer her department can't afford to let her refuse. But, as usual, there are a few problems.

For one thing, Nusek is an evil warlord out to consolidate his power by any means necessary. For another, there's a body in the Theatrology building — and the dead man had an appointment with Benny's old friend, the mysterious Irving Braxiatel. Most worrying of all, the Gamalian Dragon, one of the best guarded and most valuable archaeological relics in known space, seems to be lying in a battered Gladstone bag on the floor of Benny's bedroom.

Aided only by Braxiatel and historian Nicholas Clyde, Benny must unravel the dragon's ancient mystery before the warlord's plans reach completion — and an assassin closes in for the kill.

Chapter titles

 * 1) Death in the Night
 * 2) Meeting People
 * 3) Enter the Dragon
 * 4) The Castle of Ice and Fire
 * 5) Dead of Night
 * 6) The Grave Robbers
 * 7) Fighting in the Trenches
 * 8) Departures
 * 9) Nusek's Gambit
 * 10) Model Behaviour
 * 11) Knight Visitor
 * 12) Death in the Night
 * 13) Breaking Glass
 * 14) The Historian's Tale
 * 15) An Independent Inquiry
 * 16) Knight Moves
 * 17) Teetering on the Brink
 * 18) The Dragon and His Wrath

Plot
to be added

Characters

 * Bernice Summerfield
 * Irving Braxiatel
 * Newark Rappare
 * Romolo Nusek
 * Hugo Gamaliel
 * Nicholas Clyde
 * Ferdinand Archduke

Bars and pubs

 * Benny drinks with students at the Witch and Whirlwind, the Garland College pub.

Individuals

 * Irving Braxiatel meets Bernice for the first time.
 * Irving Braxiatel is head of St Oscar's University Department of Theatrology.
 * Newark Rappare is Professor of Art and artisan-in-residence at St Oscar's University. He is an excellent art forger.
 * Ferdinand Archduke is Professor of Earth Literature, in the Department of Literature of the Milky Way. He is a specialist in Obscure Theatrical Forms.
 * Benny meets Irving Braxiatel for the first time (for him); however she met him in most likely his future on the Braxiatel Collection.

Organisations

 * The Knights of Jeneve a group of humans holding knowledge for the safety of all humanity, their saying is "Knowledge above all".

Continuity

 * This is the first appearance of Irving Braxiatel (in the Benny New Adventures). It is also the first chronological meeting of Braxiatel and Benny from Braxiatel's point of view; Benny first met him in PROSE: Theatre of War.
 * The Knights of Jeneve may be a descendant of UNIT, which was headquartered in Geneva. (TV: Spearhead from Space, et al.)
 * The Knights of Jeneve would later appear in PROSE: Deadfall.