Prayer of the Dragon by E. Pattison - Book Report/Review Example

In order to be done justice, this book asks the audience for time. It needs to be read with patience like a teacup is emptied, sip by sip. A reader would never get to sense the magic incorporated by the author if he drinks it as a coca-cola bottle in one go. Particularly, the crisp narrative and ambiance need to be dealt with delicately. With more than 350 pages in it, the book seems a bit overdone, some passages in it are unnecessary though. The plot takes churns time and again. Right from the beginning, a reader gets the impression that the prime motive of the author is to solve the murder mystery, but then the mountain’s wonder and its centuries-old history becomes the focus of attention, thus making the solution of the murder mystery a secondary objective to attain.

Shan’s voyage is full of dangers along the Bon kora and the unknown certainty is just as mesmerizing for the audience as it is for Shan. One of the most beautifully written paragraphs in the book is here; Shan found himself scanning the darkened slope. He would have welcomed a conversation with a ghost. His first question would be the one that had gnawed at him since visiting the death site the first time when he'd seen the lightning snake and a portion of a little wooden figure. Why were these Tibetan things being done in non-Tibetan ways?

(Pattison 59). Several intriguing aspects add to the plot’s complexity of design one of them being Tibet’s political scenario and the tension between the unofficial regime of the villages of Tibet and the official Beijing government. Another intriguing aspect is the historical relationship between Bon and the Navajo and the way it draws certain characters’ motivation. Thirdly, the unexpected behavior of the characters is also strange. One can sense an Indiana Jones touch to the climax, yet the last chapter adds an adequate conclusion to the whole story.