TaxideaDaisy reviewed Tea With the Black Dragon by R.A. MacAvoy
Review of 'Tea With the Black Dragon' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Still lovely after all these years
Paperback, 140 pages
English language
Published Oct. 8, 2000 by eReads.com.
Tea With the Black Dragon
by R.A. MacAvoy
4 stars
(11 reviews)
Martha Macnamara knows that her daughter, Elizabeth, is in trouble, she just doesn't know what kind. Mysterious phone calls from San Francisco at odd hours of the night are the only contact she has had with Elizabeth for years. Now, Elizabeth has sent her a plane ticket and reserved a room for her at San Francisco's most luxurious hotel. Yet she has not tried to contact Martha since she arrived, leaving her lonely, confused and a little bit worried. In steps Mayland Long, a distinguished-looking and wealthy Chinese man who lives at the hotel and is drawn to Martha's good nature and ability to pinpoint the truth of a matter. Mayland and Martha become close in a short period of time and he promises to help her find Elizabeth, making small inroads in the mystery, before Martha herself disappears. Now Mayland is struck by the realization, too late, that he …
Martha Macnamara knows that her daughter, Elizabeth, is in trouble, she just doesn't know what kind. Mysterious phone calls from San Francisco at odd hours of the night are the only contact she has had with Elizabeth for years. Now, Elizabeth has sent her a plane ticket and reserved a room for her at San Francisco's most luxurious hotel. Yet she has not tried to contact Martha since she arrived, leaving her lonely, confused and a little bit worried. In steps Mayland Long, a distinguished-looking and wealthy Chinese man who lives at the hotel and is drawn to Martha's good nature and ability to pinpoint the truth of a matter. Mayland and Martha become close in a short period of time and he promises to help her find Elizabeth, making small inroads in the mystery, before Martha herself disappears. Now Mayland is struck by the realization, too late, that he is in love with Martha, and now he fears for her life. Determined to find her, he sets his prodigious philosopher's mind to work on the problem, embarking on a potentially dangerous adventure.
betty reviewed Tea With the Black Dragon by R.A. MacAvoy
Review of 'Tea With the Black Dragon' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
[a:MacAvoy|43835|R.A. MacAvoy|http://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1223870929p2/43835.jpg] is an author who seems not to write as a career, but rather because she has a story she wishes to tell. Some authors seem to be telling the same story again and again, and I do not begrudge them that: it's the story they're interested in, and generally they are good at it. MacAvoy, however, seems to write one story well, and then move on to the next, which is generally completely unrelated-- not to say she doesn't write sequels, but when she is done with a story, she moves on, and writes the next thing.
This may make her less marketable, but I have never read anything by her that I didn't enjoy.
[b:Tea With the Black Dragon|435415|Tea with the Black Dragon (Black Dragon, #1)|R.A. MacAvoy|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347649483s/435415.jpg|1261690] is an example of what is apparently now called Urban Fantasy, (I think? Is there an oversight body?), a fantasy …
[a:MacAvoy|43835|R.A. MacAvoy|http://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1223870929p2/43835.jpg] is an author who seems not to write as a career, but rather because she has a story she wishes to tell. Some authors seem to be telling the same story again and again, and I do not begrudge them that: it's the story they're interested in, and generally they are good at it. MacAvoy, however, seems to write one story well, and then move on to the next, which is generally completely unrelated-- not to say she doesn't write sequels, but when she is done with a story, she moves on, and writes the next thing.
This may make her less marketable, but I have never read anything by her that I didn't enjoy.
[b:Tea With the Black Dragon|435415|Tea with the Black Dragon (Black Dragon, #1)|R.A. MacAvoy|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347649483s/435415.jpg|1261690] is an example of what is apparently now called Urban Fantasy, (I think? Is there an oversight body?), a fantasy story set mostly in the here and now, with the impingement of the fantastical on the edges. Except that the here and now in which it was written is 1984, which makes it a sort of historical artifact, especially if you're me. (I was alive in 1984, but not a keen cultural observer.) It is a bit like [b:War for the Oaks|70582|War for the Oaks|Emma Bull|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1312059051s/70582.jpg|144029] by [a:Emma Bull|22548|Emma Bull|http://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1220945364p2/22548.jpg], another author who seems to write only when a new story comes to her.
Between the title, and the fact that there is a Mr. Long in this book, I don't think there actually is any way I could spoil this book for you, so I'm not going to take any great pains to avoid it.
Martha Macnamara is a middle-aged hippie, a musician who couch surfs her way across America. Her daughter is a driven computer programmer who has gotten herself into trouble. Mr Long is the interesting man Ms. Macnamara meets when she comes to San Francisco, hoping to help her daughter.
This book is in general delightful, but my qualm was the way in which Mrs Macnamara was presented by the book as somehow an exceptional spirit, the qualities of whom are evidently self-evident and overwhelmingly attractive to the titular black dragon. I liked her, and I think she would be the sort of friend one would welcome when she came and collapse in gratitude when she left, but the black dragon seems to hold her in much higher esteem than that, and the reason why was not clear to me.
Subjects
- Crime & mystery
- Fiction - Psychological Suspense
- Fiction
- Fantasy
- Psychological
- Fantasy - General