The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim

In her first novel, The Story of Owen (2014), author E.K. Johnston blends fantasy, allegory, and young adult tropes to create an alternate reality in which dragons are not only real, but are also hopelessly addicted to fossil fuels. Aimed at middle to higher grade readers, the novel is the first in a series, following the adventures of a young man whose family legacy is dragon slaying – adventures told through the eyes and words of an unassuming teenager who becomes the dragon slayer’s bard.

What critics find most impressive – and at the same time most frustrating – about this generally well-reviewed work is Johnston’s extensive world-building. On her version of Earth, dragons have always existed and have always hungered after coal and oil, or rather, for their polluting byproducts. She rewrites real historical events from our Earth’s past in ways that allow dragons to play a central role – and the more industrialized the world becomes, the more the threat of dragons grows. Some places in the world, such as Michigan, aka “The State That Fell,” have already been entirely taken over by dragons. In others, mundane events like bonfires become daredevil stunts, liable, as they are, to attract flying monsters. The idea that the more fossil fuels the world uses, the more people will die in dragon attacks, is an often salient metaphor for the ways humans have contributed to climate change on a large scale.

Rather than finding alternate power sources, Johnston’s world has responded to the dragon problem by elevating the profession of dragon slaying. When dragons are killed improperly, they spew poison that is so toxic it renders the surrounding area uninhabitable. This is why only sword-wielding slayers who can deliver very precise strikes can take out dragons, rather than bombs or other modern weaponry (according to frustrated readers, this doesn’t really answer the question of why snipers or drones couldn’t be used). After the oil-rich Middle East was threatened, slayers were expected to spend several years in the mandatory Oil Watch, where they would hone their skills in the world’s service. At first, every town or village would have its own slayer. However, now, large cities, corporations, and other important entities hire the best dragon slayers as protectors, which means that less populous areas are left unprotected.



The Ontario, Canada, village of Trondheim is one such unprotected small town – that is, until the Thorskard family relocates there. One of the world’s most famous dragon slayers is Lottie Thorskard, a ferocious warrior who retires after being injured on the job. She moves to Trondheim with her wife, Hannah, her brother, Aodhan, and Aodhan’s teenage son, Owen. Because Aodhan is often away fighting dragons, Lottie and Hannah have taken Owen under their wing and are preparing him for life in the family business – he, too, is expected to become a dragon slayer, and hopes are high that he will be one of the greats. Secretly, Lottie’s idea is to rekindle the notion of the hometown slayer – the local hero.

In the meantime, though, Owen starts high school in Trondheim. On his first day, he meets Siobhan McQuaid, a history-loving, nerdy girl who is the only person who doesn’t seem bowled over by Owen’s fame. Her real passion is music, which she hears in every sound and which infects her every thought. After she is assigned to be Owen’s math tutor, the two become good friends. Seizing the opportunity, Lottie approaches Siobhan with an idea: she should become Owen’s bard – an important role that will allow her to tell the world about his deeds. However, what she will really be doing is using her music and stories to teach the populace how to conduct themselves during a dragon attack: “Get in your darn shelter; don't stand there with your iPhone, distracting the dragon slayer while you try to get some good video.”

The rest of the novel focuses on Owen and Siobhan’s encounters with dragons and the larger question of how myths are formed. We watch this happen when Siobhan interrupts her own dramatic narration of an event to say, "but that's not what happened at all," showing us the process of reshaping reality into story. In this case, Siobhan is working under Lottie’s seemingly positive influence – but it is easy to see how the exact same actions could lead to drastic results in someone else’s hands.



Together with a few other committed classmates, including popular Sadie who might end up being Owen’s romantic interest, Owen and Siobhan start up a local Dragon Guards, and not a moment too soon: for some reason, dragon attacks around the town have been increasing exponentially. The town’s amateur historian, Mr. Carmichael, tells the group that many thousands of dragons are about to hatch on nearby Manitoulin Island. After researching the area, Owen and Siobhan convince townspeople that the danger is real. They draw up a variety of plans, and Owen and Siobhan lead the group to the forest nesting grounds that Mr. Carmichael warned them about.

Discovering an enormous cache of dragon eggs, they enact their daring plan: setting the nests on fire in order to destroy the eggs before they hatch. At first, this seems to be working, but of course, any large fire carries with it extreme danger – dragons will smell the carbon fumes and fly in. When all the eggs catch, the conflagration ends with a tremendous explosion, and an enormous dragon descends on Owen and Siobhan. It makes for Owen, who is clearly about to die, when Siobhan stops being a sidekick and becomes a hero in her own right by diving at the dragon with her sword. She succeeds in saving Owen, but is badly wounded by the fire. Owen has to break her burned fingers to detach them from the super-heated sword. Despite the fact that she survives, she suffers a grievous loss: she is no longer able to play music.

The novel ends with a glimpse of what is to come in the next volume of Owen and Siobhan’s adventures: he is now old enough to serve in the Oil Watch, and she will come with him.