Sharon Kay Penman’s Here be Dragons is an epic story that spans the latter decades of the twelfth century and the first three decades of the thirteenth. The characters are nuanced, and the sweeping family saga also explores the turbulent struggles for Welsh identity and independence. I loved Ms. Penman’s balanced approach to King John when it would have been easy to portray him as simply a villain. The story proves to be both a character drama and a study of the politics, culture, and society of medieval England and Wales.