The Legend of Saint George and the Dragon: a Novel

This is a new, novel-length retelling of the story of St. George from the Golden Legend; part historical thriller, part moral reckoning, and all hardboiled Roman grit.In late-third-century Africa Proconsularis, Gaius Georgius Cappadox, a young Roman tribune of the Imperial Guard, is sent by Emperor Diocletian as to audit the frontier district of Silene. His commission seems routine: inspect ledgers, verify quotas, and investigate irregularities in the new military supply tax. Yet when George and his aide, the blunt veteran Theodore, arrive, they find a city rotted from within. The local curator Severus, the civic guard, and even the temple of Saturn form a web of embezzlement, extortion, and murder. Beneath the veneer of Roman order, the cult of Saturn still practices ancient and evil rites.George’s investigation draws him into confrontation with the high priest and the corrupt civic elite. His inquiries expose ledgers falsified to conceal disappearances, a protection racket run by a gang called “the Dragon,” and evidence that stolen funds may be supporting hostile border tribes. When his friend and commander Felix is killed in the resulting chaos, George realizes that the corruption is not bureaucratic but spiritual. The cult’s rites are not mere superstition but true demonic worship.As riots sweep Silene and the high priest calls for a final sacrifice, George leads a desperate rescue. In a night of fire and terror, he faces the evil and defeats it not by steel alone but by invoking Christ’s name. The “dragon” is cast out, the cult destroyed, and Silene is saved.Framed by a modern narrative, the story is rediscovered in a London archive by a journalist invited into a secret fellowship within the Order of St. Michael and St. George. As he hears of George’s forgotten story, he realizes that “the dragon” still endures in subtler forms.