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Penang Chronicles #1
Dragon
Before Raffles, before Rajah Brooke, there was Francis Light, the 18th-century trailblazer in the Malay Archipelago.
The 18th-century Straits of Malacca is in crisis, beleaguered by the Dutch, the Bugis, and the clash between Siam and Burma. Enter Francis Light, devious manipulator of the status quo, joined by a cast of real historical figures from the courts of Siam and Kedah and from the East India Company, including Sultan Muhammed Jiwa, King Tak Sin, Warren Hastings and Martinha Rozells, a young Eurasian woman of noble birth.
From humble origins in Suffolk, England, Light struggles against the social prejudices of his day. His subsequent adventures as a naval officer and country ship captain take him from India to Sumatra, the Straits of Malacca to Siam, through shipwreck, sea battles, pirate raids and tropical disease. But Light’s most difficult challenge is his ultimate to establish a British port in the Indies on behalf of the East India Company.
Dragon, the first volume of Penang Chronicles, charts Francis Light’s colourful adventures in the decades before the settlement of Penang island, the Honourable Company’s first possession on the Malay Peninsula.
The 18th-century Straits of Malacca is in crisis, beleaguered by the Dutch, the Bugis, and the clash between Siam and Burma. Enter Francis Light, devious manipulator of the status quo, joined by a cast of real historical figures from the courts of Siam and Kedah and from the East India Company, including Sultan Muhammed Jiwa, King Tak Sin, Warren Hastings and Martinha Rozells, a young Eurasian woman of noble birth.
From humble origins in Suffolk, England, Light struggles against the social prejudices of his day. His subsequent adventures as a naval officer and country ship captain take him from India to Sumatra, the Straits of Malacca to Siam, through shipwreck, sea battles, pirate raids and tropical disease. But Light’s most difficult challenge is his ultimate to establish a British port in the Indies on behalf of the East India Company.
Dragon, the first volume of Penang Chronicles, charts Francis Light’s colourful adventures in the decades before the settlement of Penang island, the Honourable Company’s first possession on the Malay Peninsula.
368 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 1, 2021
10 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
About the author
Rose Gan
7 books6 followersBritish by birth, Rose Gan first arrived in Kuala Lumpur in 1978 and has been living and working between both UK and Southeast Asia ever since.
Married to a Malaysian, and formerly a teacher of History and Latin in Manchester and in Malaysia, Gan was also Vice Chair for Museums of the Indonesian Heritage Society, a guide and docent in Museum National Indonesia, Jakarta, and Muzium Negara and the Textile Museum in KL.
In addition to lecturing to cultural associations, Gan has been actively involved with museum publications in Malaysia and Indonesia, both as a writer and editor.
This is Gan's first published novel, from a forthcoming trilogy, although she wrote her first book aged eight. It took her another fifty years to create this series. There was a lifetime of travelling and living to do first!
Married to a Malaysian, and formerly a teacher of History and Latin in Manchester and in Malaysia, Gan was also Vice Chair for Museums of the Indonesian Heritage Society, a guide and docent in Museum National Indonesia, Jakarta, and Muzium Negara and the Textile Museum in KL.
In addition to lecturing to cultural associations, Gan has been actively involved with museum publications in Malaysia and Indonesia, both as a writer and editor.
This is Gan's first published novel, from a forthcoming trilogy, although she wrote her first book aged eight. It took her another fifty years to create this series. There was a lifetime of travelling and living to do first!
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 4, 2022
If you liked C. S. Forester and Patrick O'Brian's stories of the British Navy, you will be drawn to this book. If you love exotic cultures, customs and stories in steamy tropical settings this book has it. If you love historical fiction that blends the East and West, you won't be disappointed. A compelling read that is well researched with an index at the end for language and character descriptions. I can't wait to read the second book in the series!
March 5, 2024
Dragon by Rose Gan - Book review by Santhi Nair-Moine
Rose Gan is a noted historian, especially in Indonesia and Malaysia. She is also a member of our Malaysian Cultural Group. It is extremely exciting to know of someone who is published. That’s the bookworm in me. Besides that, I have always had respect and thought it very brave for anyone to write, be it fiction or non-fiction work. There is so much discipline and focus required, never mind the research and repeated editing. So, hats off to Rose Gan not only for publishing Dragon but a trilogy of works called the Penang Chronicles. The book that I am reviewing today is the first one, Dragon, and this is followed by Pearl and the final book is titled Emporium.
I need not tell you that I am looking forward to reading both Pearl and Emporium sometime soon as it's on my birthday wish list.
Dragon was not a difficult book to read as it seemed to chronicle the life of Francis Light. I think it’s classified as historical fiction but how much of the plot is fiction, how much is historical facts and where does Gan cross the line to be a historian and then return to fiction?
There is only one focal point in the story, and it is Light. The book entirely focuses on him from birth to adulthood, portraying the man as highly intelligent, cunning, and opportunistic, and by the grace of God (in this case the author’s hand) extremely lucky or unlucky especially when you look at his circumstances of being born on the wrong side of the blanket. The title of the book ‘Dragon’ gives us a clue as to what kind of persona the protagonist would have and will turn out to be.
Here are some insights into the book, it is roughly divided into four segments. It starts in England, followed by a seafaring career at sea, then on to British India where he hoped to get a ship of his own, and finally to Malaya. There are friends made especially James Scott and lots of networking going on, there is romance but not too much, just enough to fascinate you with Light as a romantic hero.
I noticed the writer's style and method change with each segment, one finds the period in England to be the most charming and captivating and had echoes of English romanticism. In the second segment, what I call the sea adventures. Light works hard on his goal of being captain of his ship, and here we read of the people he meets, and the adventures he partakes. All this gives his character rather astonishing skills not unlike a swashbuckling McGiver.
I found the segment in India to be the most interesting and maybe it's because I am a fan of Kipling’s Kim and was looking for depth and reason during that historical period of British colonialism in India.
However the Malaya segment proved slightly disappointing for me, the comical rendering with the behavior of the sultans and the Malay court – could have been handled maybe with a little more finesse and surely these men having dealt with centuries of Dutch and Portuguese colonial masters, would have had the tail, of this dragon. Ah, but let us remind ourselves that it's but a piece of fiction, and our protagonist must remain cool and cunning amongst the dull-witted natives.
Occasionally you might find the tone of the book filled with too many historical events and it might slog through slowly in some parts and that’s when you need to remember that Gan is first and foremost a research historian.
I look forward to reading Pearl and Emporium.
Rose Gan is a noted historian, especially in Indonesia and Malaysia. She is also a member of our Malaysian Cultural Group. It is extremely exciting to know of someone who is published. That’s the bookworm in me. Besides that, I have always had respect and thought it very brave for anyone to write, be it fiction or non-fiction work. There is so much discipline and focus required, never mind the research and repeated editing. So, hats off to Rose Gan not only for publishing Dragon but a trilogy of works called the Penang Chronicles. The book that I am reviewing today is the first one, Dragon, and this is followed by Pearl and the final book is titled Emporium.
I need not tell you that I am looking forward to reading both Pearl and Emporium sometime soon as it's on my birthday wish list.
Dragon was not a difficult book to read as it seemed to chronicle the life of Francis Light. I think it’s classified as historical fiction but how much of the plot is fiction, how much is historical facts and where does Gan cross the line to be a historian and then return to fiction?
There is only one focal point in the story, and it is Light. The book entirely focuses on him from birth to adulthood, portraying the man as highly intelligent, cunning, and opportunistic, and by the grace of God (in this case the author’s hand) extremely lucky or unlucky especially when you look at his circumstances of being born on the wrong side of the blanket. The title of the book ‘Dragon’ gives us a clue as to what kind of persona the protagonist would have and will turn out to be.
Here are some insights into the book, it is roughly divided into four segments. It starts in England, followed by a seafaring career at sea, then on to British India where he hoped to get a ship of his own, and finally to Malaya. There are friends made especially James Scott and lots of networking going on, there is romance but not too much, just enough to fascinate you with Light as a romantic hero.
I noticed the writer's style and method change with each segment, one finds the period in England to be the most charming and captivating and had echoes of English romanticism. In the second segment, what I call the sea adventures. Light works hard on his goal of being captain of his ship, and here we read of the people he meets, and the adventures he partakes. All this gives his character rather astonishing skills not unlike a swashbuckling McGiver.
I found the segment in India to be the most interesting and maybe it's because I am a fan of Kipling’s Kim and was looking for depth and reason during that historical period of British colonialism in India.
However the Malaya segment proved slightly disappointing for me, the comical rendering with the behavior of the sultans and the Malay court – could have been handled maybe with a little more finesse and surely these men having dealt with centuries of Dutch and Portuguese colonial masters, would have had the tail, of this dragon. Ah, but let us remind ourselves that it's but a piece of fiction, and our protagonist must remain cool and cunning amongst the dull-witted natives.
Occasionally you might find the tone of the book filled with too many historical events and it might slog through slowly in some parts and that’s when you need to remember that Gan is first and foremost a research historian.
I look forward to reading Pearl and Emporium.
September 29, 2023
DRAGON by Rose Gan
I’ve always been fascinated by Colonel William Light, South Australia’s first surveyor-general, who planned Adelaide. But I have questions about the man, who remains a tantalising enigma. Where did his drive, courage, and work ethos find its foundation?
Rose Gan has put together a book that goes a long way to explain where much of William’s character originated and has produced a new hero for me to ponder over - Francis Light - William’s father. Beginning in the mid 1700’s the novel, Dragon, is an absorbing narrative taking the reader from England throughout Southeast Asia in a series of breathtaking adventures.
Francis, sired by a marquess and raised believing himself the illegitimate son of a country squire, achieved extraordinary success due to his intelligence, ability to control both situations and people, and his impressive courage. Despite the intolerance and bigotry of his time, Francis became a powerful force in the 18th century Malay Archipelago, and ultimately the founder of Penang.
His astonishing life is portrayed by Gan in this fast-paced tale of adventure, and it would be easy to believe she has exaggerated his wild successes and unexpectedly terrifying situations. But Gan is a former teacher of history and her research for this book, the first in a series about the Light family, has been extensive. The resulting historical drama progresses at breathtaking speed. She brings real characters to life - Dutch, Chinese, Indian, and English - and returns a man, long forgotten, to the spotlight he deserves. You couldn’t make this story up.
This is such an elegantly seductive read and the blend of derring-do, swashbuckling raids, and unsophisticated treatments of tropical diseases, contrasts vividly with languid Malay days, riches beyond belief, and an expanding love story. I’m amazed it’s taken so long to bring this adventurer to the world’s attention.
While never forgetting his origins, Francis always sought opportunities to better himself, and fearlessly set out to make his impact on the world. Despite being intolerantly judged by today’s ‘woke’ generation, people like Francis changed the world in the 18th century, producing a blueprint for what we enjoy today.
Gan’s book is a compelling read, which rapidly draws the reader in and can make whole days disappear within its pages. It’s the perfect book to take on holiday. And if you visit Penang, find the cemetery where he’s buried. Walk the streets where Francis once held sway, and marvel at what he achieved, and how far he travelled from modest beginnings in England’s rural Suffolk.
Read Dragon by Rose Gan and you’ll be immersed in both history and adventure - and you won’t regret a moment.
I’ve always been fascinated by Colonel William Light, South Australia’s first surveyor-general, who planned Adelaide. But I have questions about the man, who remains a tantalising enigma. Where did his drive, courage, and work ethos find its foundation?
Rose Gan has put together a book that goes a long way to explain where much of William’s character originated and has produced a new hero for me to ponder over - Francis Light - William’s father. Beginning in the mid 1700’s the novel, Dragon, is an absorbing narrative taking the reader from England throughout Southeast Asia in a series of breathtaking adventures.
Francis, sired by a marquess and raised believing himself the illegitimate son of a country squire, achieved extraordinary success due to his intelligence, ability to control both situations and people, and his impressive courage. Despite the intolerance and bigotry of his time, Francis became a powerful force in the 18th century Malay Archipelago, and ultimately the founder of Penang.
His astonishing life is portrayed by Gan in this fast-paced tale of adventure, and it would be easy to believe she has exaggerated his wild successes and unexpectedly terrifying situations. But Gan is a former teacher of history and her research for this book, the first in a series about the Light family, has been extensive. The resulting historical drama progresses at breathtaking speed. She brings real characters to life - Dutch, Chinese, Indian, and English - and returns a man, long forgotten, to the spotlight he deserves. You couldn’t make this story up.
This is such an elegantly seductive read and the blend of derring-do, swashbuckling raids, and unsophisticated treatments of tropical diseases, contrasts vividly with languid Malay days, riches beyond belief, and an expanding love story. I’m amazed it’s taken so long to bring this adventurer to the world’s attention.
While never forgetting his origins, Francis always sought opportunities to better himself, and fearlessly set out to make his impact on the world. Despite being intolerantly judged by today’s ‘woke’ generation, people like Francis changed the world in the 18th century, producing a blueprint for what we enjoy today.
Gan’s book is a compelling read, which rapidly draws the reader in and can make whole days disappear within its pages. It’s the perfect book to take on holiday. And if you visit Penang, find the cemetery where he’s buried. Walk the streets where Francis once held sway, and marvel at what he achieved, and how far he travelled from modest beginnings in England’s rural Suffolk.
Read Dragon by Rose Gan and you’ll be immersed in both history and adventure - and you won’t regret a moment.
December 25, 2022
The straightforwardness of this book for me is the thing that I both love and hate. On one hand I love it because it actually make for a quick read. On the other, I have read other historical fiction that spends time on the language that made me stop and admire its beauty. I don't dislike the story, it's just that it falls short in comparison to the others. And the fact that this feels like a Francis Light fanfic for some reason, like why is he like a shoujo protagonist that everyone just sees as perfect? But if there's one scene that actually made me snort out of laughter is when Francis wants to propose to Lady Thong Di but got her daughter instead. I feel sorry for the guy tho but picturing the situation was actually kind of hilarious.
December 17, 2023
4.5*: An enjoyable and compelling read about the early years of Francis Light, the founder of the British setlement of Penang. The first in a series of 3 novels, Dragon covers Light's life and adventures from 1740-1772, taking us from his schooldays in rural Suffolk to life at sea with the Royal Navy, to his subsequent life as a country trader and political negotiator in Southeast Asia. Light comes across as a likeable character, sensitive to race and religion, his humble origins denying him access to the position and power he dreams of. Well-written, with a great cast of colourful characters, Gan evokes the smells, sights, people and culture of the East Indies at the time. Really looking forward to reading the second volume.
April 8, 2024
3.75 stars.
An amazing account of the early life of Sir Francis Light, who is known as the founder of Penang. This novel takes us into his early childhood in Suffolk, his struggles in establishing a naval career due to the prejudices of a class society, and his sea faring adventures.
It brings to live the history I was thought at school about my hometown, which is so much more interesting that the history textbooks of my schooldays.
This novel is well-written, and well-researched while giving the right balance of detail and a narrative tone. I’m surprised this trilogy has not garnered more attention in local literary circles.
An amazing account of the early life of Sir Francis Light, who is known as the founder of Penang. This novel takes us into his early childhood in Suffolk, his struggles in establishing a naval career due to the prejudices of a class society, and his sea faring adventures.
It brings to live the history I was thought at school about my hometown, which is so much more interesting that the history textbooks of my schooldays.
This novel is well-written, and well-researched while giving the right balance of detail and a narrative tone. I’m surprised this trilogy has not garnered more attention in local literary circles.
June 9, 2025
I was excited to finally get a copy of this book in the US as I struggled to find a copy while in Malaysia.
After living and working in Malaysia for several years (2018-2022) I was very keen to read this book written by the mother of one of my colleagues.
I have loved Penang for many years, since my first visit in 2012… perhaps one of my favourite places in the world, thus very happy to find this book which offers a rich and intriguing background / history of the settlement of Penang.
The author clearly shows her love and depth of understanding of the region through her storytelling. I look forward to reading the next two books in the series.
After living and working in Malaysia for several years (2018-2022) I was very keen to read this book written by the mother of one of my colleagues.
I have loved Penang for many years, since my first visit in 2012… perhaps one of my favourite places in the world, thus very happy to find this book which offers a rich and intriguing background / history of the settlement of Penang.
The author clearly shows her love and depth of understanding of the region through her storytelling. I look forward to reading the next two books in the series.
October 16, 2025
Light and the beginnings of British Malaya
A fascinating well written account of the early life and career of Francis Light: born on the wrong side of the sheets and with no chance of being a gentleman but an energetic intelligent cosmopolitan sailor, linguist and trader who readily adapted to the politics of Malaya and its rulers and despite the blind stupidity of his British overlords made a fine living for himself
A fascinating well written account of the early life and career of Francis Light: born on the wrong side of the sheets and with no chance of being a gentleman but an energetic intelligent cosmopolitan sailor, linguist and trader who readily adapted to the politics of Malaya and its rulers and despite the blind stupidity of his British overlords made a fine living for himself
June 17, 2024
Historical fiction tentang awal kehidupan Francis Light dan minat dia nak berlayar. Pengembaraannya dari tanah Suffolk ke India sehingga Selat Melaka dan Siam.
Memang best baca tengok dialognya yang bersahaja. Ada part yang bosan sikit tapi overall memang worth reading.
Memang best baca tengok dialognya yang bersahaja. Ada part yang bosan sikit tapi overall memang worth reading.
March 20, 2024
Loved this book fluid and eloquent in her writing. Historical fiction at its best
March 29, 2025
i love how the writing style is so straightforward and doesn't go out of place. i do get bored at some part but i love how the plot going on without slip out. i can easily understand the chronology life of Francis Light.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews