Dragon Literature

Oops, I completely forgot to mention WHY I reccomend those books, didn't I? I'll need to fix that when I can


Thank you for the reccomendations kaljaia! I'll take a good look at the first three, especially Temeraire! I'm not so sure about the 4th book. It's not that I don't read books that include sex or sexuality, but if that's a major plot point then...

Ahaha, I know exactly what you mean by "books I wouldn't want my mother reading over my shoulder." It's not that you're reading anything wrong or inappropriate for your age; it's more like there's something there you could feel "judged" for reading. But then if anyone leans over my shoulder, I tend to put it down regardless of whatever I was reading.



That's a really good/interesting point to bring up. I usually don't like stories where the dragons are token pets or purely animal, but there's also stories in which the dragon characters are written exactly like human beings (mentally and emotionally). There's nothing inherently wrong with that and they can be fun books, but what I really love is when the authors make it clear these are non-humans: different priorities, different morals and perspectives and societial structures, etc. Any thoughts on that?

wow Sci-Fi isn't usually my thing but you definitely caught my attention with that description XD I'll check that one out too!

( Fixing my original lack of descriptions)

Adult
Bazil Broketail by Christopher Rowley - Warning on this for explicit violence and not-too-graphic sex and sexual references. Fairly standard fantasy world, though well laid out and believable. This is a story about wingless "battledragons" who serve in the military along with the boy they were paired for life with at birth. Not so much a magical event as it is the best an orphaned boy could hope for: a lifetime of keeping "his" dragon in top fighting form and then a military funded retirement for both of them. This isn't for everyone and can even be rather depressing and gruesome, but I recomend for how much I love the dragon's relationship with "his boy", which is one of mutual complaints and criticism that cover for deep affection and possessive pride. I also really enjoy the dragon's clearly non-human mentalities.

One Good Knight by Mercedes Lackey - If you're a Lackey fan, you'll definitely like this one. This is set in a world where an omnipotent force called "The Tradition" tries to force the lives of it's inhabitants into living out (usually tragic) fairtales. Here is where fairygodmothers and good wizards live to thwart "The Tradition" and wicked witches and tyrants exploit it to gain the upper hand. In this world Princess Cassiopeia lives a quiet and bookish existence until her scheming mother decides the solutions her dragon problem, her uncomfortably observant offspring, and her political opponents are all one and the same: human sacrifice. What she didn't count on was a very resourceful daughter and an uncooperative dragon!

Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly - Often when someone tries to make a "realistic" fairytale they only end up killing the charm and enjoyment in favor of a "grim and gritty" clunker that doesn't even seem like the author liked it. This kills many of the cliches, but it's ... well. You can really relate to the prince who came to find a golden Hero and instead found a scruffy aging barbarian-scholar who liked to collect pig-lore and dismantle clocks. It's a fall from the "high fantasy ideal" but it's more human and still lovable. I do wish that the dragon was in the plot sooner and had more presence in the book, but I still enjoyed it and once again it's a story where dragons are handled as a clearly alien species. Some references to sex, some violence, but nothing significant in this first book. It stands very well by itself and I'd hesitate to recomend the rest.

The Dragon and the George by Gordon R. Dickson - If anyone here is a fan of the old animated movie Flight of Dragons, THIS is the book it was based on. The characters are more adult and less altruistic, but it's still got the fun of the movie - a "logical" and "scientific" young man who ends up transported to a magical land and into the body of a dragon who only wants to find his fiance and go home to where things make SENSE.

YA

Dragon's Bait by Vivian Vande Velde - Short but interesting little introspective about the nature of revenge. The dragon feels and acts more like the Seelie of old english myth, but I still enjoyed the game and it's conclusion.

Dragon of the Lost Sea by Laurence Yep - Fun children's series full of nods to chinese myths. Always good for a fast read and a smile, but takes a few surprising turns too.

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede - another great children's series that's worth reading just for the fun of it and the quirky charm of the characters.


Ever notice the urge to justify what you read as something more than just "fun"? Not every book has to be a life-changer so I'm not even going to try. Dragon books are fun, who cares!

Tanyip thank you for your thoughts as well! I noticed that about Lackey's books. I'm still and always will be a fan, but her trilogies tend to go: 1st book - loved it, 2cnd book - okay, 3rd book- either pulls it off decently or completely flops.

Wow, these sound really good! I'll admit I'm unfamiliar with far too many of these... my own dragon literature knowledge tends to be a little more mainstream.

Adult
The Dragonriders of Pern series. Yeah, yeah, I know. There are a lot of things that I don't like about the series––dragons suddenly gaining inexplicable powers because the plot needs it, dragons as mindless bond-pets (love that term) and characters that are often defined by a single trait... but I love the origin story for the dragons, and some of the earlier books are all right. I loved Dragonsinger in particular, even though it is aimed at a more young adult audience.

The Earthsea books. Not really a dragon series per se, but I did like how the dragons worked. Plus the writing is downright gorgeous––one of my favorite fantasy series ever.

Young Adult
Eragon. No, not the series, just the first book. The first book is great as a stand-alone tale about a boy and his dragon, who has a pretty good personality of her own. The fantasy world is somewhat derivative, but not too much so, and the characters are likable enough that it makes for a good romp. After Eragon, however, the series deteriorated significantly. Paolini's writing style does not improve, the mythology becomes more and more convoluted and contradictory, and the storylines and plot elements become more and more derivative––almost to the point of outright plagiarism. Feel free to debate me on this one.

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles. Maybe this is more of a kid's series than a young adult one––I can't really remember––but it was a fun story that turned the traditional dragon/princess relationship on its head. Later books got... weird (think flying blue donkeys that used to be rabbits) but the first two were pretty decent. I liked the way the dragon society functioned.

I feel like there are others I'm not remembering at the moment. I loved all kinds of dragon books as a kid (My Father's Dragon, the Dragon of Lonely Island) but in recent years my dragon-literature consumption has tapered off considerably.