Here be Dragons: Seven Books for Dragon Lovers

I love books. I love dragons.

As this is a bookwyrm’s lair, it is only proper that the inaugural post feature dragons in books.

FYI, bookwyrms and bookworms are similar creatures, but it is wisest to not confuse one for the other. They share an extreme love for books, but bookworms never burn you to a crisp for interrupting their reading. 

For your reading pleasure, I present seven books featuring a variety of dragons. 

1. Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey

Anne McCaffrey’s books about the genetically engineered telepathic dragons of Pern still spark arguments about whether the books should be classed as Fantasy or Science Fiction. 

The telepathic dragons of Pern form a lifelong bond with their human partners. They fly together to fight off Thread, a life devouring organism from another planet within the Pernese system. Although the stories in this series are generally more focused on the humans than their draconic partners, some of the dragons have adorable personalities.

Bonus Note: Most of the story in Dragonflight, the first book in this series, was originally published as two novellas in Analog. Weyr Search, published, October 1967, won a Hugo Award for Best Novella in 1968. Dragonrider, published in two parts December 1967 and January 1968, won the Nebula Award for Best Novella in 1969. Anne McCaffrey was the first woman to win either award.

2. Dragonlance - Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

I honestly can’t remember if my first introduction to dragons was Dragonlance or the Dragonriders of Pern. The Dragonlance Chronicles tells the story of a group of adventurers who seek the legendary Dragonlance in order to deal with the devastating return of dragons to Krynn.

Dragons in Krynn come in Chromatic and Metallic varieties. Chromatic dragons - red, blue, black, green, and white - are evil. Metallic dragons - gold, silver, bronze, copper, and brass - are good. In the Dragonlance chronicles, we meet several dragons of both varieties. Although they aren't the main characters, they are vital to the story.

3. Another Fine Myth - Robert Aspirin

Another Fine Myth is the first book in the Myth Adventures series. This is the story of a young magician's apprentice (Skeeve) who gets into all sorts of trouble as he learns about magic and life from a mentor (Aahz) who has lost his magical power in a prank. One of the early bits of trouble that he gets into is to accidentally bond with a young dragon.

The dragon in question is named Gleep, as that is the only word he ever utters aloud in the first several books in this series. Don’t take his limited vocabulary as a sign of low intelligence though. In later books in the series you get to see more of Gleep’s viewpoint.

I loved these books for the light hearted mockery of sword and sorcery fantasy books. They are fast fun reads and Gleep is the icing on the cake.

4. The Last Dragonlord - Joanne Bertin

Linden Rathan isn’t precisely a dragon. He is a dragonlord.  In a world with truehumans and truedragons, dragonlords were created long ago by the fallout of a devastating magic war.

Weredragons, called dragonlords, have a human soul bound together with dragon soul. This makes the human practically immortal and able to take a dragon form. They are considered the highest justice in the Five Kingdoms and are called in to mediate whenever human justice fails.

This book tickled me with the different way of looking at dragons. Although I’ve often read of dragons that can shapeshift into human (or humanoid) forms I still haven’t come across any other weredragons.

5.Joust - Mercedes Lackey

The Dragon Jousters series, starting with Joust, has the only non-sentient dragons in this list. Joust is the story of Vetch, a young serf who is claimed by a Dragon Jouster to be his dragon boy. In the jousters compound Vetch goes from dragon boy to dragon jouster by hiding and hatching a dragon egg. The problem is that he doesn’t want to joust for the enemies of his people.

In all my reading I have found it to be quite rare to come across non-sentient dragons.

6. Temeraire - Naomi Novik

The Temeraire series begins with His Majesty’s Dragon (Published March 2006) and includes nine novels. This series is an alternate history take on the Napoleonic Wars on an earth where many nations have draconic air forces.

Temeraire and his human companion Captain William Laurence are the primary characters. The dragons in Temeraire’s world come in many sizes, most large enough to carry an entire crew into battle. These dragons are sentient, with varying levels of intelligence and individual personalities. They learn languages spoken around them while in the shell and can speak intelligently from hatching.

7. Nice Dragons Finish Last - Rachel Bach

In the Heartstrikers series, dragons are ambitious magical predators. They live to acquire power for themselves and their families. Julius, the protagonist in Nice Dragons Finish Last, is a terrible dragon. He’s not ruthless, he’s nice.  

I loved this story for the dragon protagonist. Julius may be too nice to be a dragon, and too meek in the face of his ruthless family, but he has an inner strength that shines through in the end. He stands up for his friends and family with all the fierceness you would expect from a dragon.

Do you have a favorite literary dragon? Please share in the comments!