SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Simple question, what are your favorite depictions of dragons in fiction?

Personally, I like Smaug and those dragons who are inspired by him.

I'm also a fan of Warcraft's approach to dragons. They're smart, inherently magical, and they have god-like leaders. This has changed in recent lore, though. It's unclear to me what role their dragons are going to have now.

Varies a lot. At the moment I am totally enamored of the hat-wearing parent-devouring socially-machinating dragons in Jo Walton's TOOTH & CLAW.

I like what George RR Martin did with dragons. They're magical and majestic in the abstract, but up close they are fierce, nasty predators, and they basically symbolize superior technology as a game changer in warfare.

But Smaug is the king. Kind of like a God in the Norse tradition.

I'd never heard of Jo Walton before, but she looks worth checking out, and that TOOTH & CLAW book looks really intriguing.

My personal favorite is in . . . Transformations of Myth Through Time where Campbell describes dragons (when discussing kundalini chakra) as:

Dragons don't do anything of value, but they guard that which is valuable. Dragons hoard jewels and they kidnap beautiful women, but have no idea what to do with either one. They are only concerned with existing.

];P

I review it, here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The way LeGuin handles dragons in her Earthsea books is glorious. For a totally different take, have a look at Naomi Novik's TEMERAIRE series.

I know it has been done, but I can't remember where I've seen it. Anyway, I'd like to read something about a dragon shifter.

Oh, and C.S. Lewis wrote a great sonnet about dragons. It begins "Sometimes I wish I had not killed my wife."

Recently Temeraire of Naomi Novik is high in my heart, but the first is Lioth (and his brethren of Pern) by Anne McCaffrey.

I loved,also, Draco from Dragonheart
but it's a film so I don't Know if it count.

I'm rather partial to the version of dragons used in the role-playing game Castle Falkenstein, who can appear in either humanoid or draconic form, are descended from the pterosaurs of the Mesozoic and therefore can claim to be Earth's oldest (native) intelligent species, have racial memory and lots of other cool stuff.

The Day Uncle Jimmy Learned to Fly
Aloof, lazy dragons.

Of all the novels I've read about dragons (and those from the movies), the way for a dragon to communicate like humans feels like an insult to all kinds of dragons. Although the most visually stunning dragons I've seen in the movies are those of Smaug and Dragonheart, I do not feel much for them as they speak the language of man, which makes me want to laugh. I do not believe dragons would want to be anywhere close to communicating in the language of the humans. They have a pretty good attitude for themselves, why in the whole set of multi-verse would any of the dragons want to learn the language of the humans who in their sight are puny little creatures.

From all that I know, I can understand how a dragon might telepathically communicate with people, but having their vocal chords adjusted just so as to speak like humans, is one of the dumbest thing ever.

From all the depictions, I like the dragons depicted in A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent . They're much more convincing. Even those who are shapeshifters, like that in Dragonlance Chronicles Trilogy , as long as their form is that of a dragon, they do not (and should not) communicate like humans. I've read about a quarter of the first in the Pern series, Dragonflight , which depicts the dragons to communicate with its rider using telepathy, which seems quite agreeable.

It appears to me that the dragons depicted have their own pros and cons. It's difficult to implement a real dragon, and have the reader experience the feel for the dragon's life.

Dragons can't speak. They can't communicate telepathically. They are mute, like dogs. They are either immensely intelligent, or unbelievably stupid. They are as interested in humans as we are in a sparrow. There are still a few who live in disused slate mines in Wales. I've got photos to prove it, if only someone would tell me how to upload photos on this site!

Upload them on your author page then link it here.

Pern. The only dragon to rival Ruth for me is Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon.

I also like Vermithrax Pejorative from Dragonslayer. She's a massive, impressive animal with cunning and anger and she has one of the all-time great names.

I didn't read so many books about dragons yet. I have to agree on Le Guin's dragons. Those are amazing. :)

Tooth and Claw is on my physical 'to read' shelf so I have yet to see how the dragons behave in this one.

Pern dragons weren't so bad.

I have to admit I like dragons best that are intelligent and actually talk with their mouth. :) But the 'How to train your dragons' dragons weren't bad either.

The Dragon Griaule was also pretty interesting. Especially when the dragon resurrected itself as a man. A really cruel man.

G.G. wrote: "I know it has been done, but I can't remember where I've seen it. Anyway, I'd like to read something about a dragon shifter."

I seem to remember Ysabeau takes on dragon form in one of the books from the The Witches of Eileanan series. It nearly kills her though.

I like them big, scary, intimidating, and generally capable of wrecking anything that gets in their way.

Draco. I have to mention Draco. He's the one who sent me on a quest to search out other dragons like him in books and movies. Dragons that are kind and honorable--at least capable of displaying these traits, rather than simply being unreasoning monsters.

Along the way, I have met and developed a fondness for the dragons of Pern, the dragons of E.E. Knight's Age of Fire series (particularly Wistala and AuRon), the dragons of Don Callander's Dragon Companion trilogy, Toothless and company from How to Train Your Dragon (movies and TV show), Artegal from Carrie Vaughn's Voices of Dragons, and the Last Dragon from Dragonworld.

I've always loved the dragons of Pern, and I have to confess a fondness for Toothless, the most cat-like dragon I've seen portrayed.

I've still got a soft spot for the dragons of Pern. They're basically big, shiny, intelligent horses that form an extremely close bond with their riders, and their 'abilities' don't really have to make sense as they were bred for those characteristics.

I also like the dragons in Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionovar Tapestry. The evil dragon doesn't really do anything except be completely terrifying and pretty much invincible, and the Crystal Dragon is beautiful, merciful, noble, self-sacrificing in a good cause, etc.

Phrynne wrote: "G.G. wrote: "I know it has been done, but I can't remember where I've seen it. Anyway, I'd like to read something about a dragon shifter."

I seem to remember Ysabeau takes on dragon form in one of..."

Thanks!

The Smoke Thief and sequels (The Drakon series) by Shana Abe are paranormal romance as much as anything IIRC, but they concern a race of dragon shifters.

Margaret wrote: "The Smoke Thief and sequels (The Drakon series) by Shana Abe are paranormal romance as much as anything IIRC, but they concern a race of dragon shifters."

Thanks Margaret. I added it to my long 'to-read' list. :)

G.G. wrote: "Upload them on your author page then link it here."

Thank you!

My favorite depiction of dragons is in the movie, "How to Train Your Dragon". I particularly like the different characteristics and personalities of each type of dragon.

Here we go -- this is the poem, by C.S. Lewis:
http://oxfordinklings.blogspot.com/20...

Smaug is good. So is the one in the Lewis poem.

However, none of the dragons have really won my heart. I'm trying on working out my own. 0:)

I like all of the above (Smaug was my first love!)with the addition of the clever and cruel dragons from Lawrence Watt Evans' Obsidian Chronicles and the strength and attitude of Lindis in Maria Schneiders Dragons of Wendal (she's actually a shifter too for the person looking for dragon shifters above) and then if you like dragons connected to magic try out Patricia Briggs' Hurog duology.

Oh, forgot to mention the dragon who can turn into a tattoo from Timothy Zahn's Dragonback science fiction series. They aren't really dragons but they might as well be and the series, while this is probably classed as middle grade, it was an excellent series that I read in my 40s and enjoyed greatly.

The Book of Dragons has some creatively depicted creatures. Don't be put off that E. Nesbit is an old children's author - these are fun stories. If you actually do want children's books about dragons, I've got some doozies on my shelves, including Kenneth Grahame's The Reluctant Dragon.

Pete, please rate and review The Day Uncle Jimmy Learned to Fly! There are zero reactions to the book - I have no idea whether to add it to my to-read list or not!!

edit - I see that the author is named Pete - so maybe it's your book - that's ok, you can still say something nice about your own book, so long as you make authorship clear in your comments. :)

Oh, and I highly recommend THE FLIGHT OF DRAGONS by Peter Dickinson. It is the only book I have ever read that is fictional nonfiction.

Cheryl: click on his name and see that it is indeed the same person.

Highly recommend the Rainwild Chronicles by Robin Hobb. Dragons in a new light

Debra wrote: "Highly recommend the Rainwild Chronicles by Robin Hobb. Dragons in a new light"

I'd second that recommendation Debra :)

I second various comments above in favour of McCaffreys dragons from Pern.
Also, I was recently struck by an unconventional twist on the 'dragon' concept in Rothfuss' Name of the Wind - the dragon is not a major character (animal, not even up to human intelligence) but his motivations were a very interesting and unusual twist, for the chapter or two in which he was important. Saying more would count as a spoiler.
P.S. - I also liked Temeraire from Naomi Novik - I must read the rest of the series sometime soon!

Anne McCaffrey's dragons are my favorite, second would be Naomi Novik's, and a different twist of half-dragon, half-human would be Seraphina by Rachel Hartman.

I, too, love Smaug, the dragons of Pern and Temeraire, but I also enjoy the semi-comical The Dragon and the George (and its sequels) in which a knight is trapped in the body of a dragon.
I remember reading an SF book so long ago that I can't remember the author or title in which the dragon character was a Zen Buddhist.

"I remember reading an SF book so long ago that I can't remember the author or title in which the dragon character was a Zen Buddhist."

Could that be R.A. MacAvoy's Tea with the Black Dragon?

Brenda wrote: "Oh, and I highly recommend THE FLIGHT OF DRAGONS by Peter Dickinson. It is the only book I have ever read that is fictional nonfiction."

I would also include Gnomes by Huygen and Poortvliet as well as Faeries by Fround in that group.

I used The Flight of Dragons as the basis for a speech I did in high school back in... 1979? It was the single most fun I had in that class and garnered me my worst grade because the teacher just didn't get it.

A lot of really great creatures of magic in Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series including dragons. Even if they are not really the center of any plot but i like how they are classified and what they bring to the series.

I just read Orm the Beautiful by Elizabeth Bear (it's online for free over at Clarkesworld). I like the way Bear brings dragons into a modern setting. She also gives a fun alien mystery to them.

James Stoddard's The High House has an intriguing dragon, however briefly.

How could I forget A Book Dragon by Donn Kushner? Really, it's marvelous

I've found another. Castle Hangnail has an unusual treatment of dragons.

denis l mckiernans version in his midkemia stories i like alot.Alos like the stephen erikson soletaken shapeshifting dragons.Smaug is still my favorite.The embodiment of malice.

Kim Marie wrote: "Debra wrote: "Highly recommend the Rainwild Chronicles by Robin Hobb. Dragons in a new light"

I'd second that recommendation Debra :)"

and a third.

I have always been moved by the brief glimpse of the dragon in the final lines of Voluspa or Song of the Sybil, as translated from the Icelandic by Paul B. Taylor and W. H. Auden in their book, The Elder Edda:

From the depths below a drake comes flying,
The Dark Dragon from Darkfell,
Bears on his pinions the bodies of men,
Soars overhead. I sink now.

I also like the guardian of the hoard, the dragon in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem, Beowulf, the origin of my favourite dragon in fantasy fiction, Smaug in The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.

For me it is The Dragon Riders of Pern (4 book box set). I loved them. I loved the bond the was created by riders and dragons.

I've always been drawn to those depicted in Chinese Art and culture. Smaug will always be my favorite.