It’s really no secret that I love dragons. Almost everyone who knows me knows this. Almost everyone who knows this is slightly confused by the fact that I love dragons but hate snakes. The world’s just a mystery, isn’t it?
But ANYWAY, today I have some very excellent dragon books to recommend, so let’s get this show on the road!
Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George
Okay, so this is on the side of MG a little more than YA, but I LOVED THIS SERIES WHILE I WAS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL. It was so fun, and it was the first thing to introduce me to dragons hoarding things that aren’t gold. One dragon collects stained glass. Another collects tapestries. One even collects (you guessed it! or maybe you didn’t?) DOGS.
Plus the whole series is just so cute and positive. The prince was one of my early favorite princes, and Creel, the main character, is fantastic. Very much the kind of character to do it herself, thank you very much, even when she’sΒ totally lost about how to move forward. I have so many fond memories of the characters here, and I almost wish it had gotten a second series set a while after the third book.
Eon by Alison Goodman
Another excellent dragon book I read in late middle school/early high school (lmao my recs are getting a little dated I’m so sorry)! Lots of political intrigue, swordsmanship, and BETRAYAL, set in a largely China-inspired setting. The elements of magic are really fascinating to me because of the way the dragons are involved, and as it goes through the second book (yay for complete duologies!), the stakes get higher and higher, and some very critical choices have to be made, as should happen as the big showdown gets closer and closer.
I will say, though, that this book really doesn’t approach disabilities well, and it’s the biggest thing that’s been on my mind besides the parts of it that I really did enjoy.
Eragon by Christopher Paolini
Now, if I remember right, Paolini wrote this when he was 15, which just blows my mind. At 15, I was laboring to put short stories of only about 1.2k together without them falling apart. To write something like this would have been out of the question, and I really admire Paolini for pulling it off.
Also, this is one of those series I’ve been planning to go back and reread. It’s a long read, almost steering more into adult fantasy than YA, but I love the world-building and the dragons especially. In my copy, there’s also a glossary in the back of some of the fantasy words and I am a SUCKER for that kind of thing. That, and there are big dramatic battles on dragonback and wow. I love.
And I’m also bitter that the movie was so…bad… Let’s not talk about that…
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
Full disclosure: I actually haven’t read this one yet, but I have a copy sitting in my room right now, judging me, and I really should crack it open soon. I’ve heard very good things involving human-dragon shapeshifters (one of my favorite bits of dragon lore that only gets applied in some stories), and there’s no way I’m going to be able to keep away from this one much longer. The cover is a nice bonus, too: for whatever reason, I really love that style!
What are your favorite dragon books? What kind of dragons do you want to see more of? If you were a dragon, what would you hoard? I would hoard either books or rabbits or succulents, I think.
Seriously, though, the hoard question might be the most important one here. Bring me your hoarding preferences.Β FOR SCIENCE.
I am the same way with dragons and snakes. I blame it on the fact snakes do not have legs and should not be able to move as fast as they do.
Haha funny enough, as much as I love dragons, snakes TERRIFY me for reasons I just can’t explain.
I honestly love seeing older Book recommendations since newer ones are usually recommended everywhere. Iβve heard of all of these and have read none of them. π Lol at hoarding succulents! I just realized I havenβt read any books with dragons this year π±. I would hoard books, various caffeinated beverages, and yarn o.o…Iβm pretty sure I do this already lol…
There’s some good stuff out there that’s been out a while! I like to spotlight it now and again, remind folks about it.
Clearly you need to read some dragon books and indulge in more yarn and caffeine, huh? More is always good when hoarding, right? π
Great post! I used to love dragons when I was younger and would love reading about them. I loved Seraphina when I read it a couple of years ago, although I never read the sequel. It’s a pretty slow novel but it has really interesting characters so I hope you like it if you do get to it!
Aw, thanks! I’ve been looking forward to it a lot, and I think I’ll be able to get to it in a couple weeks here!