# Recommend some dragon-themed fantasy books for my daughter **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 14, 2005, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223 "2005-10-14T15:22:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/1 "2005-10-14T15:22:19Z")
My daughter is suddenly enamored of dragons. She’s been reading _Eragon_ and _Eldest_ and can’t get enough. I’m a little weak in this genre myself, but I know there are people here who can make some great kid-appropriate recommendations. For reading level, think Harry Potter. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/2 "2005-10-14T15:26:52Z")
I think Robin Hobb’s books would be okay for a Potter reader. The Farseer Trilogy has wonderful dragons. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/3 "2005-10-14T15:38:23Z")
The best of the best, IMO, is Robin McKinley’s _The Hero and the Crown_. It may be slightly challenging if she’s just entering Harry Potter country, but it shouldn’t be overwhelming. And the dragons in it are **not** good guys: they’re scary mofos. But the book is brilliant and wonderful and fantastic, one of my all-time favorite children’s books. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/4 "2005-10-14T15:39:37Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I think Robin Hobb’s books would be okay for a Potter reader. The Farseer Trilogy has wonderful dragons. You know, you should put a spoiler tag on that. I’m near the end of book 2, and there’s no sign of dragons yet… although now I know a bit more than I should. To the OP: I recommend Weis and Hickman’s _Dragonlance_ books. Nothing too profound, but good fun reading for 14-year-olds or so. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/5 "2005-10-14T15:42:51Z")
Tad Williams’ _The Dragonbone Chair_ is one of my favorite fantasy novels ever. More of an elf book than a dragon book, I guess, but the one that shows up is pretty memorable. Of course, there’s always _The Hobbit_. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/6 "2005-10-14T15:44:56Z")
Anne McCaffrey’s Harper Hall series (Dragonsong, Dragonsinger and Dragondrums, if I remember correctly) enamored me when I was somewhere in the Harry Potter range. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/7 "2005-10-14T15:49:21Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Anne McCaffrey’s Harper Hall series (Dragonsong, Dragonsinger and Dragondrums, if I remember correctly) enamored me when I was somewhere in the Harry Potter range. There’s also her [Dragonriders of Pern](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0345340248/qid=1129303895/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/102-8615115-5337715?v=glance&s=books) trilogy, at a slightly higher reading level, though it’s arguably science fiction rather than fantasy. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/8 "2005-10-14T15:49:34Z")
\*Guards! Guards! \* by Terry Pratchett. “This is Lord Mountjoy Quickfang Winterforth IV, the hottest dragon in the city. It could burn your head clean off.” – Captain Vimes addresses a band of rioters ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/9 "2005-10-14T15:52:10Z")
How about Gordon Dicksion’s **The Dragon and the George** and its sequels? They made this into a cheesy TV cartoon, “A Flight of Dragons”, with the voicers of John Ritter and Harry Morgan. There’s always **The Hobbit** , with good ol’ Smaug. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/10 "2005-10-14T15:55:48Z")
Mercedes Lackey and Andre Norton collaborated on a series of books a few years back, [Elvenbane](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812511751/002-4825016-1224068?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance), [Elvenblood](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812563190/002-4825016-1224068?v=glance&n=283155&%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance), and [Elvenborn](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000B8K7G8/ref=bxgy_cc_text_b/002-4825016-1224068?%5Fencoding=UTF8). While the titles would lead you to think they were mostly about elves, dragons play a huge part in the whole thing. Also, a relatively old one (published in 1972) also by Andre Norton, [Dragon Magic](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0441166547/002-4825016-1224068?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance) is about four boys from very different ethnic backgrounds (Scandinavian, Welsh, Chinese, and African) who have unique encounters with the dragons that their ancestral myths created. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/11 "2005-10-14T15:56:34Z")
Stephen King’s **Eyes of the Dragon[**, which was written as a fairy tale for his daughter. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/12 "2005-10-14T16:11:54Z")
I’ll second the Anne McCaffrey recommendation… start with the harper hall books which are arguably the most kid-friendly, and then possibly branch out into some of the others. For my money, Pern is where Paolini got a lot of the dragon-based themes in his universe, though they’re definitely on different sides of the sci-fi/fantasy boundary. (His stuff is an entertaining read, but as others have noted, _heavily_ derivative. LeGuin, Tolkien, McCaffrey, and the original star wars trilogy are the four biggest influences I’ve noticed so far.) ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/13 "2005-10-14T16:37:51Z")
Definitely sci-fi rather than fantasy, but I was a big dragon fan, and I loved Jane Yolen’s Pit Dragon series. They got weaker as they went on, but _Dragon’s Blood_ kicked ass. And they made it a CBS Storybreak Special! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/14 "2005-10-14T16:39:20Z")
Sorry for the extra post, but I meant to mention also that they’re “Young Adult” fare, on par with HP. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/15 "2005-10-14T16:44:26Z")
another recommendation is Patricia Wrede’s “Dealing with Dragons”, fun little fantasy book. There’s a book out called “Dragonology”, which is in the form of a primer on dragons and it’s fun. Lots of picture books for little kids, of course, have dragons. Our local library lists at least 4 collections of short stories, dragon-themed. You might want to check them first tho. The last dragon story collection I read was quite adult-oriented. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/16 "2005-10-14T17:04:58Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > You know, you should put a spoiler tag on that. I’m near the end of book 2, and there’s no sign of dragons yet… although now I know a bit more than I should. I’m so sorry. I reported the post and asked for a spoiler box. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/17 "2005-10-14T17:10:36Z")
I’m not sure how age appropriate it would be (its been years since I read the series), but tehre was a good series by Melanie Rawn that I remember enjoying a lot…and dragons are certainly a central theme. The series IIRC was something like Dragon Star trilogy (I remember only one book title, Stronghold). I remember reading them when they first came out and thinking that they were quite good. I also second Anne McCaffrey…the Pern novels would probably be perfect. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/18 "2005-10-14T17:11:34Z")
I LOVED the [Pit Dragon Trilogy](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0152008667/103-5000412-7523025?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance) by Jane Yolen when I was an older kid / young adult. It’s centered on two young people in a desert planet populated by criminals, where one of the main leads is essentially a paid slave. The economy of the planet is based on raising dragons to fight, and there are harsh temperatures and all kinds of other factors that play into the difficulty of the leads’ stories. Cool stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/19 "2005-10-14T17:17:36Z")
The thread title immediately made me recall a child favorite, [“The Book Dragon” by Donn Kushner](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0380707691/104-1870662-3904729?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance). Unless she doesn’t like nice and good-feeling books, she will love it. And even then maybe. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shadez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Shadez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shadez)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223/20 "2005-10-14T17:31:40Z")
> [@well he's back](#): > > another recommendation is Patricia Wrede’s “Dealing with Dragons”, fun little fantasy book. There’s four books. Dealing with Dragons Searching for Dragons Calling on Dragons Talking to Dragons I loved that series. I put most of my “younger” books downstairs, but those are still on my bookshelf. /S [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-dragon-themed-fantasy-books-for-my-daughter/326223.md?page=2)