Ode to Dragons (with contest!)

They're scaly, vain, destructive, and fiery of temper.  They hoard, are reputed to make off with young maidens -- and often like to make the odd snack of the unwary human warrior or wayfarer.  They are magical and powerful; gorgeous and glorious. Dragons are absolutely epic in proportion and we can't get enough of them!

This January, Eos will be releasing DRAGON KEEPER by fantasy fiction icon Robin Hobb -- book one of her new Rain Wilds Chronicles.  The opens with a riveting account of a pod of sea serpents migrating up a river toxic with acidity. Their goal: to find a protected riverbank where they can cocoon and transform into full-fledged dragons. Yet, when the few creatures who survive the harrowing journey eventually hatch, all are malformed or stunted in some manner.

You can only imagine what unfolds when these dragons meet their keepers, the outcasts of the Rain Wild community -- and journey northward, towards the fabled city of Kelsingra.

It's a journey epic in proportion...and it's making us want to go back and read all of our favorite dragon lore of all time!

So, in anticipation for the publication of DRAGON KEEPER (to be followed by DRAGON HAVEN in May 2010) ... we just hadto ask fantasy fans which are their favorite dragon tales of all time.  After all, we need to get your internal fires pumping for epic dragon lore in anticipation of Robin Hobb's scaly beasts coming to American shores...

• The Standard-Bearer: Anne McCaffrey's Dragon Riders of Pern (& the canon of related Pern Works): McCaffrey became the first woman to win a Hugo for fiction with these beloved books, which chronicle a far-flung colony of Earth, where technology has been lost and colonists protect themselves from alien menace with the help of genetically engineered dragons.
• Ultimate Napoleonic Complex: Naomi Novik’s Temeraire novels have been hailed as “Enthralling reading… like Jane Austen playing Dungeons & Dragons with Eragon’s Christopher Paolini.” (Time Magazine) – Brilliant alternate history, with a fantastic twist! (And all of Eos loves the wise-cracking, crusading Temeraire!)
• Scaled with Humor: Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles are favorites among fantasy aficionados, young and old, for "laugh out loud reading pleasure" (Booklist) and "excitement...and good humor." (School Library Journal).
• You Little Stinker: We love this quote about Jane Yolen's Pit Dragon Chronicles from The SF Site: "Yolen does a superb job of ...portraying the dragons as natural creatures. You feel the slime that newborn dragons are covered in, the burns caused when dragon's blood touches human flesh... You can even almost smell the dragons -- for once, it is high praise to say that a novel stinks!"
• I'm Blue, Baby: Tintaglia- a dragon who has inspired myriad fantastic artistic imaginings, makes a cameo in Dragon Keeper, first made an appearance in Robin Hobb's Tawny Man and Liveship Traders - and ensures the rebirth of the dragon populace through some of Robin Hobb's most beloved books - and into the Rain Wilds Chronicles!

Dragon got your tongue? Hope not - Tell us all your wyvern favorites for a chance to win an advanced readers edition of DRAGON KEEPER!

Comments

[ColleenFL]

The Dragon Jouster series by Mercedes Lackey and the Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey are my two favorite dragon series. I'll add this new series to my to-be-read list. Maybe it will turn into a new favorite.

[Rashmi @ A Book Blogger's Diary]

The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik's my favorite!

Thanks,
abookblogger at gmail dot com

[Ruby]

Has to be Halfblood Chronicles by Norton and Lackey, Song in the Silence by Kerner, and Kiss of Fire books by Deborah Cooke. They all are soooo good.

[Chrys]

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles are my favorite! I also love Eragon- not so much the last two books in the series.

Chrys

[Margaret Fisk]

Anne McCaffrey's Pern is probably the most memorable because they're more than just mystical beasts. On the other end of the spectrum, I like Donita K. Paul's dragons in DragonKeeper Chronicles.

I've enjoyed Robin Hobb's other books, and look forward to her take on dragons.

[Wendy]

Patricia Wrede's Enchanted Forest series is my absolute fave too!

[Lingeorge]

I also like the Halfblood Chronicles by Norton and Lackey. I have read every Pern book as well as Mercedes Lackey's Dragon Jousters. Also, of course, the Temeraire books. I like each one for different reasons and am always looking for a new slant on the old myth.

[Pam S-J]

Thanks, everyone! So many great dragon tales! We'll wait to see if some more comments come thru, and pick a recipient of our DRAGON KEEPER galley tomorrow!

[Karen in TN]

I'd have to go with Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series.

[Sara C]

Love love love The Enchanted Forest. Also I have fond memories of of Joanne Bertin's The Last Dragonlord, Dragon's Milk by Susan Fletcher, and the dragons in Michelle Sagara's Chronicles of Elantra.

[Julie Kazimer]

Enchanted Forest wins tails down. Humor and dragons, who can resist?

[Andrew]

Barbara Hambly's "Dragonsbane" (Morkeleb the Black) would have to be my favorite, although I confess to a fondness for both Smaug (The Hobbit) and Ursula Le Guin's Kalessin (Earthsea books). You've mentioned Helen Lowe's Thornspell a few times on this blog and Balisan the Red is also up there.

[Tracey O'Hara]

Definately the DRAGON RIDER'S OF PERN for me. Anne McCaffery's world was the most exciting I read in a long tome and I still re-read them when I get a chance.

[Pam S-J]

Thank you, everyone! Looks like I'm not alone in my dragon-mania...

[janicu]

Put me down for the Dragon Riders of Pern too. It's the first series that popped into my head when I saw this question. :)

[J. D.]

Another vote for Dragonsbane! It was one of the first fantasy books I read as a freshman in Highschool.

[Dottie]

Dragon Riders of Pern here too. Wonderfully written, great imagery!!

[Andrew]

Hey, when will we know who won the arc of Dragon Keeper?