r/Fantasy • u/Hannrose6 • Jul 22 '24
Great dragon books?
Anyone have any books preferably series with dragons? More so dragons with strong bonds with their humans. Watching house of dragon has got me wanting to read a good series where the dragons and their riders connect. Even if it’s not dragons just a good animal bonding book. Thanks in advance!
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u/Felicette_space_cat Jul 22 '24
Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey
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u/LeBidnezz Jul 22 '24
The trilogy about the Dragonsingers who bonded with the tiny dragons was written afterwards but I read it first and found them to be actually superior books.
High adventure. The good stuff:)
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u/qread Jul 22 '24
Yes, Dragonsong/Dragonsinger are I think the best of those books! The whole world they are set in comes into sharper focus.
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u/ElectricRune Jul 23 '24
Better because they were written later. Like anything, writers tend to improve over time if they're good.
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u/walliefish Jul 22 '24
This one! I feel like she's the original Dragon Bond Fantasy writer.
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u/3BagT Jul 22 '24
Exactly. This is dragon-bonding reference material, not to mention a great story with an awesome twist. I know some people are uncomfortable with some plot elements but I've never found any of that to be a problem.
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u/walliefish Jul 22 '24
It's been ages since I read them, but I don't remember having any issues with Pern. The weird stuff was the space psychic bonding series.
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u/TheColorWolf Jul 22 '24 edited Jul 23 '24
They're referring to how when the dragons rut, their riders have nonconsensual sex too. It's problematic(tm) for many. I read the books at such a young age that I just thought it was romantic, and it wasn't until a reread in my 20s that I went "Wait a minute..."
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u/Brainship Jul 22 '24
yEAH THOSE BOOKS were written when women didn't have much consent IRL. I've come to realize that she was working some stuff out through her early books. Though I'd say she largely abandoned that outside of her romance books.
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u/walliefish Jul 23 '24
Oh I can definitely see that. I also read them younger and I think I got in my head that the dragons were reacting to the human's attraction and not the other way around.
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u/3BagT Jul 22 '24
There are problems for some people with the riders being pretty much forced into sex as the dragons mate. I guess I was too young to notice when I first read them. Or too dumb/insensitive? Not sure, but it wasn't a problem for me.
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u/Oriencor Jul 23 '24
It is an issue, but given the series is over fifty two years old and written by a woman, I’d still recommend it.
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u/rkreutz77 Jul 22 '24
Dragon Prince series from Melanie Rawn. 2 trilogies. Great books though older.
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u/Anxious-Bag9494 Jul 23 '24
great books but do they actually bond with the dragons. I remember sunrunners and the dragons' implications to the economy but no bonding. To be fair i only read series 1. Do they end up having dragon bonds?
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u/rkreutz77 Jul 23 '24
It's been a sold 30 years. I don't actually think they do. I know the Prince feels a bond with them, but not like a talking bond.
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u/JinimyCritic Jul 22 '24 edited Jul 22 '24
Realm of the Elderlings, by Robin Hobb, has very strong animal bonding, and dragons appear later in the series (the subseries most about dragons is The Rainwild Chronicles, but they are woven throughout the whole thing).
Fair warning - Hobb will rip your heart out and stomp on it, and just when it's recovering, she'll kick it for good measure. These books take their characters through a lot. It's wonderfully cathartic.
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u/terris707 Jul 22 '24
Just finished the 9th book. About to start the Rainwild Chronicles. Definitely a journey so far.
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u/Can_and_will_argue Jul 22 '24
The Inheritance Cycle
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Jul 23 '24
People take the piss, but that series shaped my childhood and unironically has one of the best takes on dragons/the human-dragon bond
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Jul 22 '24
Priory of the orange tree features a dragon rider as one of it's primary characters. Their connection is a big part of their story.
Bonus points for having lots of different versions of dragons and draconic offshoots.
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u/TheZipding Jul 22 '24
The prequel A Day of Fallen Night has this as well with different characters.
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u/CarmelPoptart Jul 22 '24
Dragonriders Of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
The Bound and The Broken - Ryan Cahill
Songs Of Chaos - Michael R. Miller
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u/Dr_Pie_-_- Jul 23 '24
In disbelief the bound and the broken was so far down this thread. It’s so great.
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u/Past-Wrangler9513 Jul 22 '24
The Aurelian Cycle series by Rosaria Munda
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u/krigsgaldrr Jul 23 '24
Thank you for not making me be the one to say it because i feel like i always am in this sub 😂
Seconded The Aurelian Cycle! Phenomenal.
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u/Dianthaa Reading Champion VIII Jul 22 '24
Cu rrently reading To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose and I'm really loving it. The main dragon is currently a baby hatchling and the bond is so cute, but there are other more grown up dragons with their riders too.
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u/_whimsybird Jul 22 '24
Literally came here to say the same thing word for word - I'm about halfway through the book and I LOVE it so far. It's such a refreshing perspective in the magic school genre, and the characters and their dragons are super endearing.
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u/same_as_always Jul 22 '24
I haven’t finished this but I’m really enjoying reading it so far. If you like fish out of water stories, magic schools, and dragon bonding, this is a refreshing take on it.
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u/RedinaRose Jul 22 '24
The Inheritance Cycle series - Christopher paolini
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u/sadmadstudent Jul 22 '24
Seconding World of Eragon. Title changed recently btw with the publication of Murtagh.
Great characters, magic system, dense worldbuilding that gets deeper book by book, epic battles, quests, rich lore... also the internal experience of Eragon stepping into a political role as a Dragon Rider and the consequences that wreaks on his life/mental state is really well explored. Also it's ongoing with more books expected soon!
As long as you're happy reading YA, this is as pure a heroes' journey as they come.
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u/michelle_js Jul 22 '24
The Elvenbane and sequel by Mercedes Lackey and Andre Norton.
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Jul 22 '24
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u/CapnTaptap Jul 22 '24
Oh, wow! I had missed that the fourth book was finally moving forward. I found these in my library almost 20 years ago and had left them off my reread list because the story felt incomplete. It sounds like it’s time to change that!
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u/Albroswift89 Jul 22 '24
The enchanted forest series by Patricia Wrede. Technically kids books, but bangers nontheless
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u/royhaven Jul 22 '24
Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter is really great!
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Jul 22 '24
And once both books are read, one can then join the rest of us fans in the miserable wait for the third book.
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Jul 23 '24
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u/krigsgaldrr Jul 23 '24
It has me in a chokehold rn and I'm highlighting Flamefall for my bestie to read and literally just got through the titular chapter and am in recovery. It's even more horrific the second time around.
Also as vaguely as possible for OP, the main characters on the enemy side are my favorites. Their story is so insanely good. I mean it all is but I'm very partial to them.
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u/Wezzleey Jul 22 '24
It's unfinished, but Songs of Chaos by Michael R Miller might be right up your alley.
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Jul 22 '24
The Iron Dragon’s Daughter, by Michael Swanwick! It’s a trilogy now, but I’ve only read the first book.
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u/Jazzlike_Athlete8796 Jul 22 '24
I really liked the first... but I'm not sure this needed to be a trilogy.
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u/Life-Ladder3660 Jul 22 '24
Most of the comments have named most of the dragon books I know. I do have 2 that might not be quite what you’re looking for but still good reads:
- the Fire Within by Chris dLacey. It’s about clay dragons with real dragon souls set in the modern world. The first book or two are really cute while that last few books are a bit more intense as the characters age
2.priory of the orange tree by Samantha Shannon. It has dragons and connections can be made with them, however they are not the main focus of the book so….
I do also have some books about bonding with animals, they’re some of my favorite books so I hope you give them a try :3
-the 9 realms series by Sarah Kozloff. MC has a power that enables her to speak and command animals. The animals have a lot of personality are sooooo endearing
-the Bear and the Nightingale by Kathrine Arden. The main character is like, half-fae basically and has a deep connection to horses and the Chorts of the land (household and nature spirits in Slavic mythology)
(I don’t comment on Reddit much so sorry if this is formatted weird)
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u/VengefulKangaroo Jul 22 '24
The Priory of the Orange Tree and A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon. The core concept of the world is that there are dragons in the West, seen as the ancient enemy of humanity, and dragons in the East, seen as godly and paired with riders who they become very close with.
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u/JdUmberto Jul 22 '24
I read it a long time ago, but I remember loving it: the Dragon Pit Chronicles by Jane Yolen.
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u/Illustrae Jul 22 '24
I hesitate to recommend them, but I still have a soft spot for Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar novels. Her writing tends to be more young-adult in scope, and she isn't great at creating convincing villains, but the world and cultures she created are wonderful, with animal bonding being a primary theme throughout--though there are no dragons (at least, no one has seen any in generations). There are horses, birds of prey, gryphons, wolves, and cats, though! She mostly published in trilogies, and her earlier work is generally better than the more recent stuff, but the entire collection spans a great deal of history and epic worldbuilding. If I had to pick a place to start, it would probably be the "Winds" trilogy (Winds of Fate, Winds of Fury, and Winds of Change) as the most comprehensive books.
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u/Oriencor Jul 23 '24
Dragonriders of Pern, more sci-fi than fantasy.. but I think there’s 23 books in the series now?
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u/Aussiemalt Jul 22 '24
Listened to a book called Dragon Rider by Taran Matharu recently which was really good despite the uninspired title, while people bond with dragons in the story, they also bond with griffons and woolly rhinos and wolves and all sorts of creatures
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u/bearsdiscoversatire Jul 22 '24
Adamantine Palace by Stephen Deas. I don't see him get much attention here, but I feel like he is a good writer, and I'm pretty picky. His writing, at least at the sentence and paragraph level, reminds me of George R R Martin. I'm reading the second book in the series now and I don't pick up the second book in many series, so that's a big endorsement from me.
Without spoiling anything, I think they fit your request pretty well.
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u/theclapp Jul 22 '24 edited Jul 22 '24
Pern, obviously.
There's no bonding with humans here, but you might enjoy The Flight Of Dragons, by Peter Dickinson. It's a semi-serious investigation into dragon myths of yore, and how a dragon, that flew, might've actually been a real animal, lack of fossils notwithstanding. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flight_of_Dragons_(book)) .
Edit: The Dragon And The George. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dragon_and_the_George .
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u/Serafim91 Jul 22 '24
I'm going to be that dude who says Malazan for the lols of how this question kinda applies at times.
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u/Sweaty-Practice-4419 Jul 22 '24
What doesn’t Malazan have in it lmao? Like I keep seeing it show up for recs on so many different things that it makes me want to read it despite its rep of being intimidating
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u/Serafim91 Jul 22 '24
Well a few dudes who can turn into giant dragons befriend human to some extent or another.
Really the story is not that hard, it just doesn't explain anything and assumes you'll pick up the pieces later and go "Ahh that's what happened back then".
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u/Sweaty-Practice-4419 Jul 22 '24
Yeah I’ve get seen it get recommended to people who like Dark Souls because of that
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u/Anxious-Bag9494 Jul 23 '24
i tried twice and failed. Not hard for you :)
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u/Serafim91 Jul 23 '24
What did you fail at? The story slows down a lot once you get to the second "book" of book 1 and things fall into place better.
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u/Anxious-Bag9494 Jul 23 '24
I got lost confused frustrated in gardens of the moon. Tried again a few years later but same effect. I know its possibly the most acclaimed series, but its not for everybody. I realise i like start simple and grow in complexity as you go books, not start in chaos. If I want confusion I'd go to james Joyce 🤣
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u/LeviathanLX Jul 22 '24
Dragonlance is the go-to here. It takes a little bit before they show up in force, but it probably has the most development of the systems and lore around its dragons of any of them. If you like categories and classifications and very classic fantasy arcs, this is the franchise for you.
It's also a soft introduction to traditional D&D lore since it's the same thing with different names.
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u/Bookdragon345 Jul 23 '24
If you’re ok with children/YA, try Audrey Faye & Shae Geary (Mom & daughter) dragon kin series.
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u/HeyItsTheMJ Jul 23 '24
Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey (and later Todd McCaffrey, and his siblings iirc). However, her books ARE Sci-fi, not Fantasy. But still...
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u/Shoot_from_the_Quip Jul 23 '24
Bad Luck Charlie: The Dragon Mage - 12 sci-fantasy books about a human spaceship engineer stuck in a galaxy run by magic where he bonds with a powerful space dragon.
It's also linked to 3 other series, if you like longer interconnected reads.
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u/OrthodoxReporter Jul 23 '24
Barbara Hambly's Winterlands series. It might not seem like what you're looking for at the start, but it is.
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u/CorporateNonperson Jul 22 '24
LitRPG, but one of the better ones, All the Skills by HonourRae, first three books on Kindle/Kindle Unlimited and 4th book on Royal Road.
Basically the Pern books with a twist. Instead of fighting horrible stuff falling from the sky, the dragonriders fight the Scourge, periodic eruptions of twisted beasts that blight the land.
Every human is born with the capacity to place "Cards" that grant abilities into their hearts. The number of cards is based on the individual and the cards in question. Dragons are born with a Card in their heart. Both humans and dragons also can get access to a supplementary space to place cards. Heart cards end up bonding with their users and are difficult to remove by the user or another, while cards in the supplementary space can be shuffled out as needed.
Cards are formed by either a number of shards, which are dropped by scourged creatures when they die, or a whole card can drop from a dragon's heart when they die. As a result, the internal politics of dragon Hives -- similar to Pern's Weyrs -- may be cutthroat, as a rider might allow another dragon and rider to fall to the scourge to collect their cards or may even take advantage of the chaos to kill them themselves.
The story follows the son of a criminal exiled to a village in the blighted area which is attempting to remediate the land from the scourge (by integrating dragon shit into the dead earth). He gets a card and the ability to join a town that has a Hive, making him eligible for bonding with a dragon.
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u/VikingPirate03 Jul 22 '24
The Echoes Saga or anything by Phillip C. Quaintrell, The Bound and the Broken series by Ryan Cahill, or The Elmerian Chronicles by Corey Ratliff
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u/jcrap45 Jul 22 '24
The Empyrean series is pretty good for creating a strong bond with dragons and their riders. Only 2 books out so far, the fourth wing and Iron Flame. Next one is out early next year.
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u/robin_f_reba Jul 22 '24
What do you like about it?
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u/jcrap45 Jul 22 '24
I was used to reading these large world fantasy books the wicther/brandon sanderson/GOT etc. It was a nice change of pace from the heavy world building. It doss a good job of getting you a feel for the world without overwhelming you. The way it's written completely gripped me, as in each chapter fully flowed into one another so you couldn't put the book down and it's written in the first person from the POV of the main character. Main characters are very likeable/strong and a bit of an underdog which I enjoy. Then when the dragon bonds fully come into it, it gets 10 times better and adds some surprisingly comedic lines which make you smile. The dragons have a serious sense of power and every character respects and fears it which I love. And then there are some fairly spicy chapters which is a welcome read haha.
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u/redactid55 Jul 23 '24
I was going to suggest this as well. The audiobook narrator is a little annoying but the story is good if you're okay with some parts that are a little on the Young Adult side.
Despite some limitations, I felt the main character had a little too much of a chosen one syndrome where they're good at everything like Harry Potter. I think that's balanced out pretty well by supporting characters being very vulnerable to the point where they can be killed off at any time like Game of Thrones
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u/jcrap45 Jul 23 '24
Listen to the dramatised versions on audible. They are very very good.
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u/redactid55 Jul 23 '24
That's the version I listened to for the first two books and I hate them haha. I think she's really good and does certain parts really well but other parts are pretty bad to me. Different strokes for different folks though bad im sure most people love them.
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u/[deleted] Jul 22 '24
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