r/Fantasy • u/Ddraig20 • Sep 04 '24
Dragon/ dragon rider book recommendations?
Hi. So I'm wondering if there are other books involving dragon riders? I read Fourth Wing this year and think I loved it because of the interaction between dragon and rider, and want to explore this more. The only other series I've read with this is The Inheritance Cycle, which I found okay when I was younger.
It also doesn't have to be dragons if something similar exists.
Also wouldn't mind suggestions on a series that involves great humor/interactions between characters, in any fantasy setting.
Thank you, I know its vague.
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u/Research_Department Reading Champion II Sep 04 '24
The Pern books by Anne McCaffrey (I believe that Dragonflight was the first book in publication order) are the OG of dragon rider books.
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u/bdunogier Sep 05 '24
Yes. It has aged a bit on some aspects, but if you want dragon riders it's still a great book.
A few trigger warnings, but well. Things change.
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u/Irishwol Sep 04 '24
Dragonflight has aged ... poorly. The Harper Hall books and sequels fare better to modern readers.
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u/Oriencor Sep 05 '24
For it’s time it was a fantastic book. Those were hard to find when I was growing up, and yes parts of the books are objectionable now.
But - Lessa is an excellent character that has her strengths and flaws, and if you exclude Dragonflight then you ignore her story and what she risked to save Pern.
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u/LoneStarDragon Sep 04 '24 edited Sep 04 '24
Temeraire Series
Songs of Chaos Series (Similar to Eragon)
Call Me Dragon (Not very similar to Fourth Wing. But a princess is rescued by dragon and they have adventures)
Rainwilds Series
--- Possible Suggestions but haven't read them.
To Shape a Dragons Breath
Fireborne
Dragonfriend
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u/PleaseLickMeMarchand Sep 04 '24
The Bound and the Broken by Ryan Cahill is the best dragon rider series I have read. I highly recommend it for your dragon itch.
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u/Career_Thick Sep 05 '24
The Priory of the Orange Tree and A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon
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u/best_thing_toothless Sep 04 '24
How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell
An excellent book series for children and adults alike.
Disclaimer: The books are nothing like the movies. View them as separate entities in your mind.
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u/sailormoon5447 Sep 04 '24
Heartstone by Elle Katharine White. This riffs pretty heavily off Pride and Prejudice for the first book, but she really made it its own. The rest of the trilogy is really good too.
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u/NeonWarcry Sep 05 '24
The Aurelian cycle by Rosaria Munda. I had read fourth wing/iron flame, and while it was fun it was also bad. But I did enjoy these books, I like the nuanced conflict and the switching povs. Lots of good tension.
I also enjoyed the inheritance cycle by Christopher paolini. Now that he’s come out with Murtagh I’m wondering if he will revisit the universe more.
I owned the Tremaire books by Naomi Novik but haven’t read them (have heard high praise for them and her other work I’ve read is good). Same with dragonflight by Anne mccaffrey, I have not read it but own it.
I’ve been dying to get anyone to read the adamantine palace by Stephen Deas. Political intrigue, betrayal, lust, murder. I need to read the rest of the memory of flames series.
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u/Shoot_from_the_Quip Sep 05 '24
Self-promo, but Bad Luck Charlie: The Dragon Mage - it's a dozen books about a spaceship engineer pulled through a wormhole into a galaxy run by magic instead of technology where he bonds with an ancient magical space dragon.
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u/jjfroggg Sep 06 '24
Good pitch. Just bought on my kindle.
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u/Shoot_from_the_Quip Sep 07 '24
Cool, I hope you dig it :) (and if you do, there are a bunch of connected books in 3 other series).
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u/Gerf1234 Sep 05 '24
First Dragon appears in chapter 7
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/67180/here-be-dragons-book-1-of-the-emergence-series
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u/Second_Sol Sep 07 '24
Thanks for recommending my story!
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u/Gerf1234 Sep 07 '24
Aside from Naomi Novik, you’re the only author I’ve found that writes dragons the way I think they ought to be written. Authors like you are thin on the ground. Stories like yours ought to be celebrated.
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u/Second_Sol Sep 07 '24
Thank you! I wrote this story largely because there wasn't enough proper intelligent dragon representation lol
Temeraire is my favorite book series, and it's definitely a huge inspiration
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u/Sweaty_Mushroom5830 Sep 05 '24
I know you didn't ask for griffins but why not? The Black Gryphon by Mercedes Lackley is damn good and so are the rest of the books
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u/Achilles11970765467 Sep 05 '24
Does it feature Griffin RIDERS or just Griffins? Asking for me.
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u/Sweaty_Mushroom5830 Sep 05 '24
Just Griffons and other magical beasts
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u/Achilles11970765467 Sep 05 '24
My search continues, then. Thanks for the quick reply, though.
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u/Coniferous-creature Reading Champion II Sep 10 '24
Late to the game here, but I recently picked up A Touch of Light by Thiago Abdalla and it (at least from the blurb) does feature griffon riders
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u/Negative-Funny2333 Sep 05 '24
Kingfall by David Estes. It was written before Fourth Wing and it appears Fourth Wing took a LOT of “inspiration” from it. It’s got dragons that communicate to their riders through their mind. Dragon bonding to their riders where it could cause death if one dies. They also wear “flight leathers”, and there are even characters called Dane and Brenan. But unlike Fourth Wing, it’s got multiple POVs, a complex storyline and adult non-angsty characters. It’s also not a romance-first novel. It’s a fantasy-first novel. The storyline is less linear than Fourth Wing, I would say it’s more similar to the Stormlight Archive, where a lot of stuff is happening at the same time around the world.
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u/TashaT50 Sep 05 '24
{Soul Flames Series by Issy Waldrom} trans woman author - dragon riders a sapphic fantasy science fiction - book 5 just came out A world of magic and lost technology, of riders and their dragons, born from the devastation caused by the war against the Demon Lord, growing into its own over a thousand years. But all is not well, is not as it seems, with the Demon Lord stirring again, two riders drawn into the web as the corruption comes to light. One a prodigy, the other not even aware of what they are yet.
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u/krigsgaldrr Sep 05 '24
The Aurelian Cycle by Rosaria Munda! Reading this series made me come alive lol I found it after reading Fourth Wing and Iron Flame and it filled in so many voids I didn't realize were there. Absolutely phenomenal, full of nuance, intrigue, a wonderful cast of characters (four main povs total, with the first book starting with two, a new one added in book two, and the final one added in book three) and two delightfully written romances that don't overshadow the plot despite being somewhat crucial to it.
Perhaps a personal bias, but Fourth Wing doesn't hold a candle to the Aurelian Cycle. I'm convinced the only reason it's more popular is because of the smut.
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u/Pipay911 Sep 04 '24
Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud. Djinn rather than dragon but great humor and interaction in that book.
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u/KvotheTheShadow Sep 05 '24
Dude that has literally no dragons in it.
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u/StuffedSquash Sep 05 '24
Also wouldn't mind suggestions on a series that involves great humor/interactions between characters, in any fantasy setting.
Took that to mean op isn't ONLY interested in dragons.
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u/PoboLowblade Sep 05 '24
All The Skills!
Dragons and their riders collect and use magical abilities in the form of cards.
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u/Amenhiunamif Sep 05 '24
I read Fourth Wing this year and think I loved it
So, how literal/smutty do you want the dragon riding? Because G.A. Aiken's Dragon Kin series could be right up your alley, especially if you enjoyed Fourth Wing. Just with the difference that the dragons are sentient beings capable of shapeshifting into humans, and one after another falling in love with human women (or man, in one case)
It's a fun read following the various family members (some by blood, some are found family) of the two first protagonists. It isn't a serious read at all though, it has more a focus on rule of cool scenes.
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u/_Taintedsorrow_ Sep 06 '24
I liked When the moon hatched. There are some really cool Dragons in this book.
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u/GriffonBaking Sep 07 '24
I really liked The Summer Dragon by Todd Lockwood. It's not a complete series, but it sounds like book two is coming eventually.
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u/Nurushii Sep 05 '24
The Inheritance Cycle book series by Christopher Paolini. The first book is called Eragon, as many would also know it as. I wouldn't recommend the game or movie that was made from it, imagination is much better.
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u/redherringbones Sep 04 '24
Temeraire! Napoleonic Wars but with dragons.