Celebrate Year of the Dragon with These Good Reads!

Original dragon art by Andrea Soforic.

It is the Year of the Dragon, and what better way to enjoy it than digging into the dragon’s horde of books to find some shiny gems? Just make sure to avoid the fire. From children’s books to adult, there is a whole smorgasbord of book series available from LAMP to satisfy a dragon of any age’s desires.

First up, we have a few series for children including Jane Yolen’s Pit Dragon Chronicles, where winning the competition can mean freedom and happiness to the victor. Next, is Patricia C. Wrede’s Enchanted Forest Chronicles, where instead of being a damsel in distress, this princess decides to save herself and make a deal with a dragon. While in Tui Sutherland’s Wings of Fire, the dragons themselves are the saviors according to a prophecy. Now they just need to figure out how they all fit into the plan.

For our young adults, we have Christopher Paolini’s Inheritence series, wherein a young boy bonds with one of the last dragons and embarks on a quest to learn about magic and his own origins, all while trying to save the world from the grip of an evil dragon rider. Meanwhile in Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim, a princess goes out into the world to save her brothers from a curse, all while dealing with a dragon and a curse of her own. Rounding out the dragon horde is Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa. As a half human, half fox, Yumeko has had her fair share of issues in life. After her adoptive family was slain, she finds herself on a mission to uncover the pieces of a wish-granting scroll with ties to a great dragon.
For our adult patrons, we have Poppy War, a series by R.F. Kuang, who also wrote the acclaimed Babel. Rin finds herself thrown into an academic world she never imagined, only to find she has a lot more to learn about the world and herself than she ever expected. Meanwhile, in Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, Violet has always seen herself as a meek person. Expected to join the Scribes, however, with a General as a mother, she finds herself thrown into the deadly candidate pool of dragon riders, where death is around every corner. In Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon, the end of a nation is neigh unless the Queen can find a way to continue her bloodline while dodging assassins and other threats. Good thing she has a bit of magic on her side to keep things going.

CHILDREN
Dragon’s Blood: A Fantasy / by Jane Yolen | BR 10937, DB 22372
Jakkin Stewart steals a hatchling dragon and trains it secretly in the desert. If Heart’s Blood, the young dragon, can win in the gaming pits, his young owner can buy his freedom and win the love of a mysterious girl. Jakkin can’t even think of what would happen if his dragon loses. First book of the Pit Dragon trilogy. For grades 5-8 and older readers. 1982.

Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede | DB 33457
Princess Cimorene is curious, energetic, feisty, and not at all the proper princess that her parents–the very proper king and queen–wish her to be. Determined not to marry the vapid prince that has been chosen for her, she runs away and throws herself wholeheartedly into a career as a dragon’s princess. As she fends off nosy wizards and helps out hysterical princesses, she makes a firm place for herself in the dragon world. For grades 5-8 and older readers. 1990.

Dragonet Prophecy by Tui Sutherland | DB 97153
Determined to end a generations-long war among the seven dragon tribes, a secret movement called the Talons of Peace draws on a prophecy that calls for a great sacrifice, compelling five appointed dragonets to fulfill a painful destiny against their will. Commercial audiobook. For grades 4-7. 2012.

YOUNG ADULT
Eragon by Christopher Paolini | BR 21177 DB 57232 DB 61002 (SPANISH)
Fifteen-year-old Eragon bonds with the baby dragon, Saphira, that hatches from a mysterious blue stone. They train in magic and martial arts and, refusing to serve the evil king, sally forth to encounter warriors, dwarves, and others battling the empire. Some violence. For grades 6-9 and older readers. 2003.

Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim | DB 104326
Shiori, the exiled princess of Kiata, must unravel the curse that turned her six brothers into cranes. Her spurned betrothed, a capricious dragon, and a paper bird brought to life by her own magic help Shiori in her quest to save her kingdom. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2021.

Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa | DB 93136
Raised by monks in the Silent Winds temple, sixteen-year-old Yumeko is half human, half fox. After her adoptive family is brutally slain, Yumeko embarks on a dangerous quest to find the missing pieces of an ancient wish-granting scroll. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2018.

ADULT
Poppy War by R. F. Kuang | DB 92191
No one was more surprised than Rin when she aced the empire-wide exam for entrance into the Academies. But being a dark-skinned peasant from the south makes fitting in at the Sinegard military school difficult, especially when Rin learns she has the rare skill of shamanism. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2018.

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros | BR 25277, DB 115206
Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from USA Today bestselling author Rebecca Yarros. Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away … because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them. With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wing leader in the Riders Quadrant. She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise. Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret. Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die. — Provided by publisher.

Unrated. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller.

Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon | DB 94540
Sabran, queen of Inys, must conceive a daughter, as her bloodline binds the dragons that would otherwise destroy the realm. Assassins hunt her, but her lady-in-waiting Ead Duryan keeps watch, armed with forbidden magic. Some violence, some strong language, and some descriptions of sex. 2019.