This month I’m sharing what might loosely be considered a subgenre of fantasy fiction, Dragon Fiction. So, please enjoy a brief history of dragons in literature and some current dragon fiction to share.
Dragons in Fiction
Dragons have been central characters in myths and legends worldwide. So it should come as no surprise they have had important roles in fiction since its early days. As persistent and long-lived beings, dragons have maintained prominence and popularity to the present.
The earliest surviving literary work is the Epic of Gilgamesh (2150-1400 BCE), which includes Gilgamesh’s slaying the dragon called Humbaba. Although the word “dragon” came much later, consider Humbaba’s description: His roar is a flood; his mouth is death and his breath is fire; he can hear a hundred leagues away; he had the paws of a lion and a body covered in thorny scales; his feet had the claws of a vulture, and on his head were the horns of a wild bull.
Since the Epic of Gilgamesh (and though unrecorded, undoubtedly earlier), stories of dragons are common throughout history. Some highlights before the twentieth century include: Beowulf (8th – 11th century), Marie Catherine d’Aulnoy’s The Green Serpent (1698), and Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky” in Through the Looking-Glass (1871). And readers and viewers of fantasy fiction since 1937 have enjoyed J. R. R. Tolkien’s world of Middle-earth (1937), which featured Smaug the Golden in The Hobbit (1937).
Wikipedia has an extensive list of dragon fiction works and another list of dragons in popular culture that are fun to peruse.
Sharing Great Stories
One of the benefits of knowing other readers of a genre you like is sharing some of the stories and series you have loved and some you are checking out. One of my earliest independent readings of fantasy fiction included dragons, and is still one of my favorite young adult fiction series. That would be The Earthsea Cycle* by the incomparable Ursula K. Le Guin, beginning with A Wizard of Earthsea* (1968). The impact and influence of Earthsea and Le Guin are obvious in my first epic fantasy, Fireborne, Dragonbound Book 1*. Published a year before Le Guin’s Earthsea, came Anne McCaffrey’s, Dragonriders of Pern* series (1967), but I didn’t read this series until later.
If I had written this article in 2003, I would have been excited to introduce you to a great new series called A Song of Ice and Fire* by George R. R. Martin, beginning with A Game of Thrones* (1996). I discovered the series that year, and read every book as it became available. Also that year, I had the pleasure of being a “friends and family” tester of a new online game called World of Warcraft. Of course, you haven’t heard of either of these… I built a character named Tyrion Lannister. At first, the name confused people, “Who’s that?” Then later caused them to ask, “How did you get that name!?”
Now let’s take a look at a great new series you may not have read that I’ve enjoyed and recommend.
The Burning Series
The Burning Series* by Evan Winter is only two books so far, but a third is expected in 2023 and a fourth is in progress. The first book, The Rage of Dragons*, was self-published and became one of time magazine’s top 100 fantasy books of all time. Orbit Books re-released it and signed Winter to a four-book deal.
From the publisher: Game of Thrones meets Gladiator in this blockbuster debut epic fantasy about a world caught in an eternal war, and the young man who will become his people’s only hope for survival.
The Omehi people have been fighting an unwinnable war for almost two hundred years. The lucky ones are born gifted. One in every two thousand women has the power to call down dragons. One in every hundred men is able to magically transform himself into a bigger, stronger, faster killing machine.
Everyone else is fodder, destined to fight and die in the endless war.
Young, gift-less Tau knows all this, but he has a plan of escape. He’s going to get himself injured, get out early, and settle down to marriage, children, and land. Only, he doesn’t get the chance.
Those closest to him are brutally murdered, and his grief swiftly turns to anger. Fixated on revenge, Tau dedicates himself to an unthinkable path. He’ll become the greatest swordsman to ever live, a man willing to die a hundred thousand times for the chance to kill the three who betrayed him.
The Rage of Dragons launches a stunning and powerful debut epic fantasy series that readers are already calling “the best fantasy book in years.”
What’s to love about this series: There are so many things to love about The Burning. Though, first I’ll give a warning that some of its scenes are brutal. Evan Winter is a fantastic storyteller and the language in this series is simply beautiful. With rival peoples steeped in historical myths, customs, and culture, the world of The Burning has breadth and depth that makes the story completely believable. The coming of age and love story of Tau is heart-wrenching, exciting, and gratifying.
Dragons in Tabletop Gaming
Roleplaying Games
Matching my monthly genre to tabletop games can be challenging, but this month it’s a slam dunk. As a teenager, I wasn’t allowed to play Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), but I picked it up when I met my future wife in my senior year of college. We played “AD&D” with her friends who became lifelong friends. We still have a monthly game night with some of them thirty-five plus years later. Dungeons & Dragons is still alive and well also, actually having its strongest years ever over the last decade. I have written and/or edited many supplements for the community content program on DMsGuild. I’ve also converted many supplements to the online gaming platform, Fantasy Grounds.
Boardgames
TSR, the original publisher of D&D also produced several boardgames with D&D themes, like Dungeon!, Dragon Dice, Spellfire, etc. and I played them all (and still have several). Wizards of the Coast, the publisher who bought D&D have also actively published D&D based boardgames in the Dungeons & Dragons Adventure System Board Games.
Clank!: A Deck-Building Adventure
There are many recent and popular games that have “dragon” in the name or a dragon theme—I’ve played and enjoyed many. But the game I’d like to highlight for the best implementation of that theme is Clank!: A Deck-Building Adventure.
What’s to love about this series: Clank! has the feel of a typical dungeon delve game—adventurer special abilities, lots of obstacles to evade or overcome and monsters to smack down, plenty of treasure to loot, and, of course, a fierce dragon. It has a streamlined deck-building mechanic and simple rules that are quick to teach and intuitive to play.
What’s super cool, though, is the “clank” mechanic. When you fight or stumble in the dungeon, you make noise, clank, which is represented by cubes of your color that go into a bag with other players’ cubes and some blank ones. When the dragon attacks, cubes are draw randomly from the bag to see who gets attacked. The more noise you make, the more clank you add to the bag, the more likely the dragon will attack you.
For another opinion, Tom Vasel of the Dice Tower recently posted a review of his Top 10 Dragon Games. I like a few of his choices, but my top 10 would be quite different.
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Cover image by Algol/shutterstock.com. Used under license from Shutterstock.com.