Fantasy with Friends is a weekly meme hosted by the good people over at Pages Unbound. Fantasy with Friends poses questions each Monday about fantasy, either as a genre as a whole or individual works.
This week’s prompt is:
There are many interpretations of dragons in literature – evil, wise, talking, non-talking, etc. Do you have a favorite way of portraying dragons or a specific book you loved the dragon(s) in?
It’s hard to think of a bad portrayal of a dragon—there are just varieties and levels of good, right? Like Pizza or…well, you know..
There’s just something about these serpentine creatures that captures the imagination—just look at the number of that crop up in stories world over for centuries now, from Wales to China and beyond. Spend a little time watching video of a Komodo Dragon and you get a little of the flavor that inspired so many—they’re so alien, so powerful, grawlixing fascinating. And Fantasy authors/filmmakers/illustrators/animators have taken that fertile ground and run wild with it.
Rabid, vicious beasty. Noble animal ridden by knights/warriors like a war horse. Intelligent being with incredible power (and frequently wisdom). I’ll take any of them. I think I prefer the intelligent, talking kind—of course, I think the same thing about dogs in fiction. Or almost any animal. But I’m getting distracted.
I think back to Dragonlance in general—but specifically to The Legend of Huma and the great dogfights (no species disrespect intended) between mounted riders. They really ignited my fascination with the species–but I can’t remember not being into dragons before that, either. You get some of the same in Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle (I think, I only read the first one ages ago). Or, you get that—but with talking dragons in Novak’s Temeraire series. (did Paolini’s dragons talk? I forget. Hope my second son doesn’t read this post, or I’m going to get a stern talking to). I don’t read much anymore that really features that kind of use of dragons—but I suddenly really want to.
Lately, most of the dragons I can think of are solitary figures with their hoard. Like Eustace (and his predecessor) or Smaug. The Dragon species as depicted in McGuire’s InCryptid books are fascinating. You get the sole, powerful being with his hoard—that’s also almost humanized by his mates (that’s not the right term, but I’m not sitting next to the books to get a better one as I type this up).
Then there are the dragons in Evan Winter’s The Burning–that was a grim vision of dragons (not unlike those of Westeros, just maybe a bit more dangerous). The dragony draccus that Kvothe and Denna encounter. The dragon in the Alex Verus books is one of the more daunting creatures I can think of in Fantasy. Peter Beagle’s variety of them from I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons is a take we need more of.
I’m not super-crazy about Harry Dresden’s Ferrovax or Fred, The Vampire Accountant’s Gideon, the King of the West–super powerful and ancient dragons, who walk around looking like humans. I mean, they’re cool characters—I just don’t like that kind of dragon in theory, I want them to be unmistakably dragony.
I do think my favorite recent(ish) dragon is Eoin Colfer’s Vern (short for Wyvern). He’s lived all over the world over the last 3,000 years, but hides out in the swamps of Lousinana when we meet him in Highfire. He spends his days drinking vodka, binging Netflix, and being lazy (until it’s time for him to get all terrifying and viscious). I need to revisit him.
I can’t neglect Zoth-Avarex, the Self-Proclaimed Greatest Dragon in the Multiverse, either. Lockhaven has a lot of fun with him in the novel that shares his name, the sequel novella, and then The Azure Archipelago series. He’s egotistical, a hoot to read about, and has a surprising arc after all. You love to see him get his comeuppance…and to see him grow. Lockhaven’s got a new book on the horizon and the dragon in that one is one you really need to meet. That’s all I can say now.
Oh, I shouldn’t forget the cute hatchling from Miss Percy—I haven’t read the rest of the series, so I can’t comment on what he becomes. Come on—a clumsy lizard acting like a devoted puppy? Just so good.
I think I started with an outline and thesis in mind, but I got all distracted and just started rambling about some particular dragons. It fits, because it’s hard to be organized when you think about this kind of thing. Dragons, like bow ties and Stetsons, are cool. Everything else is just icing on the cake. We might as well just revel in it.
I’m sure some of the other posts in response to this prompt will be more thoughtful. I’m looking forward to reading them. Do you have responses to this? (either for the comment section below or from your own post)
