Dragon Books: A Masterlist

An updated version of this post is now a separate page, which you can see here. 

As anyone who looks at my logo can tell, I love dragons! That said, I haven’t read all the books on this list (not even close), so I can’t vouch for the quality of all of them.

• I’ve broken the list down by age group (and a few other classes.)
• Each book or series is in alphabetical order by author.
• Title links take you to Goodreads.
• Review links are to my reviews.
• Books I’ve read are in bold.
• Double asterisks indicate books with diverse main or significant secondary characters. By “diverse,” I mean characters who are one or more of the following:
  • people of color
  • people of (real-world or analog) ethnicities, cultures, and/or religions other than white, European/Western, and Christian. (I’m not counting fantasy-world cultures or religions as “diverse” unless heavily based on specific real-world versions.)
  • LGBTQIA people
  • people who are disabled/differently-abled, or not neurotypical
  • people dealing with mental illness

Finally, this list is far from exhaustive. I included only books I’ve read or have heard good things about from other readers. If I’ve left out your favorite book(s), leave me a comment with the title, author, and why you like the book. And if you notice that I didn’t mark a book as having diverse characters when it actually does, please let me know, and I’ll update the list.

The list is a work in progress. In a few weeks, I plan to turn it into a page, which I will update it periodically.

Dragon Books Master List

Picture books

1. Sleeping Dragons All Around by Sheree Fitch, illustrated by Michelle Nidenoff
2. Do Not Bring Your Dragon to the Library** by Julie Gassman, illustrated by Andy Elkerman (review)
3. The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Graham, illustrated by Michael Hague
4. St. George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman
5. Raising Dragons** by Jerdine Nolen, illustrated by Elise Primavera
6. La Princesa Dragon/The Loathesome Dragon by David Wiesner, illustrated by Kim Kahng
7. Ignis by Gina Wilson, illustrated by P. J. Lynch
8. Puff, the Magic Dragon by Peter Yarrow, illustrated by Eric Puybaret
9. Dove Isabeau by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Dennis Nolan
10. Merlin and the Dragons by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Li Ming

Middle-grade books

1. The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart** by Stephanie Burgis (and its forthcoming sequel) (review)  (**Silke, who is about to get her own book)
2. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville
3. How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell (and the rest of the series)
4. The Fire Within by Chris deLacy (and the rest of The Last Dragon Chronicles)
5. Kenny and the Dragon by Tony DiTerlizzi
6. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
7. Dragon’s Milk by Susan Fletcher (and the rest of the Dragon Chronicles) (MG/YA)
8. Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke
9. My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett (and the rest of the My Father’s Dragon trilogy)
10. Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George (and its sequels)
11. The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Graham
12. The Dragon in the Sock Drawer by Kate Klimo (and the rest of the Dragon Keepers series)
13. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis
14. The Book of Dragons by E. Nesbit
15. Farmer Giles of Ham by J. R. R. Tolkien (all ages)
16. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Design by Cathrynne Valente
17. Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede (and the rest of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles)

YA books

1. The Sweetest Dark, The Deepest Night, and The Fiercest Joy by Shana Abe (reviews of book 1, book 2) Abe’s Drakon adult historical-fantasy romance series is related to this series.
2. Dragon’s Keep by Janet Lee Carey (and the rest of the Wilde Island Chronicles)
3. The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman (and the rest of the Invisible Library series) (review)
4. The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde (and the rest of the Chronicles of Kazam) (review)
5. Seraphina and Shadowscale by Rachel Hartman (review of Seraphina)
6. The Saint of Dragons by Jason Hightman (and its sequel, Samurai)
7. The Finding by Jenna Elizabeth Johnson (and the rest of the Legend of Oescienne)
8. The Story of Owen and Prairie Fire by E. K. Johnston
9. Firelight by Sophie Jordan (and the rest of the Firelight trilogy)
10. Talon by Julie Kagawa (and the rest of the Talon series)
11. A Book Dragon by Donn Kushner (I need to read this one!)
12. Joust by Mercedes Lackey (and the rest of the Dragon Jousters quartet)
13. One Good Knight by Mercedes Lackey
14. A Wizard of Earthsea and  The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. LeGuin (as I recall, the middle book of the trilogy doesn’t have dragons in it)
15. Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, and Dragondrums (the Harper Hall trilogy) by Anne McCaffrey (mini-review of books 1 & 2) These books have both full-size dragons and miniature dragons called firelizards.
16. The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
17. Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley
18. Eragon by Christopher Paolini, and the rest of the Inheritance Cycle
19. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien (MG/YA and adult)
20. Dragon’s Blood by Jane Yolen (and the rest of the Pit Dragon Chronicles)
21. Dragon and Thief by Timothy Zahn (and the rest of the Dragonback series)

Adult books

1. Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron (and the rest of the Heartstrikers series)
2. A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan (and the rest of The Memoirs of Lady Trent)
3. Dragon Bones and Dragon Blood by Patricia Briggs
4. The Dragon and the George by Gordon Dickson (and the rest of the Dragon Knight series)
5. Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly (and the rest of the Winterlands quartet)
6. The Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb (and the rest of the Rain Wild Chronicles)
7.  A Book Dragon by Don Kushner (I’m told this is readable by YA and advanced MG readers)
8. Tea with the Black Dragon** and Twisting the Rope** by R. A. MacAvoy
9. the Pern series by Anne McCaffrey (review of The Dragonriders of Pern trilogy; the full series spans over 20 books)  These books have both full-sizedragons and miniature dragons called firelizards.
10. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip (could be considered YA)
11. His Majesty’s Dragon** by Naomi Novik (and the rest of the Temeraire series) (series review – a guest post on Because Reading)  (** secondary characters of color from book 2 onward, but none in book 1)
12. Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
13. Dragonworld by Brian Preiss and Michael Reaves
14. Dragon Prince by Melanie Rawn (and the rest of the Dragon Prince trilogy)
15. Her Majesty’s Wizard by Christopher Stasheff
16. Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton
17. The Dragonlance: Chronicles trilogy by Margaret Weis (and the 225+ other Dragonlance books by Weiss and other authors)

Dragon-shifter romance

1. The Smoke Thief by Shana Abe (and the rest of the Drakon series) Abe’s YA Sweetest Dark series is related to this series.
2. The Dragon Kin series by G. A. Aiken
3. The Dragonfire series by Deborah Cooke
4. The Elder Races series by Thea Harrison (but only some of them)
5. The Dragon series by Allyson James
6. The Light Dragons series, the Silver Dragon series, and the Dragon falls series by Katie MacAlister
7. Heart of the Dragon by Gena Showalter

Books with dragons in them, but only in part of the book or not central to the plot (various age levels)

1. The Nibelungenlied (German myth cycle)
2. The Unlikely Ones by Mary Brown (Adult, though could be read by YA; a few adult scenes)
3. Magician by Raymond Feist (sometimes published in 2 volumes as Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master) (YA/Adult)
4. The Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynn Jones (YA)
5. The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine (MG/YA)
6. Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin (and the rest of the Song of Ice and Fire series) (Adult.) Dragons feature prominently in the Daenerys Targaryen plotline, but it is only one among many simultaneous plotlines.
7. The Immortals quartet** by Tamora Pierce (YA. In the first and fourth book, dragons are a bit more integral to the plot. Kitten, the young dragonet, is an important secondary character in the second through fourth books.)   (**Daine can be read as a POC character.)
8. The Lost Hero** by Rick Riordan (YA)
9. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (Adult, though could be read by YA) (review)
10. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s/Philospher’s Stone; Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling (MG/YA)

Short-story collections, encyclopedias, compendia, and psuedo-nonfiction

1. The Dragon Book: Magical Tales From the Masters of Modern Fantasy (short story anthology; ed. by Jack Dann)
2. Dragon Fantastic (short story anthology ed. by Martin and Rosalind Greenberg)
3. Dragons: A Natural History by Karl Schuker
4. Dragonology by Dugald A. Steer (aka Ernest Drake), illustrated by Wayne Anderson
5. A Dragon-Lover’s Treasury of the Fantastic (short story anthology ed. by Margaret Weis)

More lists of dragon books

1. Dragons (Goodreads)
2. Best YA Dragon Books (Goodreads)
3. The Best Dragon Books (List Challenges)
4. 17 YA Books with Dragons (Epic Reads)
5. Best Dragon Shifter Novels (Goodreads)

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