Fantasy novels often include many fantastical creatures. One of those creatures are dragons and few creatures are ever as powerful or as majestic as they are. That is why we will be looking at the five best dragon fantasy books to read. Keep reading to find out which books made the list!
The dragon subgenre feels like it should be huge but it isn’t. Well, not with really good dragon books anyway. Writing about dragons is a tall task and they can be used for good or evil as we will see. Sometimes they are used for a few pages while other times, they have personalities and play an important part.
Dragons have fascinated for centuries and there are various ideas of what a dragon looks like and what it can do. When an author introduces them for the first time, they have to explain what their dragon is capable of and just how strong they are in this fantasy world.
These five novels take different directions with their dragons and that has made them our favorite books about dragons. We can’t wait to see what future authors do with these amazing creatures and if they will build upon a creature that we are terrified of yet still love.
The Five Best Dragon Fantasy Books
- The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
- Eragon by Christopher Paolini
- His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik
- A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle, #1) by Ursula K. Le Guin
- Dragonfall by L. M. Lam
The Hobbit
One of the most famous dragons from a fantasy novel has to be Smaug from The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. He is the main antagonist of the novel and is the final boss in the book. Smaug lives on a mountain, guarding his treasure and he is arrogant like all dragons seem to be.
The inspiration for Smaug comes from the dragon in Beowulf and the speaking dragon Fafnir according to critics. Many people have said that Smaug’s proud and vain character reminds them of the British upper class.
This is one of my favorite adventure novels ever written and one I revisit often. Smaug doesn’t get enough screen time in the novel but his impact in the novel is big.
Eragon
The first fantasy dragon that comes to many people’s minds is Eragon, written by Christopher Paolini. Unlike Smaug, Eragon is not an antagonist, but a good dragon. Paolini’s take on dragons helped popularize the idea of dragon riders.
The novel may not be as sophisticated as the others on the list because Paolini wrote the novel when he was 15-years old. His take on dragons has led to many authors taking inspiration from him and building on his idea of dragon riders. Two of the most popular books of 2023, Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, had dragon riders, showing how this idea is still being used today to great success.
His Majesty’s Dragon
Naomi Novik’s novel His Majesty’s Dragon takes a different spin on the dragon genre. She imagines dragons being used in the Napoleonic Wars and it leads to a must read series. The novel follows Captain William Laurence who captures a boat when a dragon hatches. Temeraire, the newly born dragon, chooses Laurence and he becomes her handler.
What follows is an epic adventure of Laurence and Temeraire training and learning how to fight against the French and their dragons. Novik uses the historical setting beautifully and creates a world that dragon lover’s dream about. This series is maybe my favorite and the attention to detail about the various dragons makes you never want to stop reading.
A Wizard of Earthsea
In A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin, the dragons don’t play that big of a role. Still, they have to be dealt with and reinforces a magical system that Guin creates. That magical system being that names have powers. While it may sound simple, it wasn’t a thing before Guin and now, it has been used by many novels over the decades.
I would recommend the book series just because it is one of the best fantasy novels ever written. Le Guin’s dragons are interesting and different than most dragons in books.
Dragonfall
Lastly, the last book we chose for this list was Dragonfall by L. M. Lam. It is unlike any other novel on the list as it focuses of humanity’s betrayal of dragons. Centuries later, humans have forgotten about the betrayal and their banishment of dragons to another realm but the dragons haven’t.
Having a book told through a dragon’s point of view is original and I enjoyed it a lot. With so many different takes on dragons, this one has a lot of fun and unique takes.
Conclusion
These are the five best dragon fantasy books for you to read in our opinion. The list includes classic novels as well as books that might not be as well known. These are the dragons that we loved and would recommend to readers.
I would love even more books written about dragons. But I also do want them to be original and creative. What dragon fantasy books are you a big fan of? Let us know in the comments below. Until next time, happy reading!
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Caren Hahn has written a trilogy called “Hatched” which is exceptional in my opinion.
The Dragons of Pern books?
You’re right. This list is flawed for excluding the Pern series. It might be the authors preferences, but it doesnt mean “the best” Thanks for mentioning it.
Yeah, citing Eragon as a book that inspired dragon riders, but not including Pern is a wild choice. Especially since Eragon is so badly written in comparison.
The author of this article clearly hasn’t read Eragon either as they state that Eragon is a dragon. This is not the case, Eragon is a human that rides a dragon called Saphira.
The list is flawed because Rebecca Yarros trilogy is one of the best dragon books I’ve read