[Richardb]

There are certainly a lot of dragon books, and a lot of them cliche. The Dragon Lord books were interesting, with at least a small twist. And the books by Melanie Rawn evoked an image of dragons that I felt was original. Most authors have tossed a dragon in to their fantasy works at some point, many for no other reason than the need for a mighty creature (like Feist) and others to add depth to the world and try something new (Liveships).
All in all, fantasy writing would be more poor if dragons disapeared from the pages, though originality is nice.

[Zsinj]

Yeah there are quite a few but then again there are lots of books with Elves in them too.

Gee, Khallandra! It's sounds as if there might be a possibility of you being a bit prejudice/genocidal towards elves! Any chance that you might be the reincarnation of the dark god Morgoth that has returned through the Gates of Night, as the ancient Middle-Earth prophecy foretold? ;)

Anyway, I haven't read very many novels with dragons in them so far, allthough I certainly plan to. But here are the ones I have read that I thought in whichthe dragons in them were really awesome.

"The Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends Trilogies" by Weis and Hickman - One of the best fantasy series with dragons that I have ever read!

"The Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn Trilogy" by Tad Williams- This has to be the BEST fantasy story with dragons in it I have ever read! The dragons are majestically and wonderfully interpreted. They may be all evil, which may not be the most original or fairest idea or personality for all dragons, but their beautifully represtented nonetheless. And every time I read about them chills went down my spine!

"The Elric Saga" by Michael Moorcock- I always enjoy reading about the dragons in the Elric stories.

"The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien - Smaug kicks arse!!

"The Lord of the Rings Trilogy" by J.R.R. Tolkien -If you consider the Fell Beasts that the Nazgul ride on to be dragons. Personally, I've always considered them to be demons, but some people consider them as dragons.

I abasolutely love dragons! And I hope in the future they will continue to be awesomely and majestically represented in fantasy novels.

[loki_incarnate]

as i said i read books BECAUSE they have dragons in them :P. that dragon book by graeme base (yes its a picture book) i absolutely love. its so cool :D. elvenbane - thought it was ok-ish. pern series - didnt like. i thought it was stoopid but i'll try re-reading them. LOTR and the hobbit of course - classic, loved them. Harry potter - good read, bad movies *grumble grumble*. witches of eileanan series - so good :D:D:D:D. farseer trilogy - certainly offered a different interpretation of dragons. um.... the immortals series by tamora pierce ( young fiction) - still loved them. only passing mentin of dragons. o no they go into dragon realm... very good :P. cant remember more but i know ive read them :/

[Thekherham]

Hey, I LOVE books with dragons in them. Maybe that's why I notice so many in the bookstores. I've got quite a few books on my shelves and I intend to get many more (as soon as I get another job, that is).
Isn't it interesting the number of books you notice when you're interested in a certain subject. A number of years ago I was interested in horses so I noticed a great number of horse books. These days it's dragons. I'm not into elves and such, so I wouldn't even know what kind of books were out there.
I liked the Pern books. I think I have all of them (although I still have to read The Skies of Pern). I read The Hobbit, but I could not read LOTR... The first book... The Fellowship of the Ring I believe it was. I found it boring. Harry Potter doesn't interest me.

[Leiali]

I have to agree with you all, the Pern books have great dragons. I think it is because they are companions rather than strange, distant beasts as they are in the Robin Hobb epic.
And I find the idea of people turning into dragons (a bit like werewolves really) quite appealing because of the scope of emotions that a writer can explore. Like the dragon lance books if I recall correctly, and the Joanna Bertin books(I think the first one was called The Last Dragon) Nothing really springs out at me as the ultimate dragon book though. I wonder what people would say is?

[cvazi]

Speaking about cool dragon books, how about "Dragon Weather" by Lawrence Watts Evans. Where if you survive a dragon attack, you become very strong, charismatic and nigh-immortal- but there's a catch. . .

[Evil Agent]

BIG SPOILERS FOR HOBB'S FARSEER TRILOGY
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I really liked the Six Duchies dragon's in the Farseer trilogy.. not quite your usual breed! Boars, Bulls, and other fantastic jewelled beasts, and made out of stone as well.

[Thekherham]

Correction, Leiali. The book is called 'The Last Dragonlord.'

I have two books by Joanne Betin. The other one is alled 'Dragon and Phoenix'. I haven't read them yet, but one of these days...

Isn't there supposed to a third book? Or is it out already? Must get it, if it is.

[speculative-one]

I don't like it when the author hits the "insert dragon" key on the 'ole keyboard, but other than that I think they are fine as long as they are supported. For example, if they are the only "creature" in a story, then to me they would seem out of place. They should be part of a larger magical ecosystem. Kind of like unicorns... I've always preferred the well-rounded fantasy world to the "oh, we're on a quest to seek the last unicorn" type. To me, it's much more interesting if the world is still full of magic, rather than a "oh, the magic is dying and this is the last hurrah" type of world.

-speculative

[Khallandra]

Originally posted by Zsinj
Gee, Khallandra! It's sounds as if there might be a possibility of you being a bit prejudice/genocidal towards elves! Any chance that you might be the reincarnation of the dark god Morgoth that has returned through the Gates of Night, as the ancient Middle-Earth prophecy foretold? ;)

LOL I'll tell my mother about that she'll laugh cause I love ELVES :) About every single favourite character is an Elf or an Elf type. It's sad. I thinkI have Elf radar or something :P

I like Barclay's dragons as they aren't the main characters and James Clemens dragon is good as well. I haven't read much of Pern, maybe I should....

Books with Elves in them:
Terry Brooks Shannara books (Tay and Ahren = favs)
Tolkien (duh)
Deverry Novels (Salamander)
Midkemia novels (Calis)
Sara Douglass's Istari (sp?) are Elf like
Dragonlance (but they have about every race of fantasy creatures in them anway ;) )
Raven Chronicles (Ilkar and Auum)
and that's enough for now ;)