The Book of Dragons: An Anthology
Written by Jonathan Strahan
Narrated by Matthew Waterson, Lorna Bennett, Eleanor Caudill and
4/5
()
About this audiobook
R.F. Kuang, Kate Elliott, Ken Liu, Todd McCaffrey, Garth Nix, Peter S. Beagle, and other modern masters of fantasy and science fiction put their unique spin on the greatest of mythical beasts—the dragon—in never-before-seen works written exclusively for this fantasy anthology compiled by award-winning editor Jonathan Strahan and with art by Rovina Cai!
Here there be dragons . . .
From China to Europe, Africa to North America, dragons have long captured our imagination in myth and legend. Whether they are rampaging beasts awaiting a brave hero to slay or benevolent sages who have much to teach humanity, dragons are intrinsically connected to stories of creation, adventure, and struggle beloved for generations.
Bringing together nearly thirty stories and poems from some of the greatest science fiction and fantasy writers working today— Garth Nix, Scott Lynch, R.F. Kuang, Ann Leckie & Rachel Swirsky, Daniel Abraham, Peter S. Beagle, Beth Cato, Zen Cho, C. S. E Cooney, Aliette de Bodard, Amal El-Mohtar, Kate Elliott, Theodora Goss, Ellen Klages, Ken Liu, Seanan Maguire, Patricia A McKillip, K. J. Parker, Kelly Robson, Michael Swanwick, Jo Walton, Elle Katharine White, Jane Yolen, Kelly Barnhill, Brooke Bolander, Sarah Gailey, and J. Y. Yang—and illustrated by award-nominated artist Rovina Cai with black-and-white line drawings specific to each entry throughout, this extraordinary collection vividly breathes fire and life into one of our most captivating and feared magical creatures as never before and is sure to become a treasured keepsake for fans of fantasy, science fiction, and fairy tales.
Editor's Note
Dragons galore…
The title doesn’t lie. This collection delivers dragons, and plenty of ’em. Brimming with adventurous stories from masters of fantasy and sci-fi like R.F. Kuang (“The Poppy War”), Ken Liu (“The Paper Menagerie,” “The Hidden Girl”), Zen Cho (“The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water”), and more, “The Book of Dragons” will delight fans of the fire-breathing mythical beasts — and capture the hearts of new ones.
Jonathan Strahan
Jonathan Strahan has co-edited The Year's Best Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy series of anthologies for HarperCollins Australia, co-edits the Science Fiction: The Best of . . . and Fantasy: The Best of . . . anthology series with Karen Haber for Simon & Schuster/ibooks, edits the Best Short Novels anthology series for the Doubleday Science Fiction Book Club, and co-edited The Locus Awards for Eos with Charles N. Brown. He is also the Reviews Editor for Locus: The Magazine of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Fields, and reviews for the magazine regularly. He is currently working on The New Space Opera II.
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Reviews for The Book of Dragons
49 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Good to the last story. When I selected this book I expected that the stories would be weaker as they went on, I was wrong. The stories were spellbinding and well narrated. Not one clinker in the group. Of course all were from recognized authors and most authors have a list of awards as long as your arm. The book is be very much worth the listen.
4 people found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Dragons is an anthology containing diverse short stories and poems about dragons, depicting them in a wide variety of fearsome and remarkable mythical creatures. My favorite stories were Matriculation by Elle Katharine White, picturing dragons as some sort of magical technical invention and the poem The Wyrm of Lirr by C. S. E. Cooney about the release of a captive dragon. I especially liked the diversity of the included stories and their different views on dragons.These are my ratings for every short story (on a scale of one to five stars):What Heroism Tells Us by Jane Yolen (3/5)Matriculation by Elle Katharine White (5/5)Hikayat Sri Bujang, or, The Tale of the Naga Sage by Zen Cho (4/5)Yuli by Daniel Abraham (3.5/5)A Whisper of Blue by Ken Liu (4.5/5)Nidhog by Jo Walton (2.5/5)Where the River Turns to Concrete by Brooke Bolander (4/5)Habitat by K. J. Parker (3/5)Pox by Ellen Klages (4/5)The Nine Curves River by R. F. Kuang (4.5/5)Lucky’s Dragon by Kelly Barnhill (4.5/5)I Make Myself a Dragon by Beth Cato (2.5/5)The Exile by JY Yang (3.5)Except on Saturdays by Peter S. Beagle (3.5)La Vitesse by Kelly Robson (3)A Final Knight to Her Love and Foe by Amal El-Mohtar (3.5)The Long Walk by Kate Elliott (3.5/5)Cut Me Another Quill, Mister Fitz by Garth Nix (3.5/5)Hoard by Seanan McGuire (4/5)The Wyrm of Lirr by C. S. E. Cooney (5/5)The Last Hunt by Aliette de Bodard (2.5/5)We Continue by Ann Leckie and Rachel Swirsky (3/5)Small Bird’s Plea by Todd McCaffrey (2.5/5)The Dragons by Theodora Goss (3.5/5)Dragon Slayer by Michael Swanwick (3/5)Camouflage by Patricia A. McKillip (4.5/5)We Don’t Talk About the Dragon by Sarah Gailey (4.5/5)Maybe Just Go Up There and Talk to It by Scott Lynch (3/5)A Nice Cuppa by Jane Yolen (3/5)
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A large number of interesting well told stories, full of imagination, many very good and no bad ones. The poetry could be worse. Unless you met variants I missed during the deluge of dragon books of first decade of the 21st century, you may find some unique and delightful depictions in these stories, and where the dragons are closer to tradition, well the dragon hunters show variations as well as the circumstances of the encounters. A dragon poses two riddles in the last story and I'm only satisfied with my answer to one of them - afaik no answers are given.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Anthologies are just not something that I seem to enjoy. I nabbed this as an audiobook.While I appreciate the diversity of stories and types of dragons, overall I was just really bored. Each story is about an hour or shorter and if you can’t pull me into your story within 5-15 minutes, then I’m not gonna finish it. I skipped over quite a few stories and out of the ones I did listen to fully I only really enjoyed “Where the River Turns to Concrete” by Brooke Bolander, as well as most of the poems.Pretty lack luster overall for me though, which is rough for me to admit as I love dragons, these just didn’t do it for me.