Creature Feature Friday: Dragons

Meaghan from A Bookworm's Haven is potentially the biggest fan of dragons I've ever met, and she's here today to defend her favorite mythic beasts...

What is a dragon?

A dragon is a being made from pure awesomeness! What? Alright I will give you a more specific definition. Dragons are legendary creatures, typically with serpentine or otherwise reptilian traits, that are featured in the myths of many cultures.

What do you love about dragons?

My fascination with dragons started when my parents gave me a snow globe for Christmas with a dragon inside. I was completely enamored with it and ever since that moment I have soaked up as much dragon mythology as possible.

There isn’t anything paranormal out there that can compare to a dragon. I know vamps and werewolves can be scary at times, but the dragon could take them easily. If you somehow manage to get through their razor sharp teeth, talons and the ability to just step on you and squash you, they can still breathe fire! Last I checked vamps and wolves still burn. Plus a dragon could just pick you up, fly you into the sky and drop you to your doom. I’m sorry; a little blood sucking or howling at the moon is not going to cut it against a dragon. All these reasons are why a dragon represents my blog.

Favorite dragon in fiction:

I am going to split this into two categories: dragons and dragon shifters. My favorite dragon is Saphira from The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paloni. She is smart, fiercely protective of her human rider and terrifying in battle. Even though the movie did not even come close to living up to the book, Saphira looks awesome in it so I put a picture of her here.

As for shifter dragons, my favorite is Dragos Cuelebre, from Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison. He is a rare dragon-shifter created around the same time as the birth of the solar system. Yeah, he has been around for a while. Besides being smoking hot, he’s the ultimate Alpha male, head of the Wyr (other shifters) demesnes located in New York City, plus he can shift into a freaking dragon! What more could you want?

Favorite dragon in pop-culture:

Hands down, Falkor from the movie The Neverending Story wins out in this category. I know he is a Luckdragon so he is technically a little different, but I still love him! Luckdragons have good luck in everything they do, they breathe blue fire, they are great conversationalists, they let you ride on them whenever you want, and they are so cute! If you don’t know who Falkor is than you are missing out on a classic movie and need to go rent The Neverending Story!


If you like dragons then you should read…

Firelight by Sophie Jordan (review here)-Fantastic book and the sequel comes out later this year so if you have not read this one you have time to catch up!

Eragon by Christopher Paloini- This series came out before I started my blog so I do not have a review, but the dragon is Saphira and she’s amazing! There are three books out in this series, Eragon, Eldest and Brisngr with the last book, Inheritance, finally releasing later this year. Pailoni can be a little long winded at times with his writing, but the overall story is truly captivating and the dragons kick some serious butt!

Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison (review here)-This is the best book I have read this year! I gush about it in my review and cannot wait for future installments. So far only the first book features a dragon shifter as the main character, but he is definitely worth reading about!

Dark Embers by Tessa Adams (review here)-Another great series that has two books out so far, with the third being released later this year. All of them have dragon shifters as main characters.

The Dragonlance Chronicles by Tracy Hicks and Margaret Weis- This is the ultimate epic fantasy (besides Lord of the Rings, or course) and one I have read multiple times. My copies are very worn and well loved. Dragons are not the main focus, but play a huge role in this world. If you have not read these, you really need to!