Light spoilers ahead!
Dragons are a classic fantasy staple. They come in all shapes and sizes, shine all the colors of the rainbow and have powers unique to their universe. Sometimes they’re evil or mere beasts, but in many novels, especially those popular today, dragons are beings of immense intelligence and generally stand for good.
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These four series all contain intelligent draconic main characters, although some of them might be just a tad evil. Instead of judging a book by its cover, come and choose your next read by which dragons you like best.
One simply cannot bring up dragons without mentioning the series sweeping through BookTok since the release of the first book in April 2023. “Fourth Wing,” book one of “The Empyrean” series, is Rebecca Yarros’ take on the popular dragon rider story.
The dragons of “Fourth Wing” are intelligent, powerful and generally independent of their riders. These dragons are not the most forthcoming with humans, and the only given explanation for their bonding with riders is for assistance in protecting their home.
As most dragons of modern media, these dragons are of the European variety and develop in a vast array of colors, each of which is meaningful.
The most notable dragon is Tairneanach, a black dragon who bonds with the female lead Violet Sorrengail. As the rarest type of dragon, black dragons are considered the smartest and most deadly.
Another important dragon is the blue dragon Sgaeyl, belonging to male lead Xaden Riorson. Blue dragons are known for being exceptionally large and overall terrifying.
Bonding to a dragon means they can now channel their innate magic through their rider, resulting in the rider having access to simple magic as well as a power unique to the rider. Violet can call and control lightning, while Xaden can do the same with shadows.
These powers vary wildly. Some other examples are astral projection, summoning objects, healing and erasing current memories.
“Eragon,” book one in “The Inheritance Cycle” by Christopher Paolini, is set in a world where dragons are extinct… almost.
There is one dragon in the entire first book, who the main character Eragon names Saphira, but the lore is extensive.
Long before the events of “Eragon”, dragons and riders were plentiful and were governed by a group simply called the Dragon Riders. They were established by a blood oath made between the elves and the dragons in order to end the war between the two races. When humans reached the continent, they were added to the pact.
The dragons in the land of Alagaësia are largely independent of the riders. All are intelligent with their own personalities, and all breathe fire once they reach a certain age. They are immortal and never stop growing, no matter how large they become.
When a dragon egg is chosen to bond with a rider, they are spelled not to hatch until they meet “the one.” Once they are bonded, a rider gains physical strength, telepathy, immortality and – in the case of a human rider – elven features that appear overtime. Telepathy is important for riders speaking to their dragon, however riders can communicate with anyone else who has this gift.
The most important perk of bonding a dragon is magic. Bonding with a dragon opens a well inside a rider where their magic energy resides.
Using magic is simple. Just put that power behind any word or sentence in the Ancient Language, the language of the elves, and whatever is said will happen.
“Dragon Rider” was originally published in German by Cornelia Funke and translated into English by Oliver Latsch and Anthea Bell in 2001. Books two and three weren’t written until many years later, in 2016 and 2021.
These dragons exist on Earth, yet they are hidden from humans and avoid civilization at all costs. As it is a children’s book, the plot is much simpler. All the dragons are silver and originate from the Rim of Heaven, a valley where dragons can stretch their wings and fly without fear of being spotted by humans.
In this story, dragons are enemies of the griffins. Where before they were united, history cites a duel between a dragon and a griffin in which the dragon was killed. In the ensuing 600 years, a myth was created claiming dragons were born from the body of a demon and only exist so griffins can drink their blood and become immortal.
Between strained relations with the griffins and humans hunting them down, dragons were forced into hiding and eventually forgot how to fly during the day.
At the time of “Dragon Rider,” dragons can only fly while the moon shines. If they go too long without moonlight, they turn to stone.
“Dragonwatch” by Brandon Mull is actually the first book of the sequel series to “Fablehaven,” a series which definitely can’t be read out of order. While the first series does explore dragons a bit, it’s the sequel series that really focuses on them.
These dragons vary the most out of any others on this list. They are all immortal and never stop growing, however not much more can be generalized about the species.
Every dragon is unique in appearance. Most have wings and scales, although some might instead lack wings or possess fur or metal plating.
Instead of just breathing fire, many dragons have a different “breath weapon.” Molten gold, sleeping gas, truth serum, lightning and blasts of pure light are just a few. Two dragons with memorable breath weapons are Raxtus and Siletta.
Raxtus is a dragon that was raised by fairies. Because of his unusual upbringing, his growth was stunted, and his scales are a brilliant white. His breath weapon has two functions: healing and making things grow at an accelerated rate.
Siletta is notoriously known as “The Poisonous One.” Not only does she breathe acid, but every bit of her from her skin to her core is some kind of deadly poison. She has ten legs, no wings and her skin is translucent; all her organs are visible, pumping poison around her body.
There are only two powers every dragon shares. One is the ability to temporarily shift into a human avatar. Dragons who choose to shift permanently are called wizards. Dragons generally hate wizards because dragons are incredibly vain and view wizards as lesser beings.
Dragons are also able to exude magical fear that paralyzes their prey, both physically and mentally. It takes years of training to resist dragon fear, and most people never manage it.
