The Dragon Book: Magical Tales from the Masters of Modern Fantasy

a fun fantasy collection.

With nineteen entries by a virtual who's who of fantasy, fans will enjoy this themed collection that look deep into the eyes of Dragons; as the editors explain in the preface: "by far the most potent and widespread of all mythological beasts". The entries are widespread in terms of time and place so various background brings freshness to the anthology. Especially strong contributions are "Vici" by Naomi Novak in the time of Caesar, the mother and son team of Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple who write of "The Tsar's Dragons, the "Oakland Dragon Blues by Peter S Beagle with no Raiders involved only a traffic problem, and "A Stark and Wormy Knight" by Tad Williams. None of the compilation are bummers as each of the writers soar with this version of the mighty dragon who kick military butts (Garth Nix's "Stop") or freeze you with their eyes ("The Dragon's Tale" by Tamora Pierce) or their heartbeat ("The War that Winter Is" by Tanith Lee). The key to this strong thematic short story collection is the wide diverse range of the authors as each makes flying with Dragons a fun fantasy collection.

Harriet Klausner

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Buy this book now

I am 12 and i am in collage reading level my mom got this book 4 me and i love the "a stark and wormy night"story it is the best story outta 24

Well...

Well..i just read a bad review first and decided not to get it. BUT then..i read the other comments and according to the other comments ,i Should read it. I have decided to get the free sample and then write another review on how i thpught it

Puz_le by Gregory Maguire

Not worth it for just the Gregory Maguire short story 'Puz_le', only. That was my mistake. It was a cute and a very super quick read, but it still left me wanting and disappointed at the end. A young girl's weekend with her father's new family is ruined by the weather. She complains of boredom to her mom. She works a puzzle while her mom makes supper in the kitchen. The dragon in the puzzle and the young girl argue for the final puzzle piece.
It did not live up to the work I have come to expect from Gregory Maguire. While I continue to consider Gregory Maguire one of "today's masters of modern fantasy", this was by no means even comparable to his superb and fantastic work that I've read with its fantastical adult twists and drama. If it did not have his name advertised, you would not have known that it was his work. If you are a fan of any of the other authors listed in this novel, by all means, buy this book and enjoy it. For a picky reader like me with too high of expectations, I wish that I could have enjoyed it too. This book will probably end up in the donation bin, instead of living on my bookshelf, waiting for me to read it again and again. This poor experience does not mean that I will not read Gregory Maguire again. Trust me, I most definitely will!

READ THIS BOOK -- Guarantee You'll Enjoy It!

Purchased this for my almost 11 year old whose reading level is 12th grade. It is very difficult to find reading material that fits her reading level yet whose themes or content are not too 'adult'. This fit the bill nicely.
Both the daughter and I read it. It is a collection of short stories whose only common thread is dragons. We feel all of the stories were well written and some quite inventive. The daughter found it extremely enjoyable as did I. In fact, it has introduced me to some new authors whose other works I now want to read.

Wonderful blend of authors

Overall a very good book. I can't have a blanket review, as the authors all have such different writing styles, but definitely one I would recommend for fantasy lovers. Some stories I want to read over and over, a few I didn't like at all, as they weren't my style of fantasy. Again, I found it very enjoyable.

Some good, some great, but not a dud in the bunch

This is book of short stories by numerous authors. I picked it up because of Peter S. Beagle, my favorite author, but found others that I also admire.. Diana Wynne Jones, Naomi Novik and Jonathan Stroud. I actually ended up liking stories by authors I didn't know better than some of my faves. If you like short stories and you like dragons, I would highly recommend this book.

Really good book about dragons!

I purchased this book for my twelve year old grandson. He gives it a 5 star rating.

Something for All Dragonlovers

Humor, adventure, romance, pathos--dragons good and evil--They're all here.

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