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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
Cute, light, easy read about dragons and dreams. Large text with a simple premise lends this book to a good night-time book for children or even adults looking to relax.
An excellent YA fantasy novel. The story is pretty typical, but Yolen's crisp, elegant writing elevates it to a better than average story.
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is a book I randomly picked up from a second hand store on holiday.
I was immediately drawn to the cover because dragon.
I'm a simple woman, I see dragon: I read.
The book itself was an easy and some what enjoyable read about a boy stealing his own dragon egg.
While and characters and story were fun and easy to get into, the world felt a lot more mature and lived-in following similar fantasy-sci-fi vibes of earlier works such as Anne McCaffery. Though not much is done with the sci-fi elements as they seem there mostly to add flavour to the world. It made for a strange combination of light hearted story of a boy and a dragon with a back-drop of slaves and women treated as objects. It was a strangely misogynistic book written by a woman author, where the only woman even any sort of agency is constantly assumed to have 'made a good prostitute' multiple times by the main character (as that seems to be the only career women usually have in this book).
No real change or want for society change exists in the main character as it is a middle-grade book so we're just left feeling a bit ikk for watching a boy become his own slaver, but don't worry, he's a nice boy!
I won't be continuing the series, even though there were elements I enjoyed.
Over all the story was 3 stars, the world brought it down to a 2.5 star.
I was immediately drawn to the cover because dragon.
I'm a simple woman, I see dragon: I read.
The book itself was an easy and some what enjoyable read about a boy stealing his own dragon egg.
While and characters and story were fun and easy to get into, the world felt a lot more mature and lived-in following similar fantasy-sci-fi vibes of earlier works such as Anne McCaffery. Though not much is done with the sci-fi elements as they seem there mostly to add flavour to the world. It made for a strange combination of light hearted story of a boy and a dragon with a back-drop of slaves and women treated as objects. It was a strangely misogynistic book written by a woman author, where the only woman even any sort of agency is constantly assumed to have 'made a good prostitute' multiple times by the main character (as that seems to be the only career women usually have in this book).
No real change or want for society change exists in the main character as it is a middle-grade book so we're just left feeling a bit ikk for watching a boy become his own slaver, but don't worry, he's a nice boy!
I won't be continuing the series, even though there were elements I enjoyed.
Over all the story was 3 stars, the world brought it down to a 2.5 star.
It’s an easy read that’s moderately enjoyable, but is in no way a literary masterpiece. I was able to get through the book pretty fast every time I sat down to read it and it was really fun to read most parts, but the writing style is mediocre and it was very clear that the author only half-figured out how this world works herself. The animals, ecosystem, and environment of this planet was very thoroughly thought out and it was very obvious. She even gave them flaws and strengths and talked about how they live, where they live, what predators they have to fend off, what they eat, each stage of development, and their own origin stories. And let me tell you, the animals were probably one of the biggest redeeming qualities of this book. It was really fun reading about all the dragons and stuff and I felt like I cared so much about the dragons and felt like crying if anything happened to them. The humans, on the other hand, were the complete opposite. According to the fake encyclopedia excerpt in the beginning, they landed on this planet in like 2303. So then why the heck do they have a system of subjugation based on slavery, dress and live like they’re in Medieval Europe, and talk to their dragons using “thee” and “thou”?!?!!! Like Australia was colonized in a similar way and I don’t see them going around wearing tunics, reading books by lamplight, and saying “Good day to you, thou excellent fiend”! And don’t even get me started on the protagonist, who’s practically a Mary Sue with as much personality as wet cardboard. He’s denser than a rock who has a hard time putting two and two together and needs to be told exactly what to believe because he can’t read between the lines but for some reason is loved by literally everyone. Makes like two hundred million life threatening mistakes, but suffers no repercussions because it and is in fact rewarded for it most of the time. He’s supposed to love dragons or whatever, but he’s just okay with the abusing and killing of a male dragon. Worst of all, he’s so self righteous about everything thing and I hate it. He literally flips out at people even though most of the time they are very obviously helping him out or they are very obviously joking. He does very little by himself and usually everything is handed to him, but don’t you dare call him boy because that makes him very mad because he’s a real man, argh. Yep, if a real man was a fifteen year old baby. And there is no character development whatsoever so why, Jane, do you want me to believe he’s a man by the end. And there’s a line that he tells the love interest that seems so out of character because he tries to tell her she can’t leave because he “owns her” despite the fact that he spent the entire book trying to become his own person and very clearly resents the whole bonder system.
Also, I’m very confused as to who this is written for. Bc a part of me thinks it’s for children in like elementary school bc of how mediocre the writing is and the fact that the author literally holds your hand throughout the entire book like your a baby that can’t read between the lines and need to be spoon fed the plot. However, drug addiction and prostitution are like two very common topics throughout the entire book. For example, there even is a scene where a character who was a former prostitute tells Jakkin that she absolutely hated her life when all she did was “look pretty and spread her legs,” which in my humble opinion is not very appropriate for your average 8 year old fetus.
Overall, it’s all a big mess, but I really enjoyed reading all the scenes with the dragons. That was the only thing that really made me continue reading this book because it encompasses the majority of the middle section of the book. It’s a quick read, so if you enjoy that kind of stuff, I would say go for it.
Also, I’m very confused as to who this is written for. Bc a part of me thinks it’s for children in like elementary school bc of how mediocre the writing is and the fact that the author literally holds your hand throughout the entire book like your a baby that can’t read between the lines and need to be spoon fed the plot. However, drug addiction and prostitution are like two very common topics throughout the entire book. For example, there even is a scene where a character who was a former prostitute tells Jakkin that she absolutely hated her life when all she did was “look pretty and spread her legs,” which in my humble opinion is not very appropriate for your average 8 year old fetus.
Overall, it’s all a big mess, but I really enjoyed reading all the scenes with the dragons. That was the only thing that really made me continue reading this book because it encompasses the majority of the middle section of the book. It’s a quick read, so if you enjoy that kind of stuff, I would say go for it.
I read one of the books in this series - or at least a part of it - when I was a kid. Rereading as an adult did not disappoint, though I had forgotten that this book isn't just a high fantasy dragon trainer book, it's also science fiction. Sci-fi with dragons! It's a great idea and I like that blend.
Ultimately, the culture and the history of the world was the most interesting part of the book. I loved the concept of pit fighting dragons, though it is a little more on the brutal side of things. For instance, if it were a culture of dog or horse fighting, this book would never have gotten off the ground, but because it's dragons, it seems to be more acceptable. Actually, it bothered me a little in hindsight that the character never seemed to consider that maybe the main source of his livelihood and the eventual source of his freedom was immoral. Granted, he's a sixteen year old basically being raised as a slave, so what about his life isn't already immoral? The whole world had some problems, but it was kind of a fascinating world culture.
The characters could use more depth overall, but they weren't so bad. A little bland sure, but not bad. The main character is an orphan being raised as essentially an indentured servant in a society of indentured servitude, as are several of his friends. They all live and work on a dragon breeding farm where they intentionally breed dragons to fight other dragons in pit fights.
One thing I had more of a gripe with was the fact that Yolen decided it was culturally necessary for there to be "bag girls," a code word for prostitutes. It's not really something that's generally necessary for a young adult dragon trainer book. And it would be one thing if bag girls were all adults, but it was very very definitely stated that a girl named Akki, roughly the same age as the fifteen year old main character, could have been a bag girl. Fifteen year old prostitutes? That's pretty messed up. I get that on a world that grew from a penal colony, there would be some bad things, but I don't feel like every bad part of society needed to be constantly mentioned as the bad girls were. They also didn't need to be treated as being good and normal. I don't remember even once anyone saying how awful it was, not even Akki whose mother was a bag girl.
Additionally the writing style is very simple, to the point that I almost feel talked down to as a reader sometimes, which drives me crazy.
Overall, this isn't really a book I feel like is a bad read, although I have some gripes about the author's dark world building. I enjoyed reading it and it flowed well. I really like books with dragons where the dragons aren't all tame and loving. I liked that some of the dragons were as much feral beasts as they were trained pets. And, overall, I did like the book. Is it the best dragon book? No, definitely not, but it was definitely a different take on dragons than I've seen in other books.
Ultimately, the culture and the history of the world was the most interesting part of the book. I loved the concept of pit fighting dragons, though it is a little more on the brutal side of things. For instance, if it were a culture of dog or horse fighting, this book would never have gotten off the ground, but because it's dragons, it seems to be more acceptable. Actually, it bothered me a little in hindsight that the character never seemed to consider that maybe the main source of his livelihood and the eventual source of his freedom was immoral. Granted, he's a sixteen year old basically being raised as a slave, so what about his life isn't already immoral? The whole world had some problems, but it was kind of a fascinating world culture.
The characters could use more depth overall, but they weren't so bad. A little bland sure, but not bad. The main character is an orphan being raised as essentially an indentured servant in a society of indentured servitude, as are several of his friends. They all live and work on a dragon breeding farm where they intentionally breed dragons to fight other dragons in pit fights.
One thing I had more of a gripe with was the fact that Yolen decided it was culturally necessary for there to be "bag girls," a code word for prostitutes. It's not really something that's generally necessary for a young adult dragon trainer book. And it would be one thing if bag girls were all adults, but it was very very definitely stated that a girl named Akki, roughly the same age as the fifteen year old main character, could have been a bag girl. Fifteen year old prostitutes? That's pretty messed up. I get that on a world that grew from a penal colony, there would be some bad things, but I don't feel like every bad part of society needed to be constantly mentioned as the bad girls were. They also didn't need to be treated as being good and normal. I don't remember even once anyone saying how awful it was, not even Akki whose mother was a bag girl.
Additionally the writing style is very simple, to the point that I almost feel talked down to as a reader sometimes, which drives me crazy.
Overall, this isn't really a book I feel like is a bad read, although I have some gripes about the author's dark world building. I enjoyed reading it and it flowed well. I really like books with dragons where the dragons aren't all tame and loving. I liked that some of the dragons were as much feral beasts as they were trained pets. And, overall, I did like the book. Is it the best dragon book? No, definitely not, but it was definitely a different take on dragons than I've seen in other books.
My dad got this book for me randomly and I loved it. After I read it I found out it was the first book in The Pit Dragon Trilogy. I read all the books and loved them. The characters are very relatable, expecially to a teen.
Dragon's Blood (Pit Dragon Chronicles, #1) by Jane Yolen – I think I read this one a little too old, but it would be perfect for a middle grader! Enjoy the dragons! Happy Reading!
A fun read. The exposition is frequently clumsy. The people sound kind of like talking encyclopedias a little too frequently, but you certainly learn a lot about the world. I always enjoy reading about someone overcoming their challenges through hard work and their smarts. The ending revelations bring up the issue of whether we ever succeed without the support of others. I'm looking forward to the other books to see how the story progresses.
adventurous
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Finished Kindle sample, decided not to buy. I think I downloaded after seeing it mentioned on metafilter.
I just wasn't drawn in -- the premise is that there's a boy who is planning to steal a baby dragon, train it to fight, and then use the resulting winnings to buy his way out of being a "bonder". The society just didn't seem like a pleasant place to spend time, and I didn't care enough about the characters to keep going.
I just wasn't drawn in -- the premise is that there's a boy who is planning to steal a baby dragon, train it to fight, and then use the resulting winnings to buy his way out of being a "bonder". The society just didn't seem like a pleasant place to spend time, and I didn't care enough about the characters to keep going.