The Dragon Book is comprised of short stories by modern fantasy authors and is edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois.  Since it’s a short story collection, that’s the premise.

I was so excited when I got this book. I love dragons. Everything about them. The stories, the art, the statuettes (I have 3 on my own). Plus, I got the hardcover book for uber!cheap. About $6.

…and I was so excited! And I was severely let down by the book. I couldn’t even finish it (there are three stories that I haven’t completed) because most of the stories were just so completely…not good. There are 19 stories in this book. 19! NINETEEN! And I really loved 04 of them. 04! FOUR!

…have no fear, no real spoilers in this one!

There were some others that were okay. But there was a bunch of stories that I didn’t like and a couple I hated. The ones I thought were okay weren’t good enough to really make me glad I bought the book. The story that turned me off for good was one I was looking forward to was called The War That Winter Is by Tanith Lee, which I’d been looking forward because the title was pretty awesome. It.was.so.boring. It was a 30 page story where nothing happened.

I used a pretty unofficial scale to rate the stories. It was stories I loved, thought were okay, didn’t like, and really hated.

Stories I really loved: Dragon’s Deep by Cecilia Holland, The Dragon of Direfell by Liz Williams, Oakland Dragon Blues by Peter S. Beagle, and After the Third Kiss by Bruce Coville. Total: 04

Stories I thought were okay: Vici by Naomi Novik, Are You Afflicted with Dragons?  by Kage Baker, Humane Killer by Diana Gabaldon and Samuel Sykes, Ungentle Fire by Sean Williams, JoBoy by Diana Wynne Jones, and Puz_le by Gregory Maguire [yes, the Gregory Maguire of AU Wizard of Oz fame]. Total: 06

Stories I didn’t like: The Tsar’s Dragons by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple [this story was incredibly anti-semitic in the context of Bolshevik Russia, could have still done without it], Stop! by Garth Nix, A Stark and Wormy Knight by Tad Williams, and None So Blind by Harry Turtledove. Total: 04

Stories I hated: Bob Choi’s Last Job by Jonathan Stroud and The War That Winter Is by Tanith Lee [as I said before, a 30 page snoozefest]. Total: 02

Stories Unread: The Dragon’s Tale by Tamora Pierce, Dragon Storm by Mary Rosenblum, and The Dragaman’s Bride by Andy Duncan. Total: 03

Now, I will probably get to those three stories, especially since a lot of people rave about how fabulous Tamora Pierce is an author. But at this point, I’ve wasted enough time (weeks, due to meh!busy!sked with the finals and the papers and the school crap) on this book without enjoying it very much at all. Plus, it takes up a lot of space in my bag. The stories I loved I really did love, particularly Dragon’s Deep, which was the first story in the book and really gave me extra false hope.

It’d be a waste of everyone’s time if I went through the stories one by one, so my opinion is this: if you have the opportunity to read this book, I recommend taking that opportunity and reading something else.

I love dragons, but this just wasn’t worth it. The story collection in here just wasn’t that good.

Tagged: authors: various, books: compilations, books: the dragon book, genre: fantasy