Why Dragons?

As hard as it is to believe, I have two new releases coming out in the next two months—Solarflame in March and The Bane of Dragons in April. That will give me six published novels under my belt. Of these, five feature dragons. So, it begs the question, why dragons?

Why Dragons?

I Grew Up on Dragons

One of my earliest memories was reading a picture book featuring the legend of Saint George and the Dragon with my mother. 

I love that book. 

The story.

The illustrations. 

The dragon slayer.

And most of all, the dragon.

How can you not love a fire-breathing lizard that can fly? I mean, honestly, I have trouble naming a single novel I have ever read that hasn't benefited from having dragons. Would A Song of Ice and Fire be as epic without dragons—the Mother of Dragons, the Targaryens, the legends of Old Valyria? I don't think so.

When I recall The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, my fondest memories are of The Hobbit. Smaug is a villain with personality, not simply a nearly unstoppable force of nature. He is clever, loves riddles, hoards gold, and will gladly eat Bilbo and you and me.

That's great about dragons. They can be just about anything—good, bad, cuddly, or vicious—without losing their inherent draconic nature.

My Dragons

In The Allison Lee Chronicles, I like to think I have a less traditional take on dragons. The draconic entities Allison and her squad encounter are multidimensional aliens masquerading as humans! They're intelligent, full of personality, some are nice while others are mean as pit vipers,  they breathe fire, and they have their own agenda. Not only does Allison have to deal with literal dragons, but she also has her own internal dragon to wrestle with, a creature called a skaag. While in her fictive world,  skaags are not dragons, her skaag is certainly a metaphorical dragon.

In contrast, I take a more traditional approach to dragons in Solarflame. Flamemonger, Star, and Calypso are beasts of war ridden into battle by dragon riders. Battles are often won by which side commands more dragons. And like Allison, Rangthor, heir to an embattled kingdom and rider of Flamemonger, has his own inner dragon to overcome.

You might be thinking, wait a minute! Dragons are an overused fantasy trope. I can't disagree, but they are one hell of a great trope, maybe the best—the GOAT, so to speak.