A Thunder of Dragon Anthologies

A Thunder of Dragons

That’s what a group of dragons is called– a thunder. I suppose that makes sense since one of these beasties flying over your house would smash the air like a thunderbolt. I think of poor Bilbo and the dwarves on the slopes of the Lonely Mountain as Smaug got a little hot under the collar. Dragons have been seen as representations of the power of elemental forces, such as storms or earthquakes. So again, thunder makes sense, as just such a phenomenon.

When Biblo was foolish enough to match wits with Smaug in his lair, the hobbit curried favor with these words: “Truly songs and tales fall utterly short of the reality, O Smaug the Chiefest and Greatest of Calamities…” Again the comparison with an earthquake or a forest fire.

Recently I read Pat Murphy’s “The Dragon Gate” (Fantasy & Science Fiction, August 2003). This was a good reminder to me that they didn’t stop writing about dragons in 1937. There have been a good many collections devoted solely to dragons. Smart Dragons, Foolish Elves (Alan Dean Foster) and The Dragon Done It (Mike Resnick) sound like these belong but they are actually anthologies about all kinds of fantastic creatures. Such anthologies have not been included here.

Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card’s The Dragon of Light (1980) was the first of a pair. This anthology was great because all the stories were new in 1980. There are some familiar ones here (now) such as George R. R. Martin’s “The Ice Dragon”, Craig Shaw Gardner’s “A Drama of Dragons” and “Cockfight” by Jane Yolen that became a series of novels about a Pit Dragon. Plenty of art from Alicia Austen, Terri Windling, Victoria Poyser, Michael Hague and others.

“The Ice Dragon” (1980) by George R. R. Martin

“The George Business” (1980) by Roger Zelazny

“One Winter in Eden” (1980) by Michael Bishop

“A Drama of Dragons” (1980) by Craig Shaw Gardner

“Silken Dragon” (1980) by Steven E. McDonald

“Dragon Lore” (1980) by Steve Rasnic Tem

“Eagle-Worm” (1980) by Jessica Amanda Salmonson

“The Dragon of Dunloon” (1980) by Arthur Dembling

“If I Die Before I Wake” (1980) by Greg Bear

“As Above, So Below” (1980) by John M. Ford

“Cockfight” (1980) by Jane Yolen

“From Bach to Broccoli” (1980) by Richard Kearns

“Dragon Touched “ (1980) by Dave Smeds

Orson Scott Card II

Dragons of Darkness (1981) has the editor flipping things around for the bad guy dragons. Again plenty of art by Janet Aulisio, Tim Kirk, Michael Whelan, Janny Wurts and others. A reprints this time.

“Filed Teeth” (1981) by Glen Cook

“Vince’s Dragon” (1981) by Ben Bova

“The Thermals of August” (F&SF, May 1981) by Edward Bryant

“The Dragons’ Clubs” (1981) by Stephen Kimmel

“Negwenya” (1981) by Janet Berliner (as Janet Gluckman)

“Middle Woman” (1981) by Orson Scott Card (as Byron Walley)

“The Storm King” (Asimov’s, April 1980) by Joan D. Vinge

“My Bones Waxed Old” (1981) by Robert Frazier

“Soldatenmangel” (1980) by Victor Milán

“Alas, My Love, You Do Me Wrong” (1981) by James Tucker

“Fear of Fly” (1981) by Lynn Mims

“Though All the Mountains Lie Between” (1981) by Jeffrey A. Carver

“The Lady of the Purple Forest” (1981) by Allan Bruton

“A Dragon in the Man” (Destinies, February-March 1980) by Kevin Christensen

“A Plague of Butterflies” (1981) by Orson Scott Card

Asimov, Greenberg & Waugh

Dragon Tales (1982) was part of the Asimov/Greenberg books. Ike wrote the introduction to each book. It should be no surprise this anthology is heavy with Science Fiction writers. It has the first appearance of Anne McCaffrey’s “Weyr Search”, the first Dragon-Riders of Pern story, which surprisingly appeared in John W. Campbell’s Analog. Many of these stories will appear in later anthologies.

“Gerda” (F&SF, April 1954) by Evelyn E. Smith

“Dragons’ Teeth” (Midnight Sun, Summer-Fall1975) by David Drake

“Two Yards of Dragon” (Flashing Swords 3, 1976) by L. Sprague de Camp

“A Hiss of Dragon” (Omni, December 1978) by Gregory Benford and Marc Laidlaw

“The Dragon-Fang Possessed by the Conjurer Piou-Lu” (The Poems and Stories of Fitz-James O’Brien, 1856) by Fitz-James O’Brien

“The Bully and the Beast” (Other Worlds 1, 1979) by Orson Scott Card

“The King’s Head and the Purple Dragon” (The Surprising Adventures of the Magical Monarch of Mo,1900) by L. Frank Baum

“Soft Come the Dragons” (F&SF, August 1967) by Dean R. Koontz

“St. Dragon and the George” (F&SF, September 1957) by Gordon R. Dickson

“John Robert and the Dragon’s Egg” (Caution! Inflammible!, 1957) by Thomas N. Scortia

“Demon and Demoiselle” (Fantastic, October 1978) by Janet Fox

“Weyr Search” (Analog, October 1967) by Anne McCaffrey

Greenberg & Greenberg

Dragon Fantastic (1992) is another all-new anthology with a Science Fiction feel edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Rosalind M. Greenberg.

“Lethal Perspective” (1992) by Alan Dean Foster

“The Champion of Dragons” (1992) by Mickey Zucker Reichert

“Phobiac” (1992) by Lawrence Schimel

“Home Security” (1992) by Karen Haber

“The Stolen Dragon” (1992) by Kimberly Gunderson

“Cold Stone Barrow” (1992) by Charles Ingrid [as Elizabeth Forrest]

“Fluff the Tragic Dragon” (1992) by Laura Resnick

“The Hidden Dragon” (1992) by Barbara Delaplace

“Take Me Out to the Ball Game” (1992) by Esther M. Friesner

“The Dragon’s Skin” (1992) by Ruth Berman

“Shing Li-ung” (1992) by Tanya Huff

“Concerto Accademico” (1992) by Barry N. Malzberg

“Dragon’s Destiny” (1992) by Josepha Sherman

“Between Tomatoes and Snapdragons” (1992) by Jane Lindskold

“The Trials and Tribulations of Myron Blumberg, Dragon” (1992) by Mike Resnick

“Straw Into Gold: Part II” (1992) by Mark Kreighbaum and Dennis L. McKiernan

Dozois & Dann

Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann’s Dragons!(1993) is a good collection but more familiar contents. What is unusual about this first collection by D&D is that half of the selections came from other anthologies rather than magazines.

“Draco, Draco” (Beyond Lands of Never, 1984) by Tanith Lee

“Two Yards of Dragon” (Flashing Swords #3, 1976) by L. Sprague de Camp

“Mrs. Byres and the Dragon” (Asimov’s, August 1990) by Keith Roberts

“A Handful of Hatchlings” (1993) by Mark C. Sumner

“Covenant with a Dragon” (In the Field of Fire, 1987) by Susan Casper

“Paper Dragons” (Imaginary Lands, 1985) by James P. Blaylock

“Up the Wall” (Asimov’s, April 1990) by Esther M. Friesner

“Lan Lung” (Years’ Best Fantasy 7, 1980) by M. Lucie Chin

“Climacteric” (F&SF, August 1960) by Avram Davidson

“The Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule (F&SF, December 1984) by Lucius Shepard

Margaret Weis

A Dragon Lover’s Treasury of the Fantastic (1995) edited by Margaret Weis has plenty of chestnuts but also more Sword & Sorcery oriented than the others with David Drake’s “Dragon’s Teeth”, Nancy Varian Berberick’s “The Wizard’s Boy” and Esther Friesner’s “Saint Willibald’s Dragon”.

“Weyr Search” (Analog, October 1967) by Anne McCaffrey

“The Storm King” (Asimov’s, April 1980) by Joan D. Vinge

“The Ice Dragon” (Dragons of Light, 1980) by George R. R. Martin

“The Hidden Dragon” (Dragon Fantastic, 1992) by Barbara Delaplace

“The Trials and Tribulations of Myron Blumberg, Dragon” (Dragon Fantastic, 1992) by Mike Resnick

“A Hiss of Dragon” (Omni, December 1978) by Gregory Benford and Marc Laidlaw

“Two Yards of Dragon” (Flashing Swords #3, 1976) by L. Sprague de Camp

“The George Business” (Dragons of Light, 1980) by Roger Zelazny

“Saint Willibald’s Dragon” (Amazing Stories, May 1990) by Esther M. Friesner

“Last Dragon” (Amazing Stories, September 1987) by Steve Rasnic Tem

“A Plague of Butterflies” (Dragons of Darkness, 1981) by Orson Scott Card

“Dragons’ Teeth” (Midnight Sun, Summer-Fall 1975) by David Drake

“St. Dragon and the George” (F&SF, September 1957) by Gordon R. Dickson

“Cockfight” (Dragons of Light, 1980) by Jane Yolen

“A Drama of Dragons” (Dragons of Light, 1980) by Craig Shaw Gardner

“The Champion of Dragons” (Dragon Fantastic, 1992) by Mickey Zucker Reichert

“The Fellowship of the Dragon” (After the King, 1992) by Patricia A. McKillip

“The Dragonbone Flute” (Dragon Magazine, June 1992) by Lois Tilton

“The Wizard’s Boy” (Dragon Magazine, June 1986) by Nancy Varian Berberick

“The Ever-After” (Dragon Magazine, June 1989) by Rosemary Edghill (as Eluki bes Shahar)

John Betancourt, Keith R. A. DeCandido, Byron Preiss

The Ultimate Dragon (1995) was part of a series Preiss did with Werewolves, Dracula, Dinosaurs, Frankenstein and other monsters.

“Age” (1995) by Tanith Lee

“Tin Lizzies” (1995) by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

“Ulf the Wyrm” (1995) by Lois Tilton

“Short Straws” (1995) by Kevin J. Anderson

“Pleasantly Pink” (1995) by Nicholas A. DiChario and Mike Resnick

“The Rule of Names” (Fantastic, April 1964) by Ursula K. Le Guin

“Sirinita’s Dragon” (1995) by Lawrence Watt-Evans

“Dream Reader” (Merlin’s Booke, 1986) by Jane Yolen

“The Dragon on the Bookshelf” (1995) by Harlan Ellison and Robert Silverberg

“The Shedding and the Song” (1995) by Ian Hunter

“The Old, Old Story” (1995) by Andy Lane

“The Mandelbrot Dragon” (1995) by Mary A. Turzillo

“Dragonlord’s Justice” (1995) by Joanne Bertin

“Grandfather’s Briefcase” (1995) by Gerald Perkins

“Mordred and the Dragon” (1995) by Phyllis Ann Karr

“Falcon and Dragon” (1995) by Josepha Sherman

“When the Summons Came from Camelot” (1995) by Cynthia Ward

“Serpent Feather” (1995) by Gordon R. Menzies

“Dragon’s Fin Soup” (1995) by S. P. Somtow

Martin H. Greenberg

Dragons: The Greatest Stories (1997), if you go by the title, should be the best of them all. Lots of familiar titles but a few surprises too.

“The Dragon” (F&SF, March 1955) by Ray Bradbury

“The Smallest Dragonboy” (Science Fiction Tales, 1973) by Anne McCaffrey

“The Rule of Names” (Fantastic, April 1964) by Ursula K. Le Guin

“St. Dragon and the George” (F&SF, September 1957) by Gordon R. Dickson

“The Champion of Dragons” (Dragon Fantastic, 1992) by Mickey Zucker Reichert

“Take Me Out to the Ball Game” (Dragon Fantastic, 1992) by Esther M. Friesner

“Lethal Perspective” (Dragon Fantastic, 1992) by Alan Dean Foster

“The Storm King” (Asimov’s, April 1980) by Joan D. Vinge

“Dragon’s Teeth” (Midnight Sun, Summer-Fall 1975) by David Drake

“Two Yards of Dragon” (Flashing Swords #3, 1976) by L. Sprague de Camp

“Chinese Puzzle” (Argosy UK, February 1953) by John Wyndham

“The George Business” (Dragons of Light, 1980) by Roger Zelazny

“A Hiss of Dragon” (Omni, December1978) by Gregory Benford and Marc Laidlaw

“The Bully and the Beast” (Other Worlds 1, 1979) by Orson Scott Card

Dozois & Dann Again

Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann’s The Dragon Book (2009). A third anthology from D&D, this one is all new stories from heavy hitters like Peter S. Beagle, Diana Galbaldon, Garth Nix, Harry Turtledove, Tad Williams and Diana Wynne Jones.

“Dragon’s Deep” (2009) by Cecelia Holland

“Vici” (2009) by Naomi Novik

“Bob Choi’s Last Job” (2009) by Jonathan Stroud

“Are You Afflicted with Dragons?” (2009) by Kage Baker

“The Tsar’s Dragons” (2009) by Adam Stemple and Jane Yolen

“The Dragon of Direfell” (2009) by Liz Williams

“Oakland Dragon Blues” (2009) by Peter S. Beagle

“Humane Killer” (2009) by Diana Gabaldon and Sam Sykes

“Stop!” (2009) by Garth Nix

“Ungentle Fire” (2009) by Sean Williams

“A Stark and Wormy Knight” (2009) by Tad Williams

“None So Blind” (2009) by Harry Turtledove

“JoBoy” (2009) by Diana Wynne Jones

“Puz_le” (2009) by Gregory Maguire

“After the Third Kiss” (2009) by Bruce Coville

“The War That Winter Is” (2009) by Tanith Lee

“The Dragon’s Tale” (2009) by Tamora Pierce

“Dragon Storm” (2009) by Mary Rosenblum

“The Dragaman’s Bride” (2009) by Andy Duncan

John Betancourt

The Dragon Megapack (2014) is like most Megapacks, a blend of public domain and more recent stuff. Of the newer stuff there is “Of Mice & Dragons” by Gary Lovisi, “Lily and the Dragon” by Michael Kurland and “The Mandlebrot Dragon” by Mark A. Turzillo.

“Sympathy for Dragons” (2004) by John Gregory Betancourt

“The Four Clever Brothers” (1819) The Brothers Grimm

“The Fifty-First Dragon” (New York Tribune, April 13, 1919) by Heywood Broun

“The Slaying of the Monster” (1933) by R. H. Barlow and H. P. Lovecraft

“The King of the Fishes” (Europa’s Fairy Book, 1916) by Joseph Jacobs

“The Student Who Was Forcibly Made King” (1889) by unknown

“Of Mice & Dragons” (Weird Stories #15, December 1997) by Gary Lovisi

“The Dragon of the North” (The Book of Dragons, 1931) by Andrew Lang

“The Reluctant Dragon” (1898) by Kenneth Grahame

“John the True” (Europa’s Fairy Book, 1916) by Joseph Jacobs

“Vernan’s Dragon” (Bruce Colville’s Book of Magic II, 1997) by John Gregory Betancourt

“How the Dragon Was Tricked” (The Pink Fairy Book, 1897) by Andrew Lang

“Lily and the Lion” (1815) by The Brothers Grimm

“Lily and the Dragon”(2014) by Michael Kurland

“The Prince and the Dragon” (The Crimson Fairy Book, 1903) by Andrew Lang

“Why the Red Dragon Is the Emblem of Wales” (The Welsh Fairy Book, 1908) by W. Jenkyn Thomas

“Jabberwocky” (Through the Looking-Glass, 1871) by Lewis Carroll

“The Dragon’s Teeth” (Tanglewood Tales, 1853) by Nathaniel Hawthorne

“The Dragon of Wantley” (2014) by Henry Carey

“The Last of the Dragons” (Five of Us—and Madeline, 1925) by E. Nesbit

“The Dragon of La Trinita” (1910) by Mary Lovett Cameron

“The Little Bull-Calf” (More English Fairy Tales, 1894) by Joseph Jacobs

“Rich Peter the Pedlar” (1841) by George Webbe Dasent

“The Two Brothers” (1819) by The Brothers Grimm

“The Mandelbrot Dragon” (The Ultimate Dragon, 1995) by Mary A. Turzillo

“The Tale of Beowulf (1895) by William Morris and A. J. Wyatt

Jonathan Strahan

The Book of Dragons (2020) is a new volume with all new material. Plenty of poetry along with new material by top writers like Peter S. Beagle, Patricia McKillip, Jane Yolen, Michael Stanwick as well as many newer writers. Nice not to see the usual reprinted again.

“What Heroism Tells Us” (2020) by Jane Yolen

“Matriculation” (2020) by Elle Katharine White

“Hikaya Sri Bujang, or The Tale of the Naga Sage” (2020) by Zen Cho

“Yuli” (2020) by Daniel Abraham

“A Whisper of Blue” (2020) by Ken Liu

“Nidhog” (2020) by Jo Walton

“Where the River Turns to Concrete” (2020) by Brooke Bolander

“Habitat” (2020) by Tom Holt (as K. J. Parker)

“Pox” (2020) by Ellen Klages

“The Nine Curves River” (2020) by R. F. Kuang

“Lucky’s Dragon” (2020) by Kelly Barnhill

“I Make Myself a Dragon” (2020) by Beth Cato

“The Exile” (2020) by JY Yang

“Except on Saturdays” (2020) by Peter S. Beagle

“La Vitesse” (2020) by Kelly Robson

“A Final Knight to Her Love and Foe” (2020) by Amal El-Mohtar

“The Long Walk” (2020) by Kate Elliott

“Cut Me Another Quill, Mister Fitz” (2020) by Garth Nix

“Hoard” (2020) by Seanan McGuire

“The Worm of Lirr” (2020) by C. S. E. Cooney

“The Last Hunt” (2020) by Aliette de Bodard

“We Continue” (2020) by Ann Leckie and Rachel Swirsky

“Small Bird’s Plea” (2020) by Todd McCaffrey

“The Dragons” (2020) by Theodora Goss

“Dragon Slayer” (2020) by Michael Swanwick

“Camouflage” (2020) by Patricia A. McKillip

“We Don’t Talk About the Dragon” (2020) by Sarah Gailey

“Maybe Just Go Up There and Talk to It” (2020) by Scott Lynch

“A Nice Cuppa” (2020) by Jane Yolen

Conclusion

This is obviously only a sampling of dragon fare from the last forty years. The beast has been popular in the wake of the 1960s and the Tolkien explosion. And it doesn’t look to stop any time soon. And why should it? Dragons have been with us since the beginning in myths, fairy tales and literature. Like every summer, you get rainy days, and you get thunder.