Dragon Wars

[Avalina]

Oh and might I add, if any book or book series deserves to be turned into a movie or even a TV show, its Anne McCaffrey's Dragon Riders of Pern series. If anyone hasn't read those books, do so. Now. Don't ask questions. Just go out to your local bookstore and spend all you money on them.

[Henry Redacre]

i REALLY liked Reign of Fire up until the end when..........

*** SPOILER ALERT ****
















McConaughey's (or however you spell it) character died.














i thought that was pretty weak. but the rest of the movie was pretty kickass.

Go Kentucky Irregulars!

[LaughingOtter]

Dragon Heart: Best ever!
Reign of Fire: I should see this one day...
Dragonslayer: hmm...I think I may have seen it or part of it once on tv..
Discovery Channel's Dragon Documentary: Awsome
Eargon: Even tho it doesnt follow the book very much, it was a good movie.
Dungeons and Dragons: Lamest movie ever. The only saving grace were that the dragons were good actors.

Dragonslayer is a great movie, with some actual surprises, character development, and plot twists that elevate it above the usual "monster movie" genre.

And, of course, there's Vermithrax Pejorative herself...



Reign of Fire: Have no expectations and you won't be disappointed.

The D&D movie: Good actors? The dragons were the best actors in the movie, although I'll give the beholder points for a classic spit take.

Other movies:
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: The Hungarian Horntail isn't on screen very long, but he/she really makes the most of it.

"Woohoo, tail whip the little punk!!"

The Hobbit: OK, it's animated, but Smaug is an outstanding role model. This movie should be required viewing for all hatchies.

Shrek: Sure, Dragon is played for comic relief, but she sets a great example of how to handle gnomes with delusions of grandeur.

[C`gan]

Oh and might I add, if any book or book series deserves to be turned into a movie or even a TV show, its Anne McCaffrey's Dragon Riders of Pern series. If anyone hasn't read those books, do so. Now. Don't ask questions. Just go out to your local bookstore and spend all you money on them.

IF I might recommend, start off with Chronicles of Pern: First Fall. It's a little trilogy of how the planet was discovered, the initial landing of the colony, the first experiences with Thread, then the move to the northern continent and how the dragons came about. It was also reprinted as DragonsDawn, with some slight variations. Along in that time frame was the book Rescue Run. Take it or leave it in your reading at a later date. Dolphin's Bell is another first book that ties in with CoP:FF about the crossing from the southern to northern continent.

I know somewhere there has to be a book list by chronology out there. Granted, it is easier to read things in a more...linear fashion, but for the new Pern reader, that's not entirely the case. My second choice would be Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern. So often in the chronology after that, her name is mentioned. She is one of the biggest tragic heroines the planet has. Everyone knows the story, so it's a good reason to pick it up for yourself. There is another book called Nerilka's Story that deals with Moreta's time from a different viewpoint. Supplementary reading if reading Moreta. Doesn't have to be concurrent, but certainly should be after.

After that, I'd recommend the present pass books: MasterHarper of Pern, Dragonriders of Pern (trilogy), The Harper Hall of Pern (trilogy: Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, and Dragondrums), All the Weyrs of Pern, Dolphins of Pern, Renegades of Pern, The Girl Who Heard Dragons, and The Skies of Pern.

Then we get into the newest books of the series (which are second pass in chronology): Dragon's Eye, Dragon's Blood, Dragon's Kin, and Dragon's Fire.

And I know I'm missing at least a couple titles in this list.

[LOVWYRM]

I disagree with your chronology, C´gan.^^
But that does not really matter, cause everyone who read them all- might suggest his/her own chronology
Anyway it`s an awesome epic, and a MUST for all those who love dragons, or want to learn about them.

I was very pleased that in one of her last (the latest?) books, she wrote about
the "Where" (this is the German word for them. Remember, the creature who gave his live for Lessa in "search")
*whispers, so Ramoth can`t hear* I always thought, that they are some kind of Dragons too.

[Zexoin]

I was very pleased that in one of her last (the latest?) books, she wrote about
the "Where" (this is the German word for them. Remember, the creature who gave his live for Lessa in "search")
*whispers, so Ramoth can`t hear* I always thought, that they are some kind of Dragons too.

Well, they are one of Kitty Ping's (dunno if the name is the same in other languages) daughter experiments. I wish this book was already published in french...
(oh and btw, their name is "gueyt" in french, I wonder about the english name)

[LaughingOtter]

(oh and btw, their name is "gueyt" in french, I wonder about the english name)

That would be watch-wher, or just wher. They're related to dragons, though the dragons rarely admit it.

[Tcei]

Another good series of books are the DragonLance books. The Chronicals (Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter's Night, and Dragons of Spring Dawning, and the much later Dragons of Summer's Flame) are pretty good, and there's the Dragons Anthology looking at the wiki page there apears to be a new one out in that series...
In the Lost Histories Series- The Dragons is an excelent book, that deals with nothing but them.
There's also a few good dragon stories in some of their short stories books.

[Vaz]

Would be nice to have a deep, "difficult-to-follow," quiet, abstract science-fiction movie with dragons in it. ^.^

[Solitaire]

Oh and might I add, if any book or book series deserves to be turned into a movie or even a TV show, its Anne McCaffrey's Dragon Riders of Pern series. If anyone hasn't read those books, do so. Now. Don't ask questions. Just go out to your local bookstore and spend all you money on them.

From what I understand, there have been several attempts at turning Dragonriders into A) a movie, B) a TV movie/mini-series or C) a continuing series live action or cartoon. The thing that I've heard is that Ms. McCaffrey is so super protective of her world that arguments with would be producers about what to change and what cannot be changed sunders the project. An attempt to turn it into a live action series got pretty far, but something happened to stop it and I don't know what it was. I do have to note that on IMDb.com, there is an entry for a Dragonriders of Pern project that is "In Development" for 2008, but there is no info at all unless you join their subscription service. Doing a Google for "Dragonriders of Pern movie" does bring up a bit more info, but not much. Not even a mention if it is proceeding or stalled.

[Kumu Honua]

I don't like McCaffrey. Not one bit.

[Cobal]

Temeraire was optioned by peter jackson for making a movie out of
(known as "His Majesty's Dragon" in the US I think)

If you never heard of Temeraire, it is a must read.
It takes place during the napeoleon wars, with a twist.
All side have an airforce, Dragons.
Picture huge dragons with crews of up to 20 man scutteling about the dragons leather flight harnass using safetylines etc.

The books are about the adventures of a large dragon named Temeraire and his flight captain William Laurence with crew.
Laurence was the captain of a british ship that captured Temeraires egg from a french ship.
Due to circumstances Temeraire hatches from the egg on the ship and bonds to captain laurence.
As a result he is forced to leave his post in the royal navy to join the airforce as captain of Temeraire.

The dragons in this book series are sentient and mostly friendly, they remind more of HZ dragons then of the standard way dragons are depicted.
in europe they are treated as only slightly better then pack animals but in china...
Well, read the books to find out whats up in china, I don't want to spoil it

here, little short story:
http://www.temeraire.org/stories/Feast_or_Famine.shtml

[Zexoin]

here, little short story:
http://www.temeraire.org/stories/Feast_or_Famine.shtml

Thank you for posting this Cobal, that was really pleasent to read. Now to get the whole book in french... *crosses fingers*

[Shur]

Thank you for posting this Cobal, that was really pleasent to read. Now to get the whole book

Quoted for Truth. it is mildly pleasing to at last find a dragon series that is not so intimidatingly long and convoluted *looks at Pern and DragonLance and shudders*

i wonder if a local bookstore has them, or if i aught to just order them off amazon or something....

[Dhalin]

What would make me a very happy man:

Seeing a Dimar ( www.dimar.org ) movie, though it is next to impossible to happen. If you've never read Dimar... and if you liked Pern (but disliked the Author, as Kumu has said), you might like Dimar. The Author, Dee Dreslough, was once a McAffrey fan, but got burned by her, and started her own, original (albeit cliche) story of Dragons, Humans, Furries, Tech, and Psionics. Dimar is also a GNU project (you can write, publish, even sell your own art/short stories/etc as long as you give Mrs. Dreslough some credit), and the novel is free of charge in internet format, or you can buy it in paperback format.

While they are not "technically" dragons, they are very close, and I rather like the Dimar world, and how she (the author) tells it.

Also, I loved Eragon, they did very nice effects (the aerial scenes were better than any other dragon movie to date, especially when Saphira crash-lands not once, but twice in the movie. I actually winced at that, and said 'um... ow!' when she hit the ground that hard, esp near the end).

Also, the fact that Saphira is a dragon *female* is nice too. Dragonheart, Dragonheart 2, etc, the dragons are all males with these nice deep voices, etc. But I'm a guy... listening to some deep voiced guy voicing a dragon just... I dunno. I liked Saphira's voice and her personality.

[Vahrokh]

Another good series of books are the DragonLance books.

For those willing to read some awesome - yet - "deep" books, I suggest Barbara Hambly's ones ("Dragonstar and others). Along with Anne McAffrey, it's one of the few authors whose books I love to re-read again and again instead of forgetting them.


There is nothing for PC about McAffrey stuff but they made an officially licensed PC game some years ago, called "Dragon Riders" that I found cheap enough and it's not so horrible (even if heavily "plot oriented").

I played Eragorn's game too. Nothing special nor long but it's the closest thing that gave me fun after playing Drakan. If you find it at dirt cheap price, you might want and get it.

Finally, for those with 3D googles, try the now elder "The I of the dragon". Pretty much basic, but in 3D it was awesome.

[Dhalin]

I of the Dragon was cool, but it got old after awhile.

I'm not really a big fan of the "Click to Move" Diablo-style games. I used to like them, until I began playing MMOs like FFXI, WoW, and Horizons. I now prefer Arrow-Key movement with some form of cycle-targeting (usually the Tab key, or 0 on the numberpad). This is one of the things that instantly turned me off on Rappelz, as it is a 'click-to-move' game as well.

[Dhalin]

Also, another thing I'd like to note, is that any game with a "Lock-On" feature, gets instant thumbs up from me.

It is one of the reasons I never really played Drakan for the PC, but absolutely loved Drakan on the PS2.

Lock-On solves a lot of problems, namely, trying to figure out how to set up nearly 5 sets of controls. You need a set to Move, Strafe, and Aim for both Rynn and Arokh (at least, the Demo had no 'control set' functionality). That's 6 control sets needed, 3 for Rynn and 3 for Arokh.

The PS2 Drakan solved this, easily, with a simple, easy-to-use, Lock-On targeting system.

It is also why I think Metroid Prime (and Prime 2, for that matter) has simply the best FPS Engine I have ever seen in any FPS game. It is the only FPS game that I know of, that features Lock-On targeting as well.

Some people say that "Lock-On Targeting" makes games too easy. Well, I don't think those people ever played Metroid Prime 2, because the bosses are still -quite- hard, even with Lock-On. All Lock-On does, is solve frustrations of trying to fumble around separate keys/controls for strafing and movement.

[Avalina]

I've heard that Anne McCaffrey is very protective of her world, but wouldn't you be too if you put that much work into it like she did? I've created a "new" species on a different game called Furcadia (http://www.furcadia.com Its a free game, but you create what you do, no quests.) My species is called the Sanishi (http://www.freewebs.com/lieander/index.htm) and I've worked my butt off on just scratching the surface of their existance. It took me a few months to get the site together, and that was over a year ago, but I know I'm very protective of the idea. So I can simpithise (sp?) with Mrs. McCaffrey. I'd be pissed if I saw a movie based on these books that didn't follow what she laid down. I think most people who read her books would be like that too. Hell, people are complaining about how the Harry Potter movies don't follow the books exactly. Its all in the same boat.

Now, as for the newest books in the series, her son Todd McCaffrey has taken up wrighting them with the aid of his mother. I personally find them lacking and havn't really bothered with them. I read the first book he wrote and left it at that. I don't know if the others have been released yet, and I might get them later if I catch wind of some good reviews. But so far I own every Pern book there is, including the Guide to Pern.

[C`gan]

Dragon's Kin, Dragon's Blood, and Dragon's Fire are all Todd and Todd/Ann.

And they all deal with roughly second pass.