The Pit Dragon Trilogy

Dragon's Blood; Heart's Blood; A Sending of Dragons

by Jane Yolen

SFBC,1998 [1982, 1984, 1987], ISBN 1-56865-900-8

A book review by Elisabeth Carey

This is a YA trilogy about a young man growing up on a world where dragons are real, and bred and trained to fight--rather like cockfighting, except that with dragons, both the cocks and the hens fight. Jakkin is the son of a dragon trainer who got himself killed trying to train a feral dragon; after his father's death, his mother was unable to support herself and Jakkin, and sold herself and her son into bond to avoid starvation. Jakkin, now fifteen, steals a dragon hatchling from the nursery where he works, and begins training it in secret, hoping thereby to earn enough money to buy out his bound. Along the way, both we and Jakkin learn a great deal about both dragons, and the social structure on Austar. It's enjoyable, but despite the fact that the structure is sfnal, there's a good deal here to support the theory that anything with dragons is fantasy.

---

NESFA homepage | Review Index | More reviews by Elisabeth Carey