Dragon's Blood (The Pit Dragon Chronicles, #1)

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Dragon's Blood (The Pit Dragon Chronicles #1)

3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 · rating details · 5,176 ratings · 163 reviews

Dragons are trained to fight to the death, and two determined teens help free them in this spellbinding saga.

Training a dragon to be a fighting champion is the only way to freedom for fifteen-year-old Jakkin.

Paperback, 320 pages

Published May 1st 2004 by Graphia (first published 1982)

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Nov 22, 2008 Mary JL rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone over 10 years of age; fantasy lovers of all ages

Recommended to Mary JL by: No One

Shelves: main-sf-fantasy

These books are meant for younger readers. But I often read children's books to see what avaialble for kids now.

The only reason the books got a 3 and not a 4 is as an adult I could see things coming, where a younger reader might not, so not as much suspense.

This book is a stand alone--but If you read all three books in the trilogy, it is quite short and enjoyable.

I serously recommend this also to any parents who have have their kids read "Harry Potter" and are asking "what next?" And imho girls...more

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May 27, 2012 Admatha rated it 1 of 5 stars

My first introduction to Jane Yolen was in her introduction to Castle Waiting by Linda Medley. It was so good I decided I had to find some of her books and try them out. I requested at random through the library and went through several books which were clearly for very young children before this fell into my hands.

I was hopeful as soon as I looked at the book - I like dragons as much as any other fantasy fan out there, and I had high hopes for her writing.

The short version of this tale is: I sh...more

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Oct 24, 2010 Welwyn Katz rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult-fantasy, youngadult-adult-fantasy

Jane Yolen is a wonderful young adult writer. I love her fantasy novels, and this one is no exception. This is the first in the Pit Dragon Trilogy, about a young "nobody" slave who learns to steal a dragon's egg and warm it and feed it so that it bonds with him. The love between Jakkin and his young dragon is very palpable, and it is impossible not to root for him. What is possible, however, is to wish that loving a dragon in this world is the only way out for a human like Jakkin, because that d...more

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Jul 13, 2010 Caroline rated it 1 of 5 stars

I absolutely hated this atrocity of literature. I felt as if I was reading a seventh grader’s failed attempt at a creative writing assignment. Jane Yolen tries to give credibility to her appallingly poorly written story by adding adult elements, like the constant reference to the “bag girls” (a.k.a. prostitutes) and bleary-eyed, abusive weed smokers. She also invents cuss-words for her world which she readily uses with gusto, making me cringe as if she had actually used a real one. She apparentl...more

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Jan 12, 2010 Becky rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-fantasy

First off, forgive me—I read this about a month ago, and didn’t have the time to blog it; now some of the details are fuzzy. But what really stands out as excellent is the world building. I picked up the book expecting it to be high fantasy; instead, it’s science fiction that happens to feature dragons (as well as electricity and space ships). The development of the planet is vital to the story itself. The planet was originally a penal colony, and what began as the hierarchy of guards over priso...more First off, forgive me—I read this about a month ago, and didn’t have the time to blog it; now some of the details are fuzzy. But what really stands out as excellent is the world building. I picked up the book expecting it to be high fantasy; instead, it’s science fiction that happens to feature dragons (as well as electricity and space ships). The development of the planet is vital to the story itself. The planet was originally a penal colony, and what began as the hierarchy of guards over prisoners has, generations down the line, became a caste system. The majority of people living on the planet are bond servants—either born into the caste or they sold themselves (or were sold by a parent) into it. Bonders only serve until they’ve earned the money (an amount never specified in the book) to buy their freedom, but most seem to spend their money frivolously instead. But that’s considered acceptable—there’s no cultural shame attached to being a bonder, since it guarantees you room and board. So rather than shameful to be a bonder, it’s impressive to buy yourself out of bondage.

It’s implied that the only way—or at least, the most common or best way—to earn the money to buy yourself out is to steal a dragon egg from one of the Masters, in order to hatch, train, and raise it yourself. It’s rare that someone manages to do this (thus my assumption that it isn’t the only way, just the most notorious), and Jakkin—our hero—goes a step beyond. He’s in the infirmary when the dragons hatch and loses his chance to steal an egg, so instead manages to steal a hatchling. The book progresses almost exactly how you’d expect: he steals the dragon, trains it, has some adventures, enters his dragon in its first fight and wins dramatically. It’s a pretty simple story made interesting by the excellent world around it.

That said, the thing about the world (and the books) that mildly disturbs me is the women. We only see two in the whole book; one is the cook (a former bonder who bought her freedom), and Akki, a female bonder who befriends Jakkin, learns of his secret, and helps him keep the dragon safe. The cook is an ally herself, though she doesn’t know what he’s up to; I liked that the book went out of its way to explain that she didn’t become the cook because it was a female role, she did it because she loves cooking, she’s quite good at it, and she considers keeping the kitchen running smoothly to be an important job and worthy of respect. Cool.

But then there’s Akki, who’s an anomaly. She’s an anomaly because she’s not a whore. Everyone thinks that’s odd—because apparently all female bonders are prostitutes? The cook was when she was a bonder, and everyone is clearly amazed that Akki isn’t. There are no female bonders on the (dragon raising) farm, only boys. Which…seems really odd to me. First off, it makes no sense that half the population would do a single job that doesn’t really contribute much to society, leaving only half the population to do literally everything else; second off, how many whores does a world need? Fifty percent of the population seems like a whole lot.

That weirdness aside, Akki herself is fairly awesome. She’s level-headed and intelligent; she saves Jakkin once and acts as his nurse a few times. She helps him come up with the food he needs to feed the dragon and provides cover for him to sneak off and train the beast. And she often openly defies their Master—the rumor is that she can only do that because she’s his new mistress. Which is a disturbing rumor, as she’s only fifteen, made more disturbing when Jakkin notes that she’s been on the farm with their Master since she was twelve, and he just sort of shrugs it off because hey, some people are into that. Which is unspeakably gross. She’s not his lover, Jakkin eventually discovers—she’s his daughter. Her mother was a whore he’d fallen in love with, but she died in childbirth; Akki was raised in the brothel. He says he wants to buy her freedom and acknowledge her as his daughter, but she won’t allow it—when she assists Jakkin in a daring stunt that earns him a lot of money, she’s given half but refuses it, apparently for the same reason. She has declared she won’t take money from a man to buy her freedom, but in the meanwhile also doesn’t care what kind of orders her owner gives her and behaves as though she were free. (Jakkin notes that for sure that’s only allowed because the Master is her father.)

Okay, so the book shows an interesting relationship developing between Jakkin and Akki. After she saves him, he respects her a lot and they come to be friends and enjoy each other’s company, and he can’t decide whether or not he’s attracted to her…until the end, when he is. He wins enough money to buy his freedom, and after that, Akki’s father gives her to Jakkin, saying she needs a master. Needless to say, Akki is having none of that; she says goodbye to Jakkin and walks away, not interested in that kind of relationship at all. His reaction? To swear he won’t remove his symbol of bondage, “until he could pour out the gold from the bag into Akki’s hands and she accepted him as a master and a man.” I had been entirely indifferent to Jakkin’s character until that point—he’s a standard brave, fair-minded, determined hero type. After that? I don’t like him. Because the excellent thing about their potential relationship is that it would have been based on trust and equity, and he clearly doesn’t seem to want that; he doesn’t even want her to accept him as a lover, but specifically as her master.

This is the first book in a trilogy, so it’s entirely possible he sees the error of his ways later on. But if I ever do pick up the rest of the series, it would definitely be to read about Akki, who is intriguing and awesome, and not Jakkin, who I find to be kind of a jackass.(less)

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Aug 11, 2011 Lisa Rathbun added it

The world Yolen created captured my imagination! I was caught up in Jakkin's desire to be free and his connection with his dragon. Particular details grabbed me, like calling female dragons "hens" and calling the dragon-fighting arenas "pits."

I don't know if the book would have interested me as much when I was younger. There are whole sections describing Jakkin caring for the dragons and later raising his red hatchling. I found these interesting, but a younger reader may want more action. Readi...more

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Nov 09, 2010 Alexandra rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The Planet Austar IV, a desert planet, was originally used by Earth as a place to drop convicts. Although, this planet is not so liked by everyone and is not viewed well in the eyes of off-world creatures, it does have one great feature: its dragons. While in this world, people have discovered how to communicate with their dragons, which they call their “mighty worms”. If it happens that that a person leaves Austar IV, they would no longer be able to communicate with their worms.

These dragons a...more The Planet Austar IV, a desert planet, was originally used by Earth as a place to drop convicts. Although, this planet is not so liked by everyone and is not viewed well in the eyes of off-world creatures, it does have one great feature: its dragons. While in this world, people have discovered how to communicate with their dragons, which they call their “mighty worms”. If it happens that that a person leaves Austar IV, they would no longer be able to communicate with their worms.

These dragons are used in Pit Dragon fights, and the ones that cannot fight are used as pets or killed in the stews, for their meat and for leather. The dragons are held in Nurseries, where masters and their bonders live and care for their worms. A bonder becomes a master once he/she has filled their bag with gold and can buy their way out of bond. Gambling on dragon fights is a successful business, because the dragons are bred and trained on ranches (nurseries), such as Master Sakkhran’s, to always dominate but never kill.

Fifteen year old Jakkin Stewart is a boy who was born free, but once his parents died, he became a bonder. Learning about dragons, he grew fond of them and all he could think of was the day he could steal a hatchling to secretly train as a fighter, in order to earn his freedom. He gets his chance when a counting error occurs with the hatchlings on his master’s ranch, and instead of 10 hatchlings, there were only 9 hatchlings listed. Stealing the 10th away, he raises and trains it from a little hatchling to a grown powerful dragon, forming a bond with his dragon greater than any other master's bond with any worm. But what made this bond so strong? And what if Jakkin isn’t prepared enough for this great task? Questions arise, but they will all be answered in this great intriguing, mysterious book.

What I didn't like about this book was that everyone was against Jakkin, but what really made me interested was that he always has a goal in mind, and like someone else I know and look up to, has something to live for.

The low point of this book was when Jakkin lived his everyday life, and had the same hiding routine for a whole year, bonding with his worm.

I honestly love this book, and give it 5 stars. I LOVE reading animal fiction, mostly about dragons that can communicate, not necessarily through words, but as in this book, through feelings and “colors”. If you are the kind of reader that likes fiction, wild animals, adventure, mystery, and a book that makes you keep on wanting to turn the page until the end, then I guarantee this is the book for you. (less)

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Mar 12, 2013 Andrew Suzanne rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-and-loved

Jane Yolen paints an incredibly imaginative world of a barren prison planet that rose out of its shackles with its pit dragon blood sports. Jakkin, one of the young serfs called 'bonders' for the bond-bag that they wear until they can fill it with gold to become free, plans to steal a dragon egg from the nursery he is bonded to. He dreams of raising a mighty pit-fighter that can earn him his coins and his freedom. The book becomes a tale of a boy and his dragon and the special connection they sh...more

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Dec 30, 2011 Bethany rated it 1 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Aug 23, 2008 Nikki Nielsen rated it 3 of 5 stars

My son and I actually found this book on tape at a truck stop while on a road trip. It was kind of hard to get into but it kept me awake and if you like Dragons, you'll love the world of the Pit Dragon Chronicles.

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Aug 04, 2010 Sarah (Tail-Kinker) rated it 4 of 5 stars

I absolutely adored this book when I was an adolescent. Not only did it contain dragons, my favorite mythical creatures, but it dealt with them as sentient creatures that could bond with a human.

When I was young, my greatest wish was for a dragon (or fire-lizard) of my very own.

It wasn't until years later that I found the remaining books in the trilogy, and was amazed at the direction the author took with the storyline. The world is bare-bones, but that never bothered me when I first read it. I...more

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Jan 11, 2010 Lacey rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of Ender's Game & The Blue Sword

Shelves: science-fiction

The story of Jakkin and the dragon pits of Austar IV fed both my curiosity and my imagination. Its an easy read with a fulfilling story. If you like Ender's Game and The Blue Sword, you'll like Dragon's Blood.

Yolen shares her wisdom on human relationships through the dialog and interactions between the "bonders" and the "masters" that was a stark allegory for our winning and losing persona's in society today. I was shocked by this concept: Do you have the courage to be free? The idea of freedom...more

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Apr 08, 2011 Chelsie Hamilton rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 21-30

Jakkin is a slave on a planet that was originally used to drop off convicts. The only thing that this desert place has going for it is the dragons, or worms as they are called. He stills a dragon from his master when there is a counting error and he hopes to be able to train it to fight in the fights. Hopefully earning his freedom from the money he makes.

I liked this dragon book because it is different than the magical world or dragon's and princesses. It is about dragon's being a part of our w...more

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Feb 14, 2013 Nicole rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, dragons

A fantasy dragon book set in a sci fi setting, Dragon's Blood tells the story of a young "bonder" boy's quest to become his own master training a dragon for the pits.

Overall, the dragon storyline was ok. We are able to see the dragons from breeding to fighting and how they progress from simply being viewed as animals to something much more intelligent. Though I enjoyed the dragons, I did not feel that connected to the immature male protagonist. He repeats much of the same phrase of wanting to "...more

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Apr 07, 2009 Meg rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, fantasy-midgrade

I almost put this down during the second section of the book. Nothing really wrong with it, but there was both not enough new to hold my interest, and at the same time too much made-up stuff (see: probability book is good vs. number of words made up by author http://xkcd.com/483/). By the end of the book I thought that the world was interesting, but that the author was too heavy handed in introducing it towards the beginning (and seriously, the word "bag" stopped having any meaning for me around...more

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Sep 03, 2010 May FLower rated it 5 of 5 stars

Very fun, engaging and easy-to-read blend of fantasy and sci-fi. I could see this happening on one of the outer worlds in the Firefly universe. Once a prison planet, it's now divided between masters and bondsmen and womn. Masters raise dragons for fighting (as well as eating, selling & giving as pets to wives and mistresses. Bondsmen/women take care of the dragons and the masters' families. Jakken is a 14y/o bonder who steals and raises a young dragon in order to train it to fight and earn e...more

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Feb 01, 2012 Stacey rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-fantasy, to-re-read, dragons, 2012-challenge, fantasy

I first read this in elementary school. Strangely, I can remember exactly where I found it in my local public library.

This book is classic young-adult fiction, with a coming-of-age story wrapped in a setting on a different planet. Which adds a bit of science-fiction spice to it, and every now and then the author contextualizes the medieval-esque fantasy setting by mentioning the "rocket jockies" that come to the planet to bet on the dragon fights. Settlement on the planet mimics the settlement...more

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Apr 29, 2013 Melanie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-literature, dragons, fighting, friends, orphans, slavery, fantasy, good-books-for-boys, theft, secrets

The first in a trilogy, Dragon's Blood introduces readers to Jannik. Jannik's father died when he was young and his mother quickly lost the ability to support them both. So now Jannik is a bond-slave. He works on Sarkkhan's dragon farm/nursery. He enjoys his work but dreams of being free. He has a plan: he plans on stealing an egg before hatching time and raising the young dragon to be a great pit fighter. But forces are against him as he is prevented from getting to the eggs on hatching night.

N...more

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Jul 12, 2009 Jake rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

We live in a world where the first impulse is to "google". For the most part, I think that's fine. Nevertheless, I have more than once found--and ended up loving--a book by wandering the shelves of a library with no specific title, subject, or author in mind.

I found Dragon's Blood on the shelf in my Junior High School library. I was browsing aimlessly, found the cover art interesting, and decided to give the book a try. This is a great yarn for adolescents interested in fantasy fiction, dragons...more

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Feb 03, 2010 Adrianna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

Recommended to Adrianna by: Jason Simone

Shelves: in-eureka, young-adult, fantasy

This is a story about a boy and his dragon, which takes place in a fantasy time period and setting. Jakkin Stewart lives in slavery with other men and women (they are known as bonders). The only way to get free from bond is to become a master, not only a master of humans but of dragons. The book explores Jakkin's journey into manhood as well as a friendship with a dragon hatchling. The book starts a little slow, but after the first three chapters Jakkin faces hardship after hardship, from steali...more

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Sep 19, 2011 Ross rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: teens, fantasy fans

Shelves: nostalgia, 2011, fantasy, fiction, owned, science-fiction, dragons

This book, which I last read in my early teens, held up surprisingly well (much better than Christopher's White Mountains (Tripods) series. The world Yolen has built is well thought out, and the concept of semi-telepathic dragons bred back from the verge of extinction only to be used as a food and entertainment source (the Stews and the Pits, respectively) raises some interesting philosophical points about ethical and humane treatment of animals. Add in the bonder (financial/workhouse slaves) co...more

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Jan 05, 2009 Kathryn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, fiction, sci-fi-fantasy

This was one of the few cartoons I remember from growing up where I saw the cartoon first and then read the book, and liked the book MORE. The book is so much richer, and there's a lot that gets cut out in the cartoon (why exactly did the growing romance between the main characters get COMPLETELY left out of the cartoon), and the author created a lot of wonderful details about the book's planet, and culture, and animals. Probably one of the most intricate young-adult books I've read so far.

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Sep 17, 2010 Kayt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: wishlist

When you're in middle school, there are lots of books that seem wonderful but, when you read them years later, are found to be dull or bad to an older reader.

Dragon's Blood does not have that problem.

I first read the soft sci-fi story of Jakkin and how he trains his stolen dragon about a decade ago (oh my!) and loved it then. Yolen's writing is perfect for people of all ages, and I found when I re-read it recently and found it as engaging as any book I could pick up, with no feeling like I was r...more

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Jul 10, 2012 Amanda Cogar rated it 5 of 5 stars

This series began my reading career as a young teenager. Up to that point I had only read for school, but then my stepfather received a SciFy book catalogue and told me to pick a few. I choice a trilogy called The Pit Dragon Trilogy and am forever thankful for it. This is a story of maturation that deals with growing up and accepting more responsibility, taking it on voluntarily, and living with the weight of your actions. It's a great book for any blossoming reader.

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Nov 15, 2011 Angela rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-young-adult, dragons, fantasy

I find more and more that the age at which I read something, and time period in which it was written, affect my impression of it. The order in which certain books are read is also a factor -- whether I read the book that was the inspiration vs the inspired first (a la The Lord of the Rings vs The Sword of Shannara, and The Vampire Diaries vs the Twilight Saga). So here is the early '80s equivalent of Joust by Mercedes Lackey (a book that I adore), but I am finding myself enjoying it still, even...more

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Oct 19, 2009 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars

I read this years ago, when I was 13. And I only thought it was an okay book at the time. Very typical "hatching and raising a dragon" story, of which there seemed to be a lot back when I was 13 (at least, I know I read several others that same year). I was also disappointed with how neatly one of the plot points was cleared up, how something that's explained as a major potential conflict ends up being nothing at all.

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Jan 17, 2012 Michael Garner rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this short read over two evening and was presently surprised. This short read had a cool idea, a peasant training a fighting dragon in secret, and an unique future world. This is a great book for younger readers just getting into the Fantasy genre. I think it will be a great read for my 8 year old son in the near future. As an adult, it is a short, entertaining read, probably a good light read between longer, more complicated reads.

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May 07, 2009 Luan rated it 3 of 5 stars

It's fun to read about the raising of the dragon, but, it seemed like the author got to the end and found she'd written herself into a corner with all the obstacles the protagonist was facing. Enter deux a machina and everything is wrapped up neatly in the last 20 or so pages.

Still, I'm a sucker. I was glad. Except, even for the fantasy world, it stretches credibility. Will I read the next book--probably.

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Nov 02, 2012 Derrick rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, children, fantasy, favorites, owned-in-hc, scifi, ya

This starts out from the scifi standpoint, with starships, galactic empires, etc.

And then you have dragons.

Then you get a really great story about a boy on the cusp of manhood who steals a dragon and raises it to successfully fight in the Dragon Pit [hence the Pit Dragon Trilogy]. And there is a girl.

This book holds up well. Meant for children and ya, it certainly tells a story that an adult can enjoy as well.

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May 20, 2011 Carrie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Carrie by: Laura

Shelves: own, scifi-fantasy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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About Jane Yolen

Yolen was born at Beth Israel Hospital, the first child of Isabel Berlin and Will Hyatt Yolen. She and her family moved to California when she was young but returned to New York a few years later. After her younger brother was born, her father joined the army and served on the European front during WWII. Yolen spent her childhood taking piano lessons, ballet dancing and writing a neighborhood news...more

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Dragon's Blood (The Pit Dragon Chronicles #1)

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