Dragon Tales

by Isaac Asimov (Editor), Martin H. Greenberg (Editor), Charles G. Waugh (Editor)

Introduction (Dragon Tales) • (1982) • essay by Isaac Asimov

Gerda • (1954) • short story by Evelyn E. Smith

Dragons' Teeth • (1975) • novelette by David Drake

Two Yards of Dragon • [Incorporated Knight] • (1976) • novelette by L. Sprague de Camp

A Hiss of Dragon • (1978) • novelette by Gregory Benford and Marc Laidlaw

The Dragon-Fang Possessed by the Conjurer Piou-Lu • (1856) • short story by Fitz-James O'Brien

The Bully and the Beast • (1979) • novella by Orson Scott Card

The King's Head and the Purple Dragon • (1900) • short story by L. Frank Baum

Soft Come the Dragons • (1967) • short story by Dean R. Koontz

St. Dragon and the George • (1957) • novelette by Gordon R. Dickson

John Robert and the Dragon's Egg • (1957) • short story by Thomas N. Scortia (aka John Robert and the Egg)

Demon and Demoiselle • (1978) • novelette by Janet Fox

Weyr Search • [Dragonriders of Pern] • (1967) • novella by Anne McCaffrey

Genres: Fantasy, Anthologies, Short Stories, Science Fiction, Dragons, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adult

318 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 12, 1982

About the author

Works of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles, The Foundation Trilogy (1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.

Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.

Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).

People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.

Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.

Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...

Reviews

[Nighteye · Rating 4 out of 5]

actually a great anthology of Dragons. very diffirent stories and with odd topics. some really old authors, one from 1800-something, mixed with new ones on the 80s. I finite dislike a singer novel witch was over expectations. best dragon anthology so far! surprised to meet Dean R Koontz as I knew as a horror author and glad to meet Orson Scott Card and some for me new good ones: Frank L Baum and L Sprague de Camp

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a dragon fan. Most books with dragons I enjoy and this is no exception. The book was published in the early 80's so you will find a couple stories that became longer series. If you are a fan of L. Frank Baum, he has a story taken from his Oz series.

Not great literature, but fun and for dragon fans a good read.

[Wil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology was the first place I read the short story "Bully and the Beast" by Orson Scott Card, and thus I'll always remember it fondly.

[Kelly Wagner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up at a used book sale - I'll buy almost anything for a quarter. None of the stories were original to the anthology, but it was fun to reread some of them. Some ols stories hold up better than others - "Weyr Search" will always be a classic, but the writing of the female characters grates a little now, and the one-dimensional characterization of the men does, too - all either noble and brave dragonriders or greedy or lazy villains.

[Bill Stebelski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting selection of stories from the time of the publishing. Some humorous, some adventurous, and all engaging. Includes an excerpt from Anne McCaffrey's Dragonquest that sets the stage for her saga of Pern. The story that speaks to me most at the time I'm writing this review is "The Bully and the Beast" by Orson Scott Card; it is a strong lesson in how to recognize what is real happiness and finding your own truth.

[Hollerache · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a collection of goofy dragon stories. Fun enough, nothing especially good. They're okay. A mix of more "traditional" dragon stories, more offbeat fantasy, and several sci-fi stories with sci-fi-flavoured dragons. My favourites were probably The Dragon Fang Possessed by the Conjurer Piou-Lu, St. Dragon and the George and Gerda.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like an anthology you will find stories that you like, love and question why did they write that. Over all I enjoyed most of the stories in the book, and didn't hate any of them. A good book that you can pick up and put down. Short stories are for reading on your lunch breaks. Enjoy.

[Slugpuppy3 · Rating 5 out of 5]

An anthology filled with stories of all sorts of beasts called dragons edited by Isaac Asimov et al. Published in the early 1980’s, it is a wonderful sampler of revered science fiction & fantasy writers including that greatest of all authors of dragon tales, Anne McCaffrey!

[B. Barron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of stories!

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

ok, not great

[Chrissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great mix of short stories. I enjoyed the Anne McCaffrey story at the end--I loved these books when I first encountered them and was glad to revisit this delight. Otherwise, each story had an interesting flavor: historical, silly, cunning, satirical, literary. Very glad to have picked this up.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good selection of short stories about dragons. Recommended