Dragon's Blood: The Pit Dragon Trilogy, Volume One

By Jane Yolen

Book Overview

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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0152008667
• ISBN13: 9780152008666
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Magic Carpet Books
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.0" x 4.3" x 0.8"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

A Fantastic Read For Any Age

There aren't that many authors who've mastered the art of telling a story that's simple enough that children can get drawn into it, yet complex enough not to bore adults or young adults. J. K. Rowling is one. Diane Duane is another. And Jane Yolen, as she proves in _Dragon's Blood_, is definitely a third.Set in a vividly-painted world with a detailed society, _Dragon's Blood_ is a coming-of-age story that features dragons on par with McCaffrey's or Duane's when it comes to the ability to enchant. As most such stories do, it has a happy ending... but not completely happy, and if Jakkin seems to have an unusual amount of luck on his side, Yolen still manages to tell his story in a way that won't make adults (who tend to be more cynical than starry-eyed young teenagers) roll their eyes and toss the book aside. On the flip side of the coin, while concepts such as prostitution, maturity achieved through sex, and drug addiction are mentioned, this is done tastefully and with a definite message against all of the above. I wouldn't hesitate to give this book to a child, though the very young or very sheltered might have questions about these issues after reading.With a strong plot, realistic characters, a colorful setting, and the perpetual delight that is (well-portrayed) dragons, _Dragon's Blood_ would give either a youngster or an adult a great introduction to the fantasy genre. For those who are already fans, add this one to your bookshelf; you won't be sorry. However, you might want to wait until you've read it before purchasing the sequels, neither of which quite measure up to their predecessor.

Quite a fantasy

this book was excellent. I loved how it takes you away from reality and would recommend it to all ages for reading due to that if you are an elder you can go back in time with the way Jane Yolen writes this. I hope this book stays on the shelves forever. The characters and realism of the outer planet this sets in is well described.

It was a good book.

It was a good book, but I would have liked it better if the reding level was higher (I read this book because of it's content, not it's reading level. I normaly read books that are on the adult level.). It was a book that I wish I could have read when I was 6 or 7. I'm not saying that the book was on an easy reading level, it's just that I have been reading adult books ever scince I can remember.

A Review of _Dragon's Blood_

In this classic, humans have long since colonized the planet Austar IV, where "dragons" are one of the native creatures. Dragons are raised here in nurseries because they had almost reached the brink of extinction in the wild. Young Jakkin was born into a life of labor under one such place, Sarkkhan's Nursery. Each laborer wears a pouch around their neck, and can only become free when that pouch is full. Jakkin's is hardly full, and at Sarkkhan's Nursery there is only one way to do that: steal a dragon's egg and raise it to be a fighter at the Pits. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This was more difficult a task than it may appear, for most of the dragon eggs would not hatch, and only an adept could tell the good eggs from the bad. Likewise, the eggs are not counted, but the hatchlings are. Jakkin is lucky and is able to snatch a small hatchling that was unaccounted for. He takes it to the desert and raises it as a fighter with the aid of Akki. And the dragon turned out to be more than it had first appeared ... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I loved this book. I read it a few years ago, but the story is still fresh in my mind. The story was great, and I was turning pages all the way through. The character's goal to win freedom -- and with a dragon at that -- enlightened my own spirit when I read it. A charming and wonderfully written book that deserves to be bought and placed on the shelf to be read again in the future. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _Dragon's Blood_ is the first book in the Pit Dragon trilogy. It is followed by _Heart's Blood_ and _A Sending of Dragons_, which are quite readable, though I felt they did not live up fully to the first book.