Dragons

I decided when Eldest, by Christopher Paolini, came out that it was time to read Eragon, the first book of the trilogy. So I finished it one weekend and am now trying to finish Eldest before it is due back at the library. Its interesting that the previous week I finished listening to Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer, another book which included dragons. It struck me that although I know little about Norse mythology these writers are obviously steeped in it. Although these are works of fantasy they use a consistent knowledge base. I'm finding that true of Tolkien's Hobbit books, Harry Potter, and even Terry Pratchett. So along with great fantasy fiction I'm learning my mythology. I guess I'm also just getting into dragon lore these days as I enjoyed Cornelia Funke's Dragon Rider, and have now put a hold on Dragonology to find out more about dragons. Maybe I just like escape fiction. Its why I read cozy style mysteries too. They are their own brand of "escape fiction", since there is no way that stuff happens to real people. (Although if you read enough of the stuff you start to see bodies in the most unlikely places.) I guess the premier dragon writer is Anne McCaffrey. In my spare time I may have to go back to the Dragonriders of Pern series. As ever, so many books, so little time.