The Dragon Book (Short Story Collection)

[Almaron]

As the title suggests, The Dragon Book consists of several short stories about Dragons, in various shapes, forms and settings. I bought this after hearing there'd be a story by Naomi Novik, author of the Temeraire Series (AU History Napoleonic Wars with Dragons).

In short, the stories are as follows:
Dragon's Deep - Cecelia Holland: A woman is abducted by Dragon, and befriends it by telling it stories.
Vici - Naomi Novik: (Part of Temeraire series) Mark Anthony inadvertantly becomes the first man (in the west) to harness a dragon.
Bob Choi's Last Job - Johnathan Stroud: The story of an assassin who hunts down dragons in human form.
Are You Afflicted With Dragons? - Kage Baker: A travelling salesman offers to rid a person's house of tiny dragon pests.
The Tsar's Dragons - Jane Yolen & Adam Stemple: AU. Details the beginnings of the Russian Revolution; where revolutionaries plan to hatch stolen dragon eggs and use them against the Tsar's own dragon guards.
The Dragon Of Direfell - Liz Williams: A dragon is summoned outside a manor house in England. Believing there to be dark magic afoot, a visitor attempts to discover who in the house summoned the creature.
Oakland Dragon Blues - Peter S. Beagle: A dragon abruptly appears in the middle of a crowded city street, unhappy because its author wrote it out of the story.
Humane Killer - Diana Gabaldon & Samuel Sykes: For various reasons, a witch and a reanimated Crusader Knight, along with two members of the church are tasked with slaying the dragon Ziegfried which is terrorising the countryside.
Stop! - Garth Nix: A mysterious humanoid creature appears on the testing site for a nuclear device, and waits for the inevitable.
Ungentle Fire - Sean Williams: An apprentice is tasked by his master to slay a dragon. However, the dragon in question reveals that there may be more to the boy's master than there seems...
A Stark & Wormy Knight - Tad Williams: A dragon mother attempts to get her nestling to sleep by telling him a story of his great-grandfather, and how he escaped a deadly knight.
None So Blind - Harry Turtledove: Cartographers travel across the land to see if "There Be Dragons" on their unmapped borders.
JoBoy - Diana Wynne Jones: A sickly boy uses his mind to "repair" his body, and ends up constructing a new one at the same time...
Puz_le - Gregory Maguire: A young girl assembles a jigsaw puzzle of a Dragon, which seems to be moving...
After the Third Kiss - Bruce Coville: A fairy tale comes to an end; the cursed daughter is freed from her dragon form, and the evil stepmother is turned into a frog. But are things really over? Or can some things never go back to normal?
The War That Winter Is - Tanith Lee: Ulkioket, an ice dragon, endlessly plagues a wintry world, destroying villages. A strange child born from the mingling of Ulkioket's breath and a pregnant woman goes forth to slay him.
The Dragon's Tale - Tamora Pierce: A dragon retells a story of her youth, and how she secretly cared for a persecuted woman and her child, while journeying the land with her human family.
Dragon Storm - Mary Rosenblum: In a world where humans live alongside various draconic creatures, an island terrorized by slavers discovers that the old Sea-Dragons may still live...
The Dragaman's Bride - Andy Duncan: A girl encounters a strange old hermit.

Some of these stories I found to be too "high fantasy" for me - I was looking for Dragons more along the lines of the Pernese kind. But I did enjoy A Stark & Wormy Knight's dragons, who spoke very oddly ("Be grateful that you've only got one head to sleepify, unbelike some of your knobful ancestors, and go back and shove yourself snorewise"), and also Vici, The Tsar's Dragons, After The Third Kiss, The Dragon's Tale, JoBoy & Oakland Dragon Blues. I might need to read them again at some point - glancing at Dragon Storm, I noticed that it contained a breed of dragons who bond with riders and communicate telepathically...hmm...

Anyway, has anybody else read this? What did you think?

[Brenda]

I think high fantasy is more the default style for dragons - Pern is notable for being an exception, really.

If there's a Bruce Coville story in there, I'll have to try to find it!

This one looks funny, too:
"A Stark & Wormy Knight - Tad Williams: A dragon mother attempts to get her nestling to sleep by telling him a story of his great-grandfather, and how he escaped a deadly knight."

[kevia]

I have read it, but it was quite a while ago. I don't really remember the stories very well, but I think I enjoyed it alright.

[Rianne]

is "oakland dragon blues" set in Oakland, California? (if so, I have to read it, seeing it would be the first Fantasy story set in the city a block away from the one I live in that I have read.)

[Almaron]

Let me check...

Yes, I think it is! I know nothing of locations in the US, but the story mentioned several places that Google and Wikipedia quickly confirmed were Californian (North Berkeley, Gourmet Ghetto).

[Anneli]

Sounds like an interesting read, I'll look out for it - many thanks