Customer Reviews

Flight of Dragons

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Peter Dickinson's classic book on such imponderables as how (and why) dragons fly is one of my favorite books on the care and feeding of our scaled neighbors. He goes into great detail about what it takes to get a 20,000-pound appetite up into the air and speeding to its next meal. Sometimes slightly tongue-in-cheek, Dickinson draws on legend and story to create a delightful theory that takes the imaginary and makes it real.

Not satisfied with explaining away the impossible, Dickinson goes on to explore the dragon life cycle, habitat and sociology. I took particular delight in the section that explains that most horrific of monsters, the george, otherwise known as 'the mean man in the tin can.' He is quite outspoken about the monstrous atrocities committed in the name of 'dragon-slaying.' And for doubters, there is even a section citing the evidences for the existence of dragons. Of course, those of us who drive from peak to peak dragon-watching in our ancient Volkswagen busses need no further evidence.

The other delight in this book is the rich illustration by Wayne Anderson. We find dragons cute and fearsome, old and new. The work is both beautiful and whimsical, and you will find yourself returning to the images countless times, whenever the dream starts to fade. The book is both beautiful and fun - a worthwhile addition to the mythophile's library.

The book answers the right question - Not "How could something as big as a dragon fly?", but "Why did dragons need to be that big in order to fly?". The approach is a straight faced, imaginative explanation of dragon phsyiology, psychology, life cycle, and more. The author manages to engage in a ciritcal scientific examination of all the evidece without losing the sense of awful wonder for the dragons he is studying.

I totally agree!!! This is the best book! Basically, he starts out on the premise that dragons actually existed (at about the time cavemen were around), and goes on to explain how something that large could fly, why this lead to them liking maidens, jewels, and gold, why they lived in caves, and why they can no longer be found! Read it (if you can find it)

How would they fly, why would they hoard gold, and how did they breed? Author Peter Dickinson attempts to answer these question from the standpoint that Dragons were very much real and, step-by-step, he explains how these meat-eating Hindenburgs would have lived. His viewpoint is that they were animals, and not 'intelligent beings', but, real or not, fire breathing dragons have left a mark in our minds and memories that remains to this modern day. Another plus are the nice dragon illustrations peppering the slim, 132 page coffee table styled book, so fantasy fans will find something to enjoy in it.

Digging through my hoard of dragon lore books, something I have a great interest in, I came across this; one of my old favorites...a friend if you will. I received this work as a present from my wife when it was first published. She indulges my hobbies and as a matter of fact encourages them, although unlike myself, she does not believe in dragons, per se. And this brings us to a good point and an observation I have made. There are, in general, three sorts of people in this world; those that believe in dragons, those that do not, and of course those that really have not given it much thought and could sort of careless either way. I have also noted that, again in general, that humans have the capability of believing in just about anything at any given time, even the absolute absurd. Therefore, knowing this, I don't feel at all foolish in my beliefs.

Peter Dickinson has given us a wonderful work here devoted to dragon lore, history, care, keeping, life cycle, evolution, speech, evidence of dragons, the ability of dragons to fly and so much more. As one reviewer has pointed out, this is a very scientific friendly work and the author does not place his tongue in his cheek too often...a fact for which I am grateful.

Please do not that this IS NOT the same as the movie of the same title. Yes, the movie was indeed based on this work but all resemblance ends there. Do not expect to purchase this work and get a film version on paper of the theater work. This is something quite different. There are those that will appreciate this and there are those that will be disappointed. Just remember that I and other reviewers have warned you!

This work is broken down into a number of chapters, some of which include Dragon Flight, Fiery Breath, Dragon Blood, Life Cycle, Dragon Sightings in Britain (the author includes a wonderful map with this section), Techniques of Dragon-slaying, The Dragon Hoard, Dragon Speech, Beowulf, Chinese Dragons and of course Evidence for Dragons. The text is quite readable, informative and simply fun. You also get a very good dose of history and mythology thrown in for good measure. This is truly a well researched book. I say this with confidence as I must admit to having read and studied up on this subject quite a lot over the years. Opinions my differ as to the author's conclusions, but you will have to admit that the man did his homework.

Of course as with any great book of this genre we have the illustrations. I am delighted to tell you that Wayne Anderson, one of my all time favorite fantasy illustrators has provided the art work for this book, and what art work it is! From small inserts to full page spreads, this talented artist has given us our monies worth in pictures alone. From the sublime to the ghastly, from the harsh to the whimsical, Anderson has come through in a most glorious manner! I would love to have a full size original of his Grendel and the Dragon hanging on my wall!

If you are into dragons (and who would not be?), or if you want to gaze at some wonderful fantasy art or if you want to entertain grandsons and granddaughters on a rainy afternoon, then this is a work you really must have on your shelf. This review is of the hard cover edition, something I would suggest as I promise you that it will get many readings once you get your hands on it.

Mild Warning: For those of you will very small children...there is partial nudity in this work and some of the illustrations can be and are rather graphic.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

Why is this thing out of print? It's the best!! Anyone who agrees with me should watch the movie

I grew up watching the movie and as an adult found out there really was a book that the movie was based on. The movie plot wise is more closer to The Dragon and the George, Gordon R. Dickson, but I digress. The Book describes the life styles and behavior of dragons and uses citations from classical literature. Absolutely lovely illustrations, it is a fine book to add to any dragon lover's collection

I highly recommend this book for any amateur dragonologist. It's really a wonderful piece of prose that investigates the theory of dragons from several insightful and novel perspectives I'd never previously considered. The art is detailed and beautiful, contributing significantly to the engrossing nature of the story and its mystique. You'd do yourself a great service by tracking down a copy of this book for the dragon enthusiast in your life.

Although it is a good work, I often wonder why this title was chosen for the movie. Only a few things from this book were used. For those who are looking for the main plot of the movie, this was based largely on one of Gordon R. Dickson's novels THE DRAGON AND THE GEORGE. This is the first of his acclaimed Dragonknight series. Not quite as cute and small child friendly though.
I personally view THE FLIGHT OF DRAGONS as a reference source for Gordon's novels....

Thank You the easy transaction. Arrived much sooner than quoted. Thank YOu. My husband will be thrilled!
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