The Book of the Dragon

Rating:
Summary: Great Variety!
Review: I'm a collector of dragon statues, some toys, and various publications. I also enjoy sculpting and illustrating. From time to time I look for good books to use as reference. Although I've only scimmed through the book a couple of times in a retail store, it has a great variety of dragons and informative reading. I was hoping to order it today, but it seems it's not available. I'd recommend this to other artists, or person who loves whimsical drawings of dragons.

Rating:
Summary: Keeping Things in Scale
Review: One does not read fantasy for forty years without developing a good working knowledge of the various aspects of dragonology. There are countless theories that attempt to explain why the image of the dragon is so endemic, but I prefer the simplest - once upon a time dragons walked the earth. Not those wimpy prehistoric lizards, but serious, flying, magic using critters that finally left in disgust with the mess us humans have made of the world.

In an effort to clear up any confusion, Montse Sant has endeavored to create a compendium of dragon facts and fiction. Sant almost succeeds. Unfortunately, the author shows a decided propensity for making too many things up when the literature fails to come through. Thus, we have a fiction about a fiction of all things. This is not a book about dragons, but a book about Sant's vision of what dragons should be. All very well if you happen to agree with Sant's ideas. The author is a dragon apologist, who spends so much time chattering about how wonderful dragons are that we never really find out how terrible they are as well.

This thin tidbit is lavishly illustrated by Ciruelo Cabral. He is capable of a variety of styles, which keeps the work from feeling repetitious. Some of the work is quite good, and the rest is more than satisfactory. Indeed, I like the imaginative artwork more than I like the prose. Ciruelo seems to have a solider idea of the draconic nature than Sant does. There is enough here to fire the imagination of even the most mundane of dragon lovers, although it still leaves me a bit dissatisfied.

Rating:
Summary: Keeping Things in Scale
Review: One does not read fantasy for forty years without developing a good working knowledge of the various aspects of dragonology. There are countless theories that attempt to explain why the image of the dragon is so endemic, but I prefer the simplest - once upon a time dragons walked the earth. Not those wimpy prehistoric lizards, but serious, flying, magic using critters that finally left in disgust with the mess us humans have made of the world.

In an effort to clear up any confusion, Montse Sant has endeavored to create a compendium of dragon facts and fiction. Sant almost succeeds. Unfortunately, the author shows a decided propensity for making too many things up when the literature fails to come through. Thus, we have a fiction about a fiction of all things. This is not a book about dragons, but a book about Sant's vision of what dragons should be. All very well if you happen to agree with Sant's ideas. The author is a dragon apologist, who spends so much time chattering about how wonderful dragons are that we never really find out how terrible they are as well.

This thin tidbit is lavishly illustrated by Ciruelo Cabral. He is capable of a variety of styles, which keeps the work from feeling repetitious. Some of the work is quite good, and the rest is more than satisfactory. Indeed, I like the imaginative artwork more than I like the prose. Ciruelo seems to have a solider idea of the draconic nature than Sant does. There is enough here to fire the imagination of even the most mundane of dragon lovers, although it still leaves me a bit dissatisfied.

Rating:
Summary: A beautiful book!
Review: This books gives interesting descriptions of various dragons, such as water dragons, fire dragons, earth dragons, etc. It includes lifestyle and all sorts of fascinating facts. Best of all are beautiful illustrations. Even if you don't go for the descriptions, the pictures alone are worth it.

Rating:
Summary: awesome book!
Review: this has got to be the best collection of stories and artwork i have seen! a must have for the dragon enthusiast.... if only they would republish it.