HERE THERE BE DRAGONS
Creatures of mystery, fascination, and imagination -- dragons! Within this volume are tales to astonish, captivate, even frighten. Dragon furnaces, stage dragons, captured dragons, dragon combat... Just about anything can be told about dragons, but all of it appeals to our sense of adventure. Here there be dragons. Mind the flames.
Stories
The Care and Maintenance of Banzai Dragons by Gregory L. Norris
Dragon’s Lament by Michael P. Coglan
Stage Magic by Karen Eisenbrey
Gladys Tuttle and the Iguana Incident by David Hankins
Snowborn by Andrew Knighton
Slayer by Benjamin SpadaCome Not Between by Erica Ruppert
Article
Know Your Dragons
Poems
Born Hungry by Rachel Nussbaum
Dragon Dream by Kerstin Schulz
Voyage of the Dragon Song by Anna Dallara
Stained Glass Dragon by Katherine Quevedo
Unauthorized by Pam Ahlen
Illustrations
Fire Dragon by Brian Quinn
The Nocturnal by Sonali Roy
Dragon Tapestry by Richard E Schell
Dragon by Stephen Lillie
At Night by Angela Patera
Avis
This slender anthology offers seven short stories with dragons meeting humans in an array of settings and styles, plus poetry and artwork. The stories present dragons as monsters, protectors, heat sources, research subjects, dramatic characters, migratory creatures, and cosmic beings. I enjoyed all of these imaginative takes on dragons, especially “Dragon’s Lament” by Michael P. Coglan, “Gladys Tuttle and the Iguana Incident” by David Hankins, and “Snowborn” by Andrew Knighton.
Full disclosure, the anthology includes my first and to date only dragon story, “Stage Magic”.