The Pit Dragon Trilogy

by Jane Yolen

Dragon's Blood
Heart's Blood
A Sending of Dragons

I don't have anything against Jane Yolen, and it's not as if these books are actually terrible, but I'm just going to go ahead and say it anyway -- I don't like them. (And if you want to know why I read all three, it's because unless a book or series is totally unbearable, I just always have to see where it's going. I'm obsessive that way.)

These three books pivot around an odd and gruesome conceit -- by spending the night in the birth canal of a (dead, obviously) dragon, humans become telepathically enhanced and able to communicate wordlessly with both dragons and other humans. There is an involved plot about the politics of a planetary Australia (original penal colony struggling to emerge from its past as a dropoff point for jailbirds) and inter-species understanding and cooperation, ending on a hopeful note as the protagonists head back to civilization to bring their newfound enlightenment to the people. Whatever. I still don't like these books.

I'll say one thing, though, she sure has managed to come up with some new material in the telepathically linked human and dragon genre, which is becoming rather pathetically overworked. BTW, the phrase "pit dragon" refers to the fighting pit where specially trained dragons compete for the entertainment and financial gain of their human masters. In case you were wondering.