Read these 15 epic fantasy series about dragons

1. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

Of course, it’s all but impossible to talk about dragons without referencing everyone’s favorite fantasy phenomenon, Game of Thrones.

It’s hard to remember now, a decade after HBO’s mega-hit show began, but once upon a time, the dragons of Westeros and Essos existed only on the pages of George R.R. Martin’s monstrously huge novels. The dragons were never the main part of A Song of Ice and Fire, per se, but they’re very important to the story. They’re the promise of epic adventures to come, and a reflection of the glorious past of Westeros and Essos. They’re so fascinating that Martin was inspired to detail their past in the pages of Fire and Blood, which is all about House Targaryen, the family most closely associated with the winged beasts. And we’ll be getting more of these dragons on TV, too, since HBO is adapting the book as House of the Dragon.

Writers use dragons in all sorts of ways. Sometimes they’re intelligent to the point where they can talk and makes decisions that drive the plot. Sometimes they’re greedy, sometimes selfless. In ASOIAF, they act like normal animals, but are so big and powerful that they can turn the tide of a war, which makes them vitally important to the never-ending game of thrones. Whichever side has one has the ultimate trump card.

All these years later, I still think of the description of the newborn dragons on the final pages of A Game of Thrones: “For the first time in hundreds of years, the night came alive with the music of dragons.” I can still remember the chills I got reading those words as a starry-eyed fantasy newbie. It’s one of the best endings to a fantasy novel ever.

While we’ve still got two more books of ASOIAF to go, some of the best scenes of the series revolve around Danaerys Targaryen’s three children. Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion have become some of the most famous dragons in pop culture.