Read these 15 epic fantasy series about dragons

6. The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey

Okay, the dragons aren’t really in space (most of the time), but since this is one of the only sci-fi series I can think of that heavily features dragons, I’m going to run with it.

Anne McCaffrey’s series is one of the most prolific dragon stories out there. There are a lot of Pern books, which means lots of dragons to enjoy.

McCaffrey’s books are set on the world of Pern, a rocky, unforgiving place where people live in communities called Holds that are specifically constructed to withstand a natural disaster that occurs every so often, when the next nearest planet passes within close orbit and sends acidic “Threads” raining down from the sky. The only way to combat these Threads is with dragonfire, and thus, dragonriders have become a huge part of Pern’s culture. People bond with dragons at hatching, and much like in Temeraire, those dragons become lifelong companions who can communicate with their riders.

Since the Pern books are science fiction, there are some really cool elements you don’t normally see in dragon stories, like time travel. The first book, Dragonflight, follows a girl named Lessa as she’s drafted into one of the dragonrider communities and becomes their only hope of combating the Threads.

Dragonriders of Pern is one of those rare series that has such a vast scope that you can really pick and choose which books to read based on your own personal tastes. There’s an origin story for the world, political coups in the vein of Game of Thrones, a coming-of-age tale of a young female bard called Dragonsinger, and a number of other tales. There’s even one about the Dolphins of Pern. I kid you not.