In elementary school, between '92 and '96, I read a young adult fantasy novel that has eluded my internet searches to this day. I don't remember the plot, but I think it had the word 'Rainbow' in the title. There was a dragon that the main character, and adventuring party, was flying on at the end of the book. The bad guys (?) cast a magical web in front of the dragon at the end of the book, and the characters fell. It just stopped there! It was probably part of a series. I can't remember much else. Any help is appreciated.
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1Would it be one of the Xanth series? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xanth#Books– gbnCommented Apr 3, 2013 at 10:10
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Maybe this list will spark a memory: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dragons_in_literature– silvithCommented Jul 12, 2013 at 8:33
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Greg Costikyan had a series of 2 books (never finished) and I think I remember the 2nd one ending like this. One Quest, Hold the Dragon– eshierCommented Feb 15, 2018 at 18:43
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I have a strong feeling that there is a scene like the one described here, in one of Barbara Hambly's Dragonsbane sequels (not Dragonsbane itself iirc). I do not have access to a copy to check if this is correct, and, if so, which book. Perhaps someone out there has a copy?– BasyaCommented Feb 26, 2023 at 9:21
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3 Answers
This is a long shot - but the 1993 novel 'The Iron Dragon's Daughter' by Michael Swanwick has a chase scene near the end of the book, in which
the protagonist, a girl named Jane, and her dragon Melanchthon are being pursued by other 'dragon pilots' (in this world, dragons are magical/mechanical, somewhat malevolent constructs). They do fall, as do their adversaries, after being slowly destroyed by the environment through which they are travelling (a 'super-reality' in which the goddess of their existence resides).
However, Iron Dragon's Daughter does not end at that point, but continues for two chapters of resolution, so, again, it is a long shot. Also, it was not written for young adults, so if you read it in elementary school there could be quite a few bits that didn't quite sink in.
Incidentally, Swanwick wrote a sequel, The Dragons of Babel, in 2008.
answered Jul 11, 2013 at 1:11
I think this is Laurence Yep's series:
- Dragon of the Lost Sea (1982)
- Dragon Steel (1985)
- Dragon Cauldron (1991)
- Dragon War (1992)
"Rainbow" probably comes from the dragon's name: Shimmer. The adventuring group is her, Thorn (a human boy), Monkey (pulled right out of Journey to the West along with his magic staff), Civet ( a witch), and Indigo (a human girl).
I remember a flaming net being part of the books too. Unfortunately, I can only find the last three right now. I don't think it was from the first one anyway. In the second book, there is a large wire-mesh flaming bird at the beginning and at the end of the underwater segment. In the third one, near the end, the bad guy casts a spell to keep the dragon from flying, and the same bad guy comes back about 60 pages later, at the very end.
Dragon War has a few scenes that are similar, but also has a proper denouement, so I doubt that's the one you read.
Could it be one of the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey?
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It doesn't sound like any of the ones I've read... Commented Apr 3, 2013 at 21:37
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5Far off the mark. The above does not describe the Pern series at all. There while there are dragons, there is no magic in Pern. Commented Apr 3, 2013 at 22:12
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