Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for science fiction and fantasy enthusiasts. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
I'm trying to remember the name of a book probably written in the 80's.
The main character gets involved in a battle to protect his city where he wields an axe in a pages long fight scene. The book also has a dragon in it (and maybe something about dragon eggs - I can't remember for sure) I know it wasn't a Pern book despite the dragon.
I think the cover had a lot of reds and oranges on it possibly.
Yeah, I know... not much to go on, but I thought it would be worth a try to ask.
I know this is an old question, but I just saw it. Maybe this will still help...
Perhaps Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly (1985)?
There is a kingdom and the northern areas are more or less cut off and decaying. A somewhat foppish teenager (Gareth) who turns out to be royal, comes to ask the local lord (John Aversin), who had previously killed a dragon, to help because there is a dangerous dragon I think near the capital.
John and Jenny Waynest, who has magical training and abilities, agree to go.
The plot is complicated; the Wikipedia article summarizes it, but they do fight the dragon and John is armed with an axe.
He is not fighting to protect his city though, but someone else's, so I am not sure it is a match. Also, you mention that there was a dragon in the story, but not that the axe fight was against the dragon. But there is a dragon and a pages long fight scene where the protagonist wields an axe.
Things that might help you recognize it:
The north lands are a very rough place. Where Gareth comes from, and they later go to, is seemingly much more refined (Gareth is shocked to find his hero to be a seeming country bumpkin). But the "cultured" culture is actually full of petty spite and all sorts of nastiness.
There is another race (dwarves? elves? I don't remember) whose magic comes from something called "the Deep", and one of the more nasty characters is trying to get control of it (Zyerne, I think)
Two more hints, but they are spoilers:
They almost kill the dragon, but to save John's life they make some kind of deal where he is also saved, but goes away somewhere else.
Jenny turns into a dragon, but in the end misses being human and is turned back
