The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug came out on Friday. I haven't seen it yet, and I don't plan on seeing it in the theater. The films are too long for me to sit in those seats. I like to watch them in my house so I can pause them and go to the bathroom.
The exciting thing about his film is the dragon. I LOVE dragons. LOVE them! I love them in all forms--as destroyers or as helpers. I remember the first dragon movie I watched, Dragonslayer. Scared the hell out of me. The scene with the baby dragons eating the princess was a little disturbing for my young mind. But it also intrigued me.
In high school, I read some of the Dragonriders of Pern books. I really enjoyed them, but I don't really what they're about. It's been a loooong time. Perhaps it's time to pick them up again.
Reign of Fire came out while I was working on my first draft of Wucaii. I remember going to the theater to see it with my family. It was a great film. I remember hoping that dragons were going to become the next movie monster and there would be a high demand for them. My hope was that my book would get picked up by a publisher, but dragons never really took off. And, thankfully, I didn't actually finish the book at that time. It still needed a lot of work!
There are numerous other examples of films and books that I read that involved dragons, but not all of them had the impression that these ones made. I'm hoping with the next installment of The Hobbit films that dragons will make a comeback.
My book Wucaii was influenced by my love affair with the reptilian creatures, but I added my own twist to it. Check it out if you get the chance and let me know what you think.
In celebration of the dragon, I'm going to have a giveaway. The first three people who comment on this post with their favorite dragon book or movie will get an ecopy of Wucaii. Don't forget to leave a way for me to contact you!
Hooray for dragons!