Dragonology

[ReformedBaptist]

Is anyone familiar with this Ernest Drake series? My son has taken an interest in it and I am trying to learn more about it.

RB

 

[just-want-peace]

Is anyone familiar with this Ernest Drake series? My son has taken an interest in it and I am trying to learn more about it.

RB

What Ernest Drake series?

 

[ReformedBaptist]

What Ernest Drake series?

Dragonology, as the title says.

 

[Tom Butler]

For those of us without a clue, how about a short summary of the writing's content, and who Ernest Drake is?

 

[North Carolina Tentmaker]

Dragonology started as just one book in the ology series. There are other books in the series but they are on different subjects. (Pirateology, Wizardology, there are several others). Dragonology came out in 2003 and was a big hit. They sold several million copies, mostly in the UK and US. My kids got a copy and I think it is a very entertaining book. Written like a reference book it is fiction written in a style that makes it seem authentic. It really is a very entertaining mix of history, science, and fiction.

Dragonology has since led to 2 follow up mock documentary style books, a board game, a video, and a fictional series. I am assuming that RB’s son has discovered the fiction series. This series is called the Dragonology Chronicles and started with the title The Dragon’s Eye. I know follow ups are planned but don't know if they are out yet.

Ernest Drake is not the real author. Ernest Drake is also fictional character invented by Dugald Steer, the real author of the ology series. According to Steer Dr. Ernest Drake was a famous dragonologist born in 1822 and who originally published Dragonology in 1895. All of the ology books have a fictional author along these lines.

Here is a good link about the series:

http://www.bookpage.com/0612bp/dugald_a_steer.html

From the link:

Dr. Drake makes his latest appearance in The Dragon's Eye, the first-ever Dragonology fiction. Aimed at readers ages nine and up, The Dragon's Eye launches a new series of middle-grade novels titled the Dragonology Chronicles.

"We wanted to show Dr. Drake in action," says Steer of his longest work to date. The exciting story follows 12-year-old Daniel Cook and his sister, Beatrice, as they attend the special summer school run by Dr. Drake, and find themselves in a race against time to find the Dragon's Eye jewel. . . .

. . . It's no surprise to learn that the creator of this imaginative series loved to read as a boy, and fantasy ranked among his favorites, including Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, one of C.S. Lewis' Narnia stories. "To a certain extent," admits the soft-spoken author, "I'm writing for the little boy I used to be."

As in the other "Ologies," Steer's love of science, history—and simply learning—comes through in The Dragon's Eye.

"I hope all these books help to create the idea of a love of knowledge," he notes.

Personally, IMHO, these are great books. Aimed at middle school boys (but my daughter loves them too) they are great fun and can encourage a love of learning. The only real danger here would be if you have a child who has difficulty separating fact and fiction.

I know some people have a religious based fear that anything magical, mysterious, or fantasy related might be some evil attempt to allow the occult into our children’s minds. If you are scared of Narnia and Harry Potter and think the Bewitched television series was a conspiracy to desensitize our children to the evils of witchraft then you should probably stay away from the ology series. But to everyone else I would say enjoy it.

RB I let my kids read it, I have read the main book and found nothing I objected to.

 

[Marcia]

If the heroes/heroines cast spells or have psychic powers, do tarot cards and such, I would have a problem with it. I am not sure if this in the book or not. There are people who cast spells today and do these other things (I did some of them myself) and books can make this look good or interesting to some kids. And what we put in our minds we can never take out, so we are to guard our hearts and minds and be careful what we put in.

It seems this should be moved to the book section of the BB.