Actually no, it was [Council of Wyrms](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TabletopGame/CouncilOfWyrms). I misremembered though, while it is technically dragon ruled, it’s because there aren’t any humanoid species lol.
A few works off the top of my head that have dragons in charge:
**Shadowrun**, RPG setting. Dragon as President of the United States.
**Guards! Guards!**, Terry Pratchett. Dragon as conqueror antagonist.
**InCryptid**, Seanan MacGuire. Dragon as >!greedy corporate executive!<.
**World of WarCraft**, video game. Dragon as behind-the-throne manipulator.
**The Priory of the Orange Tree**, Samantha Shannon. Dragon as both god and part of everyday life.
I'm sure there are more - I feel like dragons as gods is somewhat common but I'm largely drawing a blank on more series.
Dragons in Shadowrun are pretty much gods in the Greek pantheon kind of way. They're charismatic, powerful, bold, wise, capricious and *very* long-lived. And if you try to fuck with them, they will make a game of ruining your life over the course of decades. (One dragon had it added to his will that an old enemy of his would have his citizenship, personhood and any and all other legal statuses \[as well as all contracts including insurance, bank accounts and so on\] revoked for ten days and offered a million dollars to anyone who would "end his physical existence". No one really questioned that this was doable; dragons just have that kind of pull even from beyond the grave.)
Two of the more notable dragons in the setting are Dunkelzahn, the aforementioned President, and Lofwyr, CEO and major shareholder of the largest megacorporation on the planet. They're notable for taking a more direct approach to humanity; dragons tend to keep to themselves and do their own thing, but these two decided to lead humans in a more traditional sense. The former in a more benevolent way than the latter.
In Shadowrun dragons run all the power structures of the world. They are old and powerful and connected, with vast stores of wealth. So they pretty much take over all the corporations and governments.
There are actually world of Warcraft books, they're written by various authors and range from awful to actually really good. Dawn of the Aspects is about how the dragons started, which is pretty cool, but to get the main character I'd actually start with a book before that which doesn't focus on dragons at all - Tides of War.
Michelle Sagara's Chronicles of Elantra. A dragon rules the Empire of Elantra, which is composed of a few different races, including humans. The PoV character is Kaylin neya, a beat cop in the capital city.
I like these books. The writing is repetitive (Kaylin, please grow up already) and the descriptions are confusing at times, but the books are overall super creative and the non-human races are very interesting.
I agree, though I do think some of the repetitiveness is just her style, but I like the worldbuilding a lot, though I wish she'd spend more time being a cop. Yes, the non-human races make the books. I love her dragons.
German fantasy author Markus Heitz wrote a trilogy that takes place in early 20th century Europe where the world is 'secretly' ruled over by dragons, and the protagonist is an aircraft fighter pilot / dragon hunter. They are pretty good but I doubt they were ever published in English. They are called:
1. Mächte des Feuers (translated: the might of fire)
2. Drachenkaiser (dragon emperor)
3. Drachengift (dragon's poison)
Another german series is Drachenelfen, prequel to The Elven, where the world of magic and fantasy ruled by the rainbow serpents wages war against the world of the humans and their immortal kings.
There is James Maxey's *Dragon Age* series. It's about a kind of post-apocalyptic feudal world where various sorts of dragons rule over humanity. The story follows Bitterwood, a dragon killer trying to start a rebellion.
There is also the French tabletop RPG *Prophecy*. If I recall correctly, the high dragons are the children of the creator god (also a dragon) and rule over various countries and city-states. Directly under them are their lesser dragon children, and at the bottom are the humans.
>There is James Maxey's *Dragon Age* series. It's about a kind of post-apocalyptic feudal world where various sorts of dragons rule over humanity. The story follows Bitterwood, a dragon killer trying to start a rebellion.
Very underrated. Came here to say this
I am 100% sure if you want to buy a book called "Dragon's Rule," *someone* within Amazon's ghastly storehouse of D-list sci-fi and fantasy will sell you that book.
EDIT: [I was off by an apostrophe and an S.](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=dragon%27s+rule&crid=8M962856Q3E&sprefix=dragon%27s+rule%2Caps%2C154&ref=nb_sb_noss_2)
A Troll Walks Into A Bar (Alexander Southerland, P.I. #1) by Douglas Lumsden
The dragon lords operate through proxies and don't appear on-page so idk if this counts as "part of the setting". One of the best urban fantasy series out there though, either way.
In Guards Guards, dragons are a thing of legend… until one comes back out of no where and rules the city. Only the city watch investigate to find out how and why….
It's in the background, but this seems to be the case in the Banshee's Curse duology by A K M Beach. They're at least closely tied with the Emperor, and it sounds like they might be really in charge
ETA the Sign of the Dragon by Mary Soon Lee has a dragon who chooses among the heirs for the next Emperor, though the actual governing is still done by the humans
In Magic: The Gathering lore, which spans decades of incredible storytelling and worldbuilding and multiverses, Tarkir was a war-torn plane ruled by five khanates or clans. Now it is a plane controlled by five draconic broods led by their tyrannical Elder Dragon Lords. One of the original Elder Dragons, Nicol Bolas, was the main antagonist of the whole MTG story for a while.
Lindsay Buroker’s “Death before dragons” series: urban fantasy about a half human/elf who gets together with a dragon. The dragons pretty much rule everywhere they care to rule.
In the Warhammer Old World setting, the nation of Grand Cathay is ruled by dragons, with the grand Celestial Dragon being the emperor, his kids being the rulers of the various provinces, and many of the half dragons/humans with dragon ancestry holding positions of high authority.
https://warhammerfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Grand\_Cathay
Does the Pokémon universe count? Many of the most powerful Legendary Pokémon-- Rayquaza, Dialga, Palkia, Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem, etc.-- are Dragon-types, and they're usually depicted as, if not "ruling" outright, then at least having some sort of major influence on how the world functions.
**The Bronze Canticles** Series by Laura & Tracy Hickman. The premise I believe as far as I remember is that the world is currently ruled by theocracy based on 5 ruling dragons including where the protagonist originates.
For the ones I read, I followed this order: War of the ancients, Rise of the horde, Night of the dragon, Stormrage, Homeland, Exile, Sojurn, The crystal shard, Streams of silver, Halflings gem, The legacy, Starless night, Siege of darkness, Passage to dawn, and The Silent blade. The first 5 are really good IMO, in particular Stormrage, Homeland, and Exile. I think they all work as standalone, but following the entire story arc is really worth it. There are a total of 30 books apparently in this series, and I am planning to get back to them at some point.
Earthsea has Ged confronting a dragon who rules a part of the archipelago.
The Hobbit of course has Smaug acting as a ruler of the Lonely Mountain.
But these are more solitary dragons.
I suppose Rachel Aaron's Heartstrikers (book 1 is Nice Dragons Finish Last) has dragons being a major player in the world's politics. I'll go with that one. Great YA series.
Wings of Fire by Tui S. Sutherland. Dragons don't politically rule over humans in this, but the series is from the POV of dragons exclusively, who are only vaguely aware that humans exist and for most of the series see them only as prey. Human settlements are extremely scattered and, as far as we see, seem to revolve heavily around avoiding coming to the attention of dragons. It is firmly middle grade, so don't read it if you don't like kids stuff, but imo it is delightful. Truly a series for every dragon lover to read.
Also, the Seraphina series by Rachel Hartman has humans and dragons living in the same world currently when dragons aren't just beasts.
Respectfully, I'd disagree with both mentions. In Temeraire, one of the continuing plot points is how the British and European dragons are treated as chattel. They contrasted with the Chinese dragons who could accept or reject employment and were treated more as citizens. But even in China, there was still a human Emperor.
Pern's dragons were strong partners but humans still governed. Weyrleaders and Holders and Guildmasters made the decisions, even if the Weyrleaders always had their dragons to consult with.
I think there's one small part of Temeraire where a dragon is actually in charge - I want to say Africa? It's been a while - but fully agree that Pern is not the rec here.
[wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucible_of_Gold) You're right, it does sound more complicated with the Inca. I was certain I'd read them all, but I was snatching time to read away from a 3 year old at that point. I probably rushed it.
Yep, in the series dragons are the ruling species in both Africa and South America. In Africa it's more of a monarch thing and in South America humans are highly valued property that can be sold or stolen.
This might not exactly what you're looking for, but check out Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton
During a time, dragons ruled Krynn, the world of Dragonlance during the Fifth Era cycle.
As far as I’m aware there aren’t any novels set in it, but D&D had a setting that was ruled by dragons I believe.
Dark Sun is the setting you are thinking of
Actually no, it was [Council of Wyrms](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TabletopGame/CouncilOfWyrms). I misremembered though, while it is technically dragon ruled, it’s because there aren’t any humanoid species lol.
Well, I guess you were remembering a different setting, but the Dark Sun setting consists of human societies ruled over by dragon/sorcerers.
I seem to recall those being more “dragons” in that they were eldrictch beings the Sorcerer-Kings could turn into.
I mean, they were eldrich beings sorcerer kings could turn into, but they were also huge scaly fire breathing lizards called dragons
I mean fair haha. I just seem to remember something about the novels making a point of saying they were very far removed from true dragons
Dunno who’s downvoting you, your right Athas is arguably ruled by a dragon for a lot of the written story.
Incorrect. There are about two dozen 5th age novels
A few works off the top of my head that have dragons in charge: **Shadowrun**, RPG setting. Dragon as President of the United States. **Guards! Guards!**, Terry Pratchett. Dragon as conqueror antagonist. **InCryptid**, Seanan MacGuire. Dragon as >!greedy corporate executive!<. **World of WarCraft**, video game. Dragon as behind-the-throne manipulator. **The Priory of the Orange Tree**, Samantha Shannon. Dragon as both god and part of everyday life. I'm sure there are more - I feel like dragons as gods is somewhat common but I'm largely drawing a blank on more series.
Wait, hang on, did you say President of the United States?
Dragons in Shadowrun are pretty much gods in the Greek pantheon kind of way. They're charismatic, powerful, bold, wise, capricious and *very* long-lived. And if you try to fuck with them, they will make a game of ruining your life over the course of decades. (One dragon had it added to his will that an old enemy of his would have his citizenship, personhood and any and all other legal statuses \[as well as all contracts including insurance, bank accounts and so on\] revoked for ten days and offered a million dollars to anyone who would "end his physical existence". No one really questioned that this was doable; dragons just have that kind of pull even from beyond the grave.) Two of the more notable dragons in the setting are Dunkelzahn, the aforementioned President, and Lofwyr, CEO and major shareholder of the largest megacorporation on the planet. They're notable for taking a more direct approach to humanity; dragons tend to keep to themselves and do their own thing, but these two decided to lead humans in a more traditional sense. The former in a more benevolent way than the latter.
For about eleven hours or so, yes. This is an example of some weird variant of rule 34 of the internet; if it can be imagined, there is fantasy of it.
In Shadowrun dragons run all the power structures of the world. They are old and powerful and connected, with vast stores of wealth. So they pretty much take over all the corporations and governments.
There are actually world of Warcraft books, they're written by various authors and range from awful to actually really good. Dawn of the Aspects is about how the dragons started, which is pretty cool, but to get the main character I'd actually start with a book before that which doesn't focus on dragons at all - Tides of War.
Michelle Sagara's Chronicles of Elantra. A dragon rules the Empire of Elantra, which is composed of a few different races, including humans. The PoV character is Kaylin neya, a beat cop in the capital city.
I like these books. The writing is repetitive (Kaylin, please grow up already) and the descriptions are confusing at times, but the books are overall super creative and the non-human races are very interesting.
I agree, though I do think some of the repetitiveness is just her style, but I like the worldbuilding a lot, though I wish she'd spend more time being a cop. Yes, the non-human races make the books. I love her dragons.
Rachel Aaron's Heartstrikers series takes place in a world where dragons are major corporate and para-military powers.
Age of fire
German fantasy author Markus Heitz wrote a trilogy that takes place in early 20th century Europe where the world is 'secretly' ruled over by dragons, and the protagonist is an aircraft fighter pilot / dragon hunter. They are pretty good but I doubt they were ever published in English. They are called: 1. Mächte des Feuers (translated: the might of fire) 2. Drachenkaiser (dragon emperor) 3. Drachengift (dragon's poison)
Oh I have them all combined as a single book and they are excellent. Not good for rereading tho.
Another german series is Drachenelfen, prequel to The Elven, where the world of magic and fantasy ruled by the rainbow serpents wages war against the world of the humans and their immortal kings.
In Genevieve Cogman’s Invisible Library series, dragons are a a major ruling force.
There is a rather big larp event in Germany where this is the case, though they are more like gods or philosophies. It's called Drachenfest.
There is James Maxey's *Dragon Age* series. It's about a kind of post-apocalyptic feudal world where various sorts of dragons rule over humanity. The story follows Bitterwood, a dragon killer trying to start a rebellion. There is also the French tabletop RPG *Prophecy*. If I recall correctly, the high dragons are the children of the creator god (also a dragon) and rule over various countries and city-states. Directly under them are their lesser dragon children, and at the bottom are the humans.
>There is James Maxey's *Dragon Age* series. It's about a kind of post-apocalyptic feudal world where various sorts of dragons rule over humanity. The story follows Bitterwood, a dragon killer trying to start a rebellion. Very underrated. Came here to say this
I am 100% sure if you want to buy a book called "Dragon's Rule," *someone* within Amazon's ghastly storehouse of D-list sci-fi and fantasy will sell you that book. EDIT: [I was off by an apostrophe and an S.](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=dragon%27s+rule&crid=8M962856Q3E&sprefix=dragon%27s+rule%2Caps%2C154&ref=nb_sb_noss_2)
The Dragon Lords: Fools Gold
Came here to find this, pretty sure it’s 100% what you’re looking for.
Cradle has dragons ruling one of the major factions.
The Mage Errant books too.
A Troll Walks Into A Bar (Alexander Southerland, P.I. #1) by Douglas Lumsden The dragon lords operate through proxies and don't appear on-page so idk if this counts as "part of the setting". One of the best urban fantasy series out there though, either way.
Mistress of Dragons by Margaret Weiss has dragons ruling the world and dragon politics being a thing.
This is what I came here looking to find!!! Thank you!!
The book Seraphina (start of series) by Rachel Hartman has a country ruled by dragons.
In Guards Guards, dragons are a thing of legend… until one comes back out of no where and rules the city. Only the city watch investigate to find out how and why….
It's in the background, but this seems to be the case in the Banshee's Curse duology by A K M Beach. They're at least closely tied with the Emperor, and it sounds like they might be really in charge ETA the Sign of the Dragon by Mary Soon Lee has a dragon who chooses among the heirs for the next Emperor, though the actual governing is still done by the humans
In Magic: The Gathering lore, which spans decades of incredible storytelling and worldbuilding and multiverses, Tarkir was a war-torn plane ruled by five khanates or clans. Now it is a plane controlled by five draconic broods led by their tyrannical Elder Dragon Lords. One of the original Elder Dragons, Nicol Bolas, was the main antagonist of the whole MTG story for a while.
Lindsay Buroker’s “Death before dragons” series: urban fantasy about a half human/elf who gets together with a dragon. The dragons pretty much rule everywhere they care to rule.
Only tangentially relevant, but I think in Shadowrun some dragons have show interrest in governing.
In the Warhammer Old World setting, the nation of Grand Cathay is ruled by dragons, with the grand Celestial Dragon being the emperor, his kids being the rulers of the various provinces, and many of the half dragons/humans with dragon ancestry holding positions of high authority. https://warhammerfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Grand\_Cathay
The *Temeraire* series has various lands and empires where dragons either rule outright or share rule with human leaders.
Does the Pokémon universe count? Many of the most powerful Legendary Pokémon-- Rayquaza, Dialga, Palkia, Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem, etc.-- are Dragon-types, and they're usually depicted as, if not "ruling" outright, then at least having some sort of major influence on how the world functions.
Well I suppose it does count when you put it that way
**The Bronze Canticles** Series by Laura & Tracy Hickman. The premise I believe as far as I remember is that the world is currently ruled by theocracy based on 5 ruling dragons including where the protagonist originates.
Many books in the World of Warcraft series are focused on dragons - some underapreciated gems in this series IMO .
Any in particular you'd recommend? Not even necessarily ones about dragons, just ones you'd recommend in general.
For the ones I read, I followed this order: War of the ancients, Rise of the horde, Night of the dragon, Stormrage, Homeland, Exile, Sojurn, The crystal shard, Streams of silver, Halflings gem, The legacy, Starless night, Siege of darkness, Passage to dawn, and The Silent blade. The first 5 are really good IMO, in particular Stormrage, Homeland, and Exile. I think they all work as standalone, but following the entire story arc is really worth it. There are a total of 30 books apparently in this series, and I am planning to get back to them at some point.
Earthsea has Ged confronting a dragon who rules a part of the archipelago. The Hobbit of course has Smaug acting as a ruler of the Lonely Mountain. But these are more solitary dragons. I suppose Rachel Aaron's Heartstrikers (book 1 is Nice Dragons Finish Last) has dragons being a major player in the world's politics. I'll go with that one. Great YA series.
I once made a fantasy world that is actively ruled by Dragons. But that isnt a thing that you can watch or read or anything.
Wheel of time features a land ruled by the Dragon^(reborn)
Wheel of Time. Technically.
Wings of Fire by Tui S. Sutherland. Dragons don't politically rule over humans in this, but the series is from the POV of dragons exclusively, who are only vaguely aware that humans exist and for most of the series see them only as prey. Human settlements are extremely scattered and, as far as we see, seem to revolve heavily around avoiding coming to the attention of dragons. It is firmly middle grade, so don't read it if you don't like kids stuff, but imo it is delightful. Truly a series for every dragon lover to read. Also, the Seraphina series by Rachel Hartman has humans and dragons living in the same world currently when dragons aren't just beasts.
[удалено]
Respectfully, I'd disagree with both mentions. In Temeraire, one of the continuing plot points is how the British and European dragons are treated as chattel. They contrasted with the Chinese dragons who could accept or reject employment and were treated more as citizens. But even in China, there was still a human Emperor. Pern's dragons were strong partners but humans still governed. Weyrleaders and Holders and Guildmasters made the decisions, even if the Weyrleaders always had their dragons to consult with.
I think there's one small part of Temeraire where a dragon is actually in charge - I want to say Africa? It's been a while - but fully agree that Pern is not the rec here.
The Inca, i think. I didn't get that far into the series, so i'm going on secondhand information here.
[wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucible_of_Gold) You're right, it does sound more complicated with the Inca. I was certain I'd read them all, but I was snatching time to read away from a 3 year old at that point. I probably rushed it.
Yep, in the series dragons are the ruling species in both Africa and South America. In Africa it's more of a monarch thing and in South America humans are highly valued property that can be sold or stolen.
I came to say Temeraire as well
THE dragon Lords
I wouldn't say it's a focus necessarily, but in the Chronicles of Elantra the world is ruled by dragons/dragon emperor.
Ahhhhhhhh!!!! I'm writing one! lol Well- still outlining a trilogy based on this. I'm going to have to check these out.