The first of the Pit Dragon trilogy, (second is Heart’s Blood, third is A Sending of Dragons) this science fiction novel takes place on another planet–Austar IV–where great dragons are fought in pits. This is the story of a young bond boy who buys his way out of servitude at a dragon nursery by raising up a great red fighting dragon. The book started as a short story–“Cockfight” (which can be found reprinted in Here There Be Dragons.) But it grew and grew because there was so much I wanted to explore on this planet, which had been a penal colony. I wrote the pit dragon books because I love dragons. Jakkin and Akki are based on my children who are now in their thirties. Austar is of course named after Australia, which was a penal colony for the British two hundred years ago. I hope in the future to write a fourth book–if I can come up with a plot!
