How to Train Your Dragon

I actually read this after the first movie, which was amazing, and as soon as I found out it was a series I HAD to read it.

However, as much as I wish I could say that I liked it, I did not really enjoy it.

I feel like if I'd read it before the movie- I might not have watched the movie. Sure, the book was a nice read- but it just wasn't for me. Which is saying something, as I love Middle-Grades.

But I do have friends that loved the whole series- I just did not... connect with it I guess.

This book is cute but much of the story is about social behaviors/interactions that are lost on Charlie. I don't think his interest is at all piqued by Hiccup's sense of inadequacy around his father and his rivals. He fell asleep a few nights while I was reading it, and then for a couple of nights he chose different books. I asked him if he wanted to stop reading it and try something else and he said yeah, so, we are.

I highly recommend the audio book! narrated by David Tennant and he has a great time and does a fantastic job. I gave it an extra star because of the narration.

Read the 1st book because I love the movie series so much I wanted to know more about the source material

First things first, if you came to this book after the movies, you need to know these two are different stories, so don't expect a novelized version of the movie. Yes, they share some characters, such as Hiccup, Stoic The Vast, Fishlegs, and of course Thoothless. But that's where the similarities end. Think of this as Resident Evil the game, and Resident Evil the movies. They share part of the lore, but they are primarily different stories.

That being said, the story of How to Train Your Dragon is a great story about how to become a Hero the hard way. You need to remember this is a children's book, so yeah, many parts of the plot will be solved with the power of friendship. That doesn't make the story less relevant; in the end, everything Hiccup shows throughout the chapters is that sometimes you need to embrace all those quirks that make you different.

Whether you are reading it as an adult, or reading it for a child, this book has something to offer if your willing to play the game of imagination.

two words: David Tennant

Did I listen to this book just because of him? Absolutely
Did I also enjoy the book? Actually yes

This is a children's book through and through but that doesn't stop adults like me enjoying the more simpler read. I was slightly surprised that the film is very different from the book, quite a few differences. Dragons for one can talk? This did weird me out a little bit and Tennant's voice acting for it made me laugh. It's utterly ridiculous but I could see a younger audience enjoying it

I think I'll be continuing the series

The movie does a much, much better job at exploring the themes this book tries to.

Amazing! I have rarely loathed a book this much. A mess of narrative non sequiturs. A great example of an embarrassing deus ex machina. Throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks. No humor, no heart, no sense of direction. I did wonder whether this would turn out to be an intentional, Pythonesque literary hoax and it would all resolve itself in a climax of... something?

I tried reading The Wizards of Once, had to give up after 100 pages because it was too painful. I thought this might be better. Yuck! Obviously this author is not my cup of sake.

This book accomplishes exactly what it set out to accomplish. The humor is ridiculous and the plot is just absolutely silly and wild. I connected with it more than Wizards of Once for some reason, maybe the dragons and all that. I would've found Toothless to be very funny when I was younger, so I'm bumping up the rating to 4 stars because of that.

Very enjoyable. Best 5 hour car ride ive had in quite a while! Happy Thanksgiving.🐲

3.5 stars Pretty cute story, but I love the movie better 😂

Last week I threw together a humorous book display and realized I never read any of this series, so I grabbed one to read when I had time. I loved every page of this book. I want to read the entire series now.

Meh. The book started out much better than the movie and seemed to be heading toward a much better development, but then it kind of flopped for me. It takes too many narrative shortcuts–I know you'll protest that this is a children book, but that is no justification for me. The Hobbit was a children book too and it was perfectly written. It also suffers from shifts of tone in my opinion–it seems to want to make fun of all Norse mythology and Viking lore, but then it adheres to it most strictly for its climax, which in my opinion is thoroughly underwhelming and honestly not very imaginative. It's a pity, because I was really looking forward to reading it. It's not a bad book, but not good either.

Very different from the movie, but still a fun and exciting novel about how heroes are made.

I decided to start listening to the audio version of this while I was making dinner. It's read by David Tennant. Very fun story.