The Pit Dragon Trilogy
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The Pit Dragon Trilogy is a series of science fiction novels by Jane Yolen. The anthology is simply all of the three books in one. The books are set in the far future, on a desert planet called Austar IV. The planet was originally a place where criminals and convicts could go instead of their conventional punishment. For many generations the outcasts had adapted to their new environment and even formed a well functioning society, focusing on a caste system of paid bonders and their owners. The amazing feature of the planet is that it does hold life, but very little, and the prime species on the planet are its dragons. They were savage, and very dangerous when they were first found. The humans eventually managed to tame some of the dragons, and train them. They are now used either as food, to breed more dragons, or as ways of making money. The prime money making event on Austar is in "the pit" where owners would bring their dragons in to fight others. People will gamble and some would make lots of money, although some would probably lose big as well.
[edit] Storyline
The story starts with a bond boy named Jakkin, working with many others in Sarkkhan's worm farm/nursery (a common name for a dragon master's place).
Early on in the story, Jakkin plans to steal a baby dragon from the farm to raise. In this way, Jakkin hopes train the dragon to fight and to earn him enough money to buy himself out of bond. He eventually pulls it off by sheer coincidence after having been badly injured during the day's work (Though it is eventually revealed that Sarkkhan had purposely given him the opportunity to steal the hatchling).
Jakkin stows the tiny dragon away to an oasis that he had previously found. Akki, a girl at the nursery, eventually discovers his secret. She helps him, and a strong relationship builds. After a full year of training and growing, Akki arranges a way for Jakkin and his beautiful red dragon to get to the pits. The red dragon’s first battle is hard won, and as it turned out too late for Jakkin, Sarkkhan was watching the fight. Fortunately, Sarkkhan took well to the idea of Jakkin raising the dragon, even admitting that he had known about Jakkin’s secret all along. Triumphant, Jakkin receives gold from his win and names his wonderful dragon Heart’s Blood.
As the story continues, Jakkin finds out more about the love/hate relationship between Sarkkhan and Akki. In the end, Akki leaves the nursery…
Jakkin is now a master and no longer a bonder. However, he still works at the nursery to pay off his debt to Sarkkhan. It’s been almost a year since Heart’s Blood’s first fight and the day Akki left.
One day, a mysterious man named Golden comes with news about Akki. Not long after the visit, Jakkin receives an urgent note from Akki. He sets out to help her, and along the way, works to change from the boy he is from the man he wants to be.
Eventually, Jakkin and Akki escape, but are accused of horrible crimes. They meet Golden once again and flee to the mountains. As they try to run away, Golden is hurt and is forced to be left behind. Jakkin and Akki continue on, but in the end, Jakkin’s dear Heart’s Blood is killed. Through the death of the dragon, Jakkin and Akki are “reborn.”
Jakkin and his beloved Akki live in the mountains. Threatened by a strange helicopter, they try to hide, and stumble across a vast network of caves. In the caves, they meet strange dragons and strange people who think dull thoughts in dull colors and have strange habits and rituals. After witnessing very bloody rituals, Jakkin and Akki escape and take a few dragons along with them.
More information can be found at: http://www.janeyolen.com/index.html.
Note: the summaries of Book 2 and 3 are not as detailed as the summary of Book 1.
