Dragon Tamers

Dragon Tamers is a book series written by British author Emma Maree Urquhart.

The Dragon Tamers series itself is a set of tales focussing on an alternative universe, where Virtual Reality is finally in use for video games. When a group of young players get dragged into one of the virtual worlds, they discover that the virtual realities are just as real as their own, and if they die in this - far more dangerous - world, they'll die for real. No lives, no saved games, no second chances.

The book itself mimics the style of a video game, beginning with a rulebook, and the author is rarely afraid to mess with the fourth wall for the sake of creating a convincing universe. The Dragon Tamers books themselves are occasionally mentioned, with the characters pointing out that all they are novelisations of their real adventures.

The series so far includes the following books:

  • Dragon Tamers: Reality Goes Virtual (2004)
  • Dragon Tamers 2: Digital Tempest (2005)

The first book was printed by Dingwall Printers, but as Dragon Tamers grew in popularity, they proved unable to keep up with demand and the printers were changed to Highland Printers. Both novels are now out of print, with a rewrite in ProgresS under The New title The Network.

Dragon Tamers 1: Reality Goes Virtual

Front cover of the first book.

''The Virtuality universe is better than ours. It's more advanced, and it's somehow evolved faster - too quickly for the planet to keep up with. Less die from diseases because the cures are found faster, the technology of today is being invented the day before, virtual realities are already here.

''But when the Millennium bug strikes, it strikes harder, and does much more damage. Not only is there better technology to hit, but there's things to aid it – viruses, hackers, if chaos can be caused then it's caused as the new year nears close.

''The affects on Virtual Reality during this bug were unrecorded, because the people who were hit by it didn't live to tell the tale. Nobody knows that the effects are still there, that people are still disappearing, and the lives saved by technology are now being taken by it...

Maree, Ceirin and Ellen are three players in the virtual reality game, Dragon Tamers. When the game goes off-line, they're summoned into that reality to help, by accident... or, just maybe, destiny. With ending the game the only way to get home, the set out to defeat the final boss, aided by their parters – mythical creatures named Dragons, but in many ways far different. It seems simple enough, but there's a catch – if they die in the game, they die in the real world too...

Dragon Tamers 2: Digital Tempest

Front cover of the second book.

"Darkness can never truly be destroyed…"

''The arrival of a rogue character to the Dragon Realms triggers the reactivation of an old story. It's characters reawaken, and the game plunges into chaos. In the midst of it all, one god attempts to destroy the Realms, while a princess from his past fights to stop him.

''As worlds collide, she reaches out to the Dragon Realms, and makes contact – a contact with that world that could save it, but could also destroy it.

''Her name is Opal, Princess of the Cat Folk, and she will do anything to make sure history doesn't repeat itself…

But the Dragon Tamers have problems of their own to deal with. A dark force is turning them against each other, manipulating their thoughts and actions - and it will only stop if blood is spilled…