Griffen McCnaldes Books In Order

Publication Order of Griffen McCandles Books

“Griffen McCandles” also known as the “Dragons “series is a series of novels by Robert Lynn Aspirin and Jody Lynn Nye. The first novel in the series was “Dragons Wild” that was published by Aspirin in 2008. Robert Lynn Aspirin was a fantasy and science fiction author that made his name writing the “Phule Company” and “MythAdventures” series of novels. Aspirin was born in Michigan and went to the University of Michigan before he served in the US Army. He has been an active science fiction and fantasy fan all his life and is credited with the co founding of the “Great Dark Horde” in 1971 ansd was known as “Yang the Nauseating” when he was a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. He made the shortlist for the Hugo Award for his writing of “The Capture”, which was one of the Best Dramatic Presentations in 1976. His next big creation was the “Thieves World” that he co-authored with Lynn Abbey his then wife. The “Thieves World” was the first of its kind to create shared anthologies, a model that was soon adopted by other authors such as Chris Morris and Janet Morris that wrote more titles for the Thieves World series. However, Aspirins foray into fantasy fiction that would later result in the “Griffen McCandles” series was the “Mythadventures” series. The series followed a demon magician and his inexperienced human apprentice that travel the world looking to find themselves and their place, just like Griffen McCandles and his dragon sister.

Jody Lynn Nye is an American science fiction author born in Chicago in 1957. Nye has more than 40 novels and 100 short stories to her name either as coauthor or author. Her specialty is humor, fantasy, and science fiction, with novels ranging from the military science fiction such as “View from the Imperium”, and contemporary novels the like of “Mythology 101” and “The Magic Touch”. Nearly a third of the novels to her name are collaborations where she writes sequels or as co-author. She has been a tutor at the Columbia College Chicago Fantasy Writing Workshop and the annual Dragoncon Science Fiction Writing Workshop. In 2003, she got together with Robert Lynn Aspirin to write the “MythAdvetuures” and “Myth Alliances” series. After the death of Aspirin in 2008, she took his outlines to continue writing the contemporary fantasy “Griffen McCandles” novels. Her first title was “Robert Asprin’s Dragons Run” the fourth in the series.

The “Griffen McCandles” series is about two characters Griffen and his sister, Valerie McCandles who are told by their uncle that they are dragons. While they have never known it, they are a source of danger to some powerful individuals that may look to destroy them necessitating that they stay undercover or relocate. It is not long before they learn that a bounty hunter is after their lives and that a Homeland Security officer could be in the employ of a mortal enemy, who gets him to keep tabs on them. As new dragons, even keeping control of their inner selves is not as easy as they ever imagined, but with a little improvisation, a bit of luck and help from friends they muddle through the challenges. Set in New Orleans, these are mesmerizing tales that tell the story not only of Griffen and his sister but also of New Orleans. New Orleans becomes a character with its cafes, gambling houses, voodoo, piracy houses, and attractions, making for an ideal setting for the struggle between the McCandles family and their age-old foes. Over the course of the series, the author delves into the personal lives of the protagonists as Griffen tries to find himself by establishing and running a gambling business, while his sister gets entangled in dangerous relationships. The narratives are written in the comedic classic U form as Griffen is always trying to level the playing field only to find himself back at the starting point. Things change when they involve their friends, who make it easier for the lead protagonists to find a creative solution to their problems.

“Dragons Wild” the debut novel of the series is a narrative about Griffen McCandles, who suddenly comes to his own after a life of sleepwalking though college to learn that he is a dragon. Griffen and his sister Valerie are in mortal danger given that they are of nearly pure dragon blood. Dragons may want to recruit them thinking they might be useful, or others may try to kill them if they believe they are a threat to them. From the very beginning, Griffen is the victim of a mysterious enforcer who is more of a bogeyman of the dragon community whose path nobody ever dares cross. Griffen starts out as a clueless dragon but soon learns how to be a dragon and how to deal with the dragon enforcer. With a little luck he manages to snag himself a very profitable gambling operation and learns just how the bogeyman comes to command such fear and respect. Teaming up with his sister Valerie he makes short work of the enforcer, and renders him powerless so that they can get back to their normal lives.

“Robert Asprin’s Dragons Run” is Joddy Lynn Nye’s continuation of Robert Aspirin’s Griffen McCandles series of novels. Griffen just learned how to tell if other people that he meets are dragons which is quite a valuable skill for survival. Meanwhile, his sister has gone missing with a mysterious woman that is rumored to be the mother of her baby’s father. The man had allegedly seduced her with his glamorous life and left her with a baby after which he disappeared. Valerie was looking to destroy him when she met him next, but his mother got wind of her plan and placed a warlock spell on her so that she forgot that she needed to be in New Orleans to carry out her revenge plan. Griffen consults a witch who tells him that his sister is not in any immediate danger, but she cannot find out more given the power of the warlock. Griffen thinks George can help him find her and make her come back or just find out of she is away out of her own volition. Meanwhile, Griffen has his own problems with the business even as his uncle pesters him to get involved in some political games that may turn dangerous, and even deadly. A few days later it comes out that Valerie boyfriend had been messing around with voodoo trying to find his girlfriend and missing child. He has done the rituals badly to put himself in danger.