Robert is an exterminator. As the title suggests, it is his job to rid a residence of dragons, even if he rather admires the creatures. The current King and Queen have let the dragon situation sit for far too long before they finally call in Robert. At the castle, Robert meets a princess. The princess meets a prince and all of a sudden, there is a quest.

Robert is the eternal hero who is unware of this talents. The Prince is trying to be a hero without knowing who he is. And the Princess does not need to be rescued but wants a partner. In this fairy tale, the King and Queen are clueless but the villagers are smarter than most give them credit for.

This story might be called a cozy fantasy, but the killing (of dragons) and the cruel magic makes it more of a straight fantasy for me. The tale of these champions who shun society’s limitations and make the world a better place has something for the all the fairy tale lovers out there. I’m Afraids You’ve Got Dragons is a totally charming story filled everything you would expect in a fairy tale – heroines, heroes, and villians. In a word it is magical.

Through NetGalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book. My review is my honest opinion.

in a backwater kingdom where dragons are viewed as common pests, a dragon exterminator, the princess of the kingdom, and a rather inept prince struggle to define themselves outside the narrow roles society has assigned them.

i don’t think i ever got around to reading the last unicorn as a kid, so i’m afraid you’ve got dragons was my introduction to peter s. beagle. it’s a quaint, if predictable, fantasy adventure with odd pacing—the plot doesn’t start until around the halfway point, and then it hurries along to a confused, unsatisfying end that left me with more questions than answers. i enjoyed the whimsy and hints of tongue-in-cheek humor in beagle’s writing more than the story itself.

I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons was really a fun read. The story has interesting characters with their own fears and wishes: a prince who wants just to be himself and not what his father wants him to be; a strong and independent princess; and a dragon slayer with a special connection to the dragons who wants to be a prince's valet. It was interesting to see how they interacted on their journey. And somehow they reminded me of the characters from the series Merlin. I'm not sure if it was because of the setting or the relationship between the characters.
If you like dragons, an exciting journey and an enjoyable writing style then this book is for you.

Thanks to Peter S. Beagle and Saga Press for the ARC.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle in exchange for an honest review. I grew up loving the movie The Last Unicorn and only finally read it as an adult a few years ago. After reading that book, I knew I wanted to read this one, especially with my great love of dragons. This book was fun and surprising. I loved the disregarded gender roles and turning the dragon quest on its head. This was a refreshing read that I am recommending to all ages and genders.

Fantasy at its best. Robert is a dragon hunter in the Kingdom of Bellemontagne. Taking over the position from his father was just not Robert's goal in life. But it's a job and he does it. He only rescues the very unusual small dragons, or the really cute ones, and brings them home to his mother's house. And mothers everywhere recognize the giant sighs and eye rolls she bestows upon Robert. So, if Robert doesn't want to be a dragon catcher, what does he want to do with his life? He wants to be a prince's valet. Through his work at various castles he meets a number of princes, who, guess what - don't want to be princes. They would rather try their hands at dragon hunting, or farming, or raising farm animals. Anything except continuing to be princes.

Enter Princess Cerise. She is expecting a visit from her possible intended, which would create a very powerful kingdom. Unfortunately, her castle is infested with dragons, including the one who is the very biggest, the very worst of all dragons - ever. She calls on Robert to save the day. As Robert battles dragons, meets an evil wizard, he may or may not fall in love with Princess Cerise.

This story begs for a sequel.

Enjoyable read for young audiences without too much romance. It has the classic elements of a fantasy story, royalty, dragons, adventure, danger, and plot twists to keep you reading.

This is a vintage, high fantasy adventure.
Thank you very much to NetGalley and Saga Press for the ARC!

I was really hoping for something more subversive and original from this book and was sad it never delivered. The characters felt flat and the plot never really drew me in.

I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons
By Peter S. Beagle

Beagle has been writing fantasy for a long time. He is the author of "The Last Unicorn", probably his most well-known work. In all his stories, he manages to inject humor into his mix of Kings and Queens, Princes and Princesses, wizards and dragons – and here a Dragon Master.

Gaius Aurelius Constantine Heliogabalus Thrax (known as Robert) is a dragon exterminator, following in his father's footsteps – and hating every minute of it. He feels a kinship with dragons that he can't explain. Along with Robert, we meet Princess Cerise of Bellemontagne; Prince Reginald of Corvinia and his valet Mortmain; the evil wizard, Dahr; and a host of other memorable characters. In typical Beagle, the story revolves around an adventure, almost a quest. Of course things go wrong – terribly wrong – before they ever go right and the right people end up together.

Beagle has received many literary awards over the course of his prolific career – all greatly deserved. This book is yet another story that is just plain fun.

I was sent a copy of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.....for a full review please see my Amazon and Goodreads accounts

I had a hard time getting into it at the beginning but once I pushed through that, it was really good. Beagle always writes such an interesting and humorous story and this one was No exception. I loved the elements of girl power and how the boys were also willing to be a little sensitive. His characters are always so unique.

Fun quick read! Has a good time with it but did seem to a little cheesy for what I usually like. Good character development and a fun plot! I would for sure recommend it to almost anyone as a platelet cleanser between bigger books.

This reminded me of the book Kill the Farm Boy with its sarcastic take on the classic quest to win the princess and slay the dragon. I love the humor and how the characters were described. Their emotions were realistic. Despite the magical setting, the characters were very real in their quest to discover their true selves along the way to slay a dragon. Adults and children alike will enjoy it.

I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S beagle,, in the book Gaius Arelious Constantine Heliogabalus Thrax, Who would rather go by ROBERT is the dragon terminator in his part of the country the only problem is ROBERT loves dragons and he also had another career in mind that of a valet for royalty. So when he is sent to take care of a dragon problem for the Royals the prince and princess also go on the trip but ROBERT takes this opportunity to make friends with the prince’s valet Mortmain. He agrees to teach him the art of taking care of royalty. Like most stories however this is only The main plot there’s a subplot of Prince Reginald who doesn’t live up to the kings expectations, the princess who would’ve had she been a guy and theres romance. I not only thought this book was funny it is also very heartwarming I felt so bad for ROBERT after everything happens and I couldn’t wait to see how it ended and despite the fact the payoff was brief it was still a great ending in an even more awesome book. I love fairytales in love when a book is written so well I get transported to their world and that definitely happened with this book. It is a great funny sci-fi fairytale adventure and it’s one I absolutely enjoyed.#SagaPress, #NetGalley,#PeterSBeagle, #I’mAfraidYou’veGotDragons,

Peter S. Beagle is a legend at writing adventure fantasy and I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons is nothing short of another fantastic piece of writing written by the legend. The idea of a quest being taken by a dragon exterminator is just silly and mainstream enough to make this story whimsical and entertaining.

Let me begin by saying that this was not the story I thought I was getting. With a title like "I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons" I was expecting a comedic satire or something flippant. What I read was so much better than that! It was a heartwarming tale of young people discovering what they truly want and going out to get it. This book has so much heart! There's love, acts of chivalry, and dragons! Who could ask for more?

This was a fun book from the author of [The Last Unicorn](https://amzn.to/3VXqi7W), but it felt a little dated, like something I’d expect to have been published in the ‘80s rather than this year. In this world, dragons are pests, like rats or cockroaches, and Robert is a dragon exterminator who secretly adores dragons. He is called to the castle to deal with a bad dragon infestation, but soon gets dragged into the drama of a prince attempting a heroic princely deed, an evil wizard, and a princess who’s very tired of dealing with heroes.

I liked the premise of this book, but I just wanted more from it - deeper characters, stronger relationships, more insight into the history between the wizard and the king, more detail about what’s going on with the dragons and Robert. That said, for what it was, it was an enjoyable read.

I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons is a wild blend of cozy and high stakes fantasy with a band of unlikely allies fighting for their kingdom and for love.

Dragon exterminator Gaius Aurelius Constantine Heliogabalus Thrax, otherwise known as Robert, is visited by the King in the dead of night with the demand that he rid the castle of dragons. But that daunting task turns out to be just the beginning of a fiery adventure.

I really enjoyed the first half of the book and its focus on the castle, dragon market, and the different kinds of dragons but then the book took a huge turn and kind of became another story entirely. 

I wish, for a book with all these dragons, there was more of a focus on them rather than the romance subplot. I'd definitely read a side story just about the dragon market, the variety of dragons, and all the market vendors. I'd read a whole encyclopedia about the dragons of this world! 

Overall, it was a fun read but I just wanted more!

Follows the story of Gaius Aurelius Constantine Heliogabalus Thorax, otherwise known as Robert. A dragon exterminator who wants to be a princes valet but actually becomes so much more than that.

This is my first dive into Beagles work and I loved his wit and humour. Beagles writing is an absolute joy to read, with fantastic world building and character development. An absolute must for any fantasy lover.

I loved the motley crew of characters and found even the villains likeable in some ways.

I'm afraid you've got dragons is a wonderous mix of heroic (albeit reluctant) deeds, witty banter and monsterous dragons with a healthy dose of believable romance. And that cover art.....?! 😍

I enjoy Peter Beagle's books tremendously. His explorations of character and theme in magical settings always gets me right in the heart. This book did not get me right in the heart, which is why I'm only rating it three stars.

By any measure but past Peter Beagle himself this is a great book. It subverts tropes about princes and princesses and dragons. It's cozy. I just don't usually expect cozy from this author. I expect melancholy hopefulness.

I was also expecting more dragons. If we had about twice as much dragon and half as much love triangle this would have been the book for me! Nothing wrong with the love triangle characters, they are all just very young and oblivious and I didn't care about who got the girl. Our hero's mother, I would have liked more of her too! She seemed like she had some sort of interesting mysterious past but we never find out any details.

The dragons are also where the book gets dark. Our hero is a dragon exterminator. He hates the job but does it because it was expected that he would continue the business after his father passed. Dragons are considered to be vermin in this book, at least until they get big enough to be deadly. There are several scenes of the dragon market with dragons and bits of dragons being abused and sold. Our hero ends up killing far more baby dragons than either he or I wanted him to. That's probably the deepest emotional response the book got from me, and it was never resolved in a satisfactory way.