Dragon Rider
#3424.00 of 664 ranked universes · full ranking
Books 2 books Status Ongoing 1997–present Reading commitment Low Cornelia Funke original language: German Last reviewed 2026-08-30
Overview
Dragon Rider follows a young silver dragon and his companions on a quest across the world in search of a mythical hidden refuge for dragons. Originally published in German as Drachenreiter (1997), with an English translation following in 2004; a 2017 sequel, The Griffin's Feather, continues the story and was likewise first published in German. A third book was announced by the author but has not yet been published. Confirmed a separate, unrelated universe from Cornelia Funke's other admitted series, Inkheart and The Thief Lord.
Mythic fantasy · For Middle grade
Core Canon: Reading Order (2 works) counts toward ranking
Dragon Rider Cornelia Funke
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Dragon Rider | 1997 | 1 | core | 4.00 (86,229 ratings) |
 | Dragon Rider: The Griffin's Feather | 2017 | 2 | core | 4.08 (2,570 ratings) |
Originally published in German as Drachenreiter (1997); a third book was announced by the author but has not been published. Confirmed a separate, unrelated universe from Funke's other admitted series, Inkheart and The Thief Lord.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Dragon Rider? Dragon Rider's Core Canon is 2 books.
- What is the reading order for Dragon Rider? Publication order, starting with Dragon Rider. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Dragon Rider finished? Ongoing (1997–present).
- How much reading does Dragon Rider take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 2 Core Canon books · ~894 pages).
- How is Dragon Rider ranked? #342 of 664 ranked universes on this site, based on 88,799 reader ratings across 2 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #342?
Ranked #342 of 664 ranked universes.
- Average reader rating of 4.00 across 2 core books.
- A smaller readership (88,799 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Remarkably consistent across the whole series: all 2 rated core books rate within 0.08 of each other.
- Less than 0.01 behind #341, The Elenium Universe (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Well rated · 2 books · Ongoing · 89k ratings · Ranks #342 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment mythic fantasy universe that's still ongoing, with new books still coming.
Reading order
Publication order (2 Core Canon books)
- Dragon Rider (1997)
- Dragon Rider: The Griffin's Feather (2017)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.00 across 88,799 ratings on 2 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit Dragon Rider (Cornelia Funke) accepted 2026-08-30
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-08-30
Rule: Core Canon is the published sequence so far: Dragon Rider (1997) and Dragon Rider: The Griffin's Feather (2017). A third, announced book will be added to Core Canon once published.