Reception
The Dragon series has been well received. It has been described as "a fantasy series starring dragons, magicians, a monkey wizard, and other figures from Chinese folklore, with new adventures and modern dialogue," The relationship between dragon and human in the form of Shimmer and Thorn "reverses the common role of dragons as villains in English and Western European folk literature". However aside from them and Monkey, "each of the other characters are allowed to maintain essentially their own separate individual personality. Consequently, the reader is struck by the freshness and distinctiveness of the various characters."
Because the sequels closely followed each other, the School Library Journal commented in its review of Dragon War that "because it would be hard to follow events and character changes without reading the earlier books, this one is recommended where the others have been enjoyed." Publishers Weekly also stated in its review of Dragon War that "readers new to the series may be confused by the characters' sketchy introductions and the complexity of past events alluded to but never clarified". However, Kirkus Reviews said of Dragon Cauldron that "writing and images here are powerful enough for this to stand on its own; Yep's strong, earthy characters are notable as individuals even when a reader coming into the middle of the sequence doesn't know their history."
Dragon of the Lost Sea was an American Library Association Notable Children's Book of 1982 and was named as one of the 100 Favorite Paperbacks of 1989 by the International Reading Association and Children's Book Council. It also made the William Allen White Children's Book Award Master List for 1984-1985. Dragon Steel was listed as one of the Child Study Association of America's Children's Books of the Year for 1986.
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