The Dragon Masters

The Dragon Masters
first edition of The Dragon Masters
AuthorJack Vance
LanguageEnglish
GenreScience fiction
PublisherAce Books
Publication date
1963
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (Paperback)
The Dragon Masters was the cover story on the August 1962 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction

The Dragon Masters is a science fiction novella by American author Jack Vance. It was first published in Galaxy magazine, August 1962, and in 1963 in book form, as half of Ace Double F-185 (with The Five Gold Bands). It won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1963. The story describes a human society living under pre-industrial conditions that has bred lizard-like intelligent aliens to function as warriors, and an encounter with a ship from the alien planet, containing both the same aliens, and humans bred by them for similar purposes.