Dragon Approved Books in Order
Part ofRE Vance Books in OrderThis page lists the Dragon Approved books by RE Vance in order, with short summaries, series background, and where to start reading.
Last updated: June 7, 2026
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Publication Order
13 books
An Alien Affair
by RE Vance
2020
Even aliens want the Dark One dead, but that doesn't make them safe allies. Alex gets pulled into uneasy deals and off-world danger where every side has its own agenda.
Ascent To The Nest
by RE Vance
2020
Bonding with dragons is only the beginning for Alex. Training, rivalries, and the pressure of earning a place among riders make the nest as dangerous as the battlefield.
Boundless
by RE Vance
2020
The final stretch asks the hardest question of all, what are you willing to betray to save the world? Alex faces an ending built on war, loyalty, and choices that don't come clean.
Death of the Mind
by RE Vance
2020
A possible weapon against the enemy offers hope and fresh danger in equal measure. Chasing it forces Alex and her allies to decide what kind of victory they can live with.
Defense of the Nest
by RE Vance
2020
The riders are running out of time and numbers. If Alex and her allies can't hold the nest, the enemy will tear through one of the last strongholds left standing.
Dragons In Space
by RE Vance
2020
A crashed alien ship changes the shape of the war and sends Alex into a conflict that reaches far beyond Middang3ard. Yes, there are dragons in space, and that is only the start.
First Mission
by RE Vance
2020
Alex and the Boundless leave training behind and take on their first real mission. Out in the field, mistakes hit harder, secrets matter more, and the war stops feeling distant.
Love And Aliens
by RE Vance
2020
Alex's world gets even bigger when dragons and aliens collide. What should be a new adventure quickly turns into a frightening leap into the unknown.
Nest Under Siege
by RE Vance
2020
The attack everyone feared finally arrives. With dark forces at the gates, Alex has to fight for the nest, her dragon, and the future of the riders.
Sacrifices
by RE Vance
2020
The heroes may have been saved, but the world is still sliding toward ruin. Alex learns that winning a battle means very little when every step forward costs something precious.
The Beginning of the End
by RE Vance
2020
Stopping the Dark One will cost lives, blood, and more trust than the team can spare. Alex heads into the next stage of the war knowing nobody gets through it unchanged.
The Descent
by RE Vance
2020
The riders are pinned down and close to disaster. To survive, Alex has to go where the danger is worst and trust that courage will be enough.
The First Human Rider
by RE Vance
2020
Alex Bound is thrown into Middang3ard, where dragonriders are the last defense against catastrophe. Becoming the first human rider could change everything, if she survives the learning curve.
Series background & context
At its core, Dragon Approved is a dragon-rider adventure about earning a place in a world that badly needs defenders. The series follows Alex Bound as she gets pulled into Middang3ard, a realm where dragonriders are not a colorful extra, they are one of the last lines holding catastrophe back.
That is a lot to drop on one person.
The early books lean into the pleasures of training, bonding, and belonging. Alex has to learn the rules of the nest, the demands of riding, and the difference between surviving in theory and surviving when something huge and angry is coming at you. There is a strong cadet rhythm to this stretch of the series, even when the danger outside the walls never really goes away.
Then the scope widens. Missions replace drills. Sieges replace tests. Alex and her allies, including the Boundless, move from proving themselves to trying to hold a world together. By the later books, the series is happily stretching past classic dragon fantasy into stranger territory, with aliens, off-world travel, and a war against the Dark One that refuses to stay in one neat genre box.
That widening is part of the appeal. The books keep the emotional clarity of a coming-of-age fantasy while adding the serial momentum of a much bigger saga. There is always another threat, another layer to the conflict, and another reason Alex cannot stay the person she was at the start.
The dragons matter, of course, but so does the idea of growth. Alex is always being asked to become more, more capable, more responsible, and more willing to carry the cost of leadership. That gives the action some weight even when the story gets bigger and wilder.
So if you want dragons first, but you do not mind the story getting weirder and larger as it goes, Dragon Approved has a lot to offer. It begins with an outsider finding a dragon. It ends up asking what kind of hero can carry a world, and maybe more than one world, on her back.
Edited by
Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.
Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.
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