The Dragon Has Some Complaints by John Wiswell is a 400 page standalone novel to be published by DAW Books on July 14, 2026.

Genre

Fantasy

Description

In this heartfelt and humorous fantasy from the Nebula-winning author of Someone You Can Build a Nest In, a dragon whose three heads bear rather…different…personalities finds family in the most unexpected of places.

Garrodigh was once a four-headed dragon, among the most powerful in Kardoša. After an unfortunate incident, he now has three heads, one stump, and a daily whirlwind of internal bickering. Centerhead wants to rain death upon all humanity, Bottomhead is like a feral cat, and Upperhead is under the delicate delusion that he is, in fact, human. 

When a nearby battle goes awry, Garrodigh sneaks into an elite dragon rider academy, pretending to be tame to get free food and a warm bed. Lucky for him, rider Rania Albright is desperate enough for a dragon of her own that she overlooks his eccentricities. 

As Garrodigh recovers under Rania’s care, all three heads start to turn, for the first time, in the same direction. Each wants to protect her from the invaders who killed their fourth head—the same invaders who seek to conquer Kardoša. When the academy comes under attack, can this wild dragon and his wilder rider save their homeland together?

This cozy fantasy intertwines epic battles with loving friendships, sharing an utterly unique perspective on what it means to be a “monster.”

Opening Line

What the hell was in his mouth?

My Thoughts

Sometimes that feral weirdo is an inspiration.

The Dragon Has Some Complaints is a new gritty yet humorous and heartwarming adventure from John Wiswell, author of Someone You Can Build a Nest In.

The Great Terror Garrodigh is a three-headed dragon (RIP Lefty), injured and hiding in the wilds from the ravages of human warfare. Rejected by his own kind, he winds up posing as one of the dumb tamed dragons ridden and cared for by the people of the Winged City in order to be fed and sheltered, his ailments treated. After forging a special bond with his rider, the effusive Rania, he winds up helping these humans in their fight against invaders who would steal their home and their dragons.

Although I enjoyed Garrodigh and the different personalities of each of his heads, I found all of the human characters to be more irritating than anything. I wasn’t very engaged in the parts of the story involving weird sex and awkward romance, though it was all done in the name of promoting healthy relationship dynamics, finding ones place in the world, accepting all the parts of one’s identity, and forging therapeutic connections. The parts of the story relating to the dragon goddess Polarka, on the other hand, were absolutely awesome. The rest of the book leading up to that, however, felt too long.

There is some darkness to the adventurous action in this book, but there are also a whole lot of feel good sentiments and healing. For this reader, the details of the story made for a mixed bag, and in all I’d call it a 3.5 star read.

(Seriously, though, the climax part of the story was insanely epic!)

Thank you to NetGalley and DAW Books for the eARC in exchange for my unbiased review.