If You Like The Last Dragon on Mars…
The Last Dragon on Mars by Scott Reintgen (2024) is an exciting fantasy that you all should read. Lunar lives on Mars and helps other orphans get by in the harsh environment. When trying to escape from danger in the wilds, he hides in a military complex and discovers a dragon, who are the original citizens of the universe and key to space travel and military power. When Lunar bonds with this dragon, his life gets even more complicated.
And check out the beautiful detail on the page edges.
If you’ve enjoyed this fantastic book, check out the books below for similar reads with Mars, space, fantasy, and adventure.
Red Rising series by Pierce Brown (started 2014)
War, Mars, and Greek mythology get put in a blender to create the delicious and heart pounding smoothie of the Red Rising series. Darrow is a Red, a low status group in the strict caste system. When he and his wife are sentenced to death, he narrowly survives and joins a rebel group, the Sons of Ares, who are determined to overturn the Golds — the top caste. He is transformed physically so he can pass for a Gold and enters their training academy, making alliances and gathering information to pass back to the rebellion. (CW: rape, violence)
The Countdown Conspiracy by Katie Slivensky (2017)
Miranda (ck) is one of six young people on a near-future Earth selected to train to travel to Mars. The training begins in Antarctica, in a special center set up with astronaut teachers and space planes and gear to practice on. But half of the crew is attacked on the way to the training center, and Miranda is getting threatening messages. She’s struggling with her classes and wonders if the messages are right that she should quit the program now. Readers will enjoy the interpersonal struggles and realistic space exploration details along with the conspiracy mystery.
Last Day on Mars by Kevin Emerson (2017)
Mars is all that Liam has ever known, unlike his parents and sister, so he doesn’t quite understand their nostalgia for Earth. Now Mars needs to be evacuated before the sun supernovas, and humans have to settle a new world. Since Liam’s parents are key scientists on the terraforming project, their family will be on the last transport out. While waiting for departure, Liam and his best friend Phoebe discover some secrets that Mars has been keeping. Fans of Last Dragon will love this other perspective from a Mars native.
The Kindred by Alechia Dow (2022)
Joy and Felix have been connected psychically to each other since birth. Each person in their world has a “kindred” connection to promote equality and empathy. Felix is a royal, and Joy and her mother struggle to make do. They’ve never met in person but they can read each other’s thoughts. When an attack on the royal family throws Felix’s world into disarray, he goes to rescue Joy and escape his pursuers. The two end up landing on Earth, where they struggle to fit in and make a plan to return to safety, all while being thrilled to finally be with each other.
A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson (2025)
I’m starting to think that I will read any book set in Bletchley Park, even if it is in a fantastical version of Bletchley, like in this book, set in an alternative world in the 1920s where a treaty between humans and dragons has begun to fall apart. **** is recruited along with her cousin to Bletchley to try and figure out a secret language of echolocation that dragons seems to use. If she doesn’t solve the mystery, her family may be imprisoned or killed. The pressure mounts as **** realizes that the language may be much more powerful than anyone imagined. Fans of The Last Dragon will love the relationships with the dragons.