Dragon Raja (Korean novels)

''This article is about the Korean novel series by Lee Yeongdo. For the Chinese novel series by Jiang Nan, see Dragon Raja (Chinese novels). Hint: The Korean series Dragon Raja is a medieval fantasy story (high fantasy), while the Chinese series Dragon Raja is a modern story about magic academy (youth fantasy).''

Dragon Raja (드래곤 라자, Deuraegon Raja) is a South Korean novel series written by Lee Yeongdo. This series has been adapted into a radio drama, an audiobook, a manhwa, and several games, and received two sequels: Future Walker and Shadow Mark.

The author self-published the Dragon Raja series as a web novel on the Hitel forum from October 3, 1997 to April 1998, and then it was published by Golden Bough (황금가지), an imprint of Minumsa Publishing (주식회사 민음사), as a 12-volume paperback edition from May 30 to July 2, 1998, and as an 8-volume hardcover revised edition on November 27, 2008.

This series aired as an 83-episode radio drama on Fantasy Express (판타지 특급) radio program on KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) radio station in 2002, and in addition, Golden Bough also released it as a 15-part audiobook with new voice actors from December 20, 2021 to January 21, 2023.

The manhwa Dragon Raja (드래곤라자) written by Hong Seonghwa and illustrated by Son Bonggyu was published by the Daemyeongjong (대명종) publishing company as an 18-volume manhwa in Daemyeongjong's print comic magazine Comic Panties (코믹 팬티) from April 18, 2000 to April 17, 2004 and as an 18-volume paperback edition from April 30, 2000 to April 20, 2004.

Also, the Dragon Raja novel series received several game adaptations: Dragon Raja Online (드래곤 라자 온라인, MMORPG for Microsoft Windows, 2000), Dragon Raja Mobile (드래곤 라자 RPG, Mobile RPG, 2004), Dragon Raja M (드래곤라자M, Mobile RPG, 2016), Dragon Raja II (드래곤라자2, Mobile RPG, 2019, the ideological continuation of the 2000 game Dragon Raja Online), Dragon Raja EX (드래곤라자EX, Mobile RPG, 2021) and Dragon Raja Origin (드래곤라자 오리진, Mobile MMORPG, 2021).

The Dragon Raja novel series was continued with the novel series Future Walker (퓨처 워커, Pyucheo Wokeo) and the novel Shadow Mark (그림자 자국, Geurimja Jaguk), and in addition, the short stories Golem (골렘, Gollem), Chimera (키메라, Kimera) и The Source of Happiness (행복의 근원, Haengbogui Geunwon) also take place in the same universe. Dragon Raja, Future Walker, Golem, Chimera, and The Source of Happiness take place in a medieval fantasy world, but Shadow Mark takes place approximately 1,000 years after the events of the Dragon Raja, in a world where there are weapons and technology reminiscent of a steampunk setting, while magic has almost completely disappeared, and only a few magical relics from the era of the Dragon Raja are passed down from generation to generation.

Lee Yeongdo self-published Future Walker as a web novel on Hitel from October 1998 to June 1999, and then it was published as a 7-volume paperback edition by Golden Bough from July 5 to August 14, 1999, and was re-published by Golden Bough as a 4-volume hardcover revised edition on December 8, 2011, while Shadow Mark was first published as a 1-volume hardcover edition by Golden Bough on November 27, 2008, marking the 10th anniversary of the first publication of the Dragon Raja novel series. Golem and Chimera were first published by Golden Bough in a 1-volume paperback short story collection Over the Horizon (오버 더 호라이즌, Obeo Deo Horaijeun) by Lee Yeongdo on July 31, 2001, and The Source of Happiness was first published by Golden Bough in a 1-volume paperback revised edition of Over the Horizon on February 5, 2004, and then Golden Bough published a revised edition of Over the Horizon as a 1-volume hardcover edition on June 21, 2018 and as an audiobook on March 17, 2020. Golden Bough also published Golem, Chimera and The Source of Happiness as audiobooks on January 22, 2021.

Plot
The books chronicle the adventures of a 17-year-old boy Hutch Nedval (also spelled as Hoochie Nedval), his mentor Karl Heltant and his friend Sanson Percival, all of whom are from the poor town of Fief Heltant in the Kingdom of Bysus.The main story arc, told in the first-person by Hoochie, concerns the three's quest to rescue their people from the black dragon Amurtaht by finding money to pay the ransom; then to find and protect a lost dragon raja girl, who would serve as the bridge between people and dragons and stop a crimson dragon that terrorized the continent 20 years ago.

Official

 * KakaoPage (Novel, Korean)
 * Naver Series (Novel, Korean)
 * Ridi (Novel, Korean)

Other Sources

 * Wikipedia (Novel, English)

Other Wikis

 * Namuwiki (Novel, Korean)