How to Train Your Dragon
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the son of Stoick the Vast, is meant to lead the Hooligans tribe someday, but for now is deemed skinny and unfit to be a leader. He is not taken seriously and is bullied by many of the other boys. His chance to prove himself and become a full member of the tribe comes when he enrolls in the Dragon Initiation Program. Each boy who takes part must find a dragon, capture it, raise it, and train it in order to pass the initiation.
Gobber the Belch, the soldier who leads the initiation, takes them to Dragon Cliff so they may find and capture a dragon. Instead of being able to catch a dragon fit for a chief's son, such as a Monstrous Nightmare, instead Hiccup manages to steal an infant Common Garden Dragon. The dragon is named Toothless because of this.
Training Toothless proves to be a challenge, as the dragon is stubborn and refuses to listen to Hiccup. It turns out, however, that Hiccup possesses a rare ability to speak Dragonese, which helps him to become a better dragon trainer. Toothless, months after his training begun, is now finally trained. When the final part of the rite of passage comes on Thor's Day Thursday, however, Toothless offends Snotlout's Monstrous Nightmare, Fireworm, who proceeds to wreak havoc. The incident is taken as a failure in training the dragons and the boys are exiled, allowed to stay only one night due to a storm.
During the storm, however, two Sea Dragons wash up on the shore. Hiccup is sent to attempt to negotiate with the one called "Green Death", but his efforts prove fruitless. As the rest of the vikings of the Hooligans and Meatheads Tribes try to come up with a plan, Hiccup comes up with his own: annoy the dragons and get them to kill each other. It works to an extent. The other sea monster, Purple Death, is killed. Green Death survives, however, and chases Hiccup.
Hiccup is swallowed by the Green Death, but kills it from the inside by plugging its fire holes. He is then saved by Toothless, the only dragon who didn't abandon its master, and the Green Death dies. The exiled boys become a part of the tribe for their heroic actions.
How to Be a Pirate
The novel opens with Hiccup taking part in a sword fighting lesson while at sea, although he is not very good at it. The lesson ends when a coffin creates a hole in the ship, forcing Hiccup to use it to ride back to Berk. When he gets back, it is discovered that the coffin belongs to Grimbeard the Ghastly, who turns out to be Hiccup's great great great grandfather and the great pirate of all time. What they find inside, however, is a living man named Alvin the Treacherous, who disguises his identity by saying his name is actually Alvin the Poor but Honest Farmer.
Alvin tells Hiccup's tribe, the Hooligans, that the coffin was in the Peaceable country, but when he opened it, it contained a trap that cut off his hand. He was then supposedly sent out to sea by who he calls "very rude people". He also mentions that he found a map to Grimbeard's treasure. The vikings figure that the island depicted is the Isle of Skullions, so named for the Skullion dragons who live there. Skullion dragons are blind, deaf, and unable to fly, but they have a keen sense of smell. According to the riddle that came with the map, the dragon of the heir to the Hooligan tribe will be able to find the treasure.
When the tribe travels to the island, they find a treasure chest along with Grimbeard's sword, Stormblade. The chest, however, was laced with a scent that would attract the attention of all the Skullions on the island, which causes a small fight that results in Hiccup dislocating his right arm. Some of the Skullions are killed, and the vikings escape with the treasure.
When they start to near Berk, they are ambushed by another group of vikings who are cannablistic and call themselves the Outcasts. Alvin reveals that he is the chief of the Outcasts, and another fight breaks out. The Hooligan Tribe's ship catches fire and capsizes, and while the vikings continue the battle on the Outcast ship, Hiccup, Toothless, Fishlegs, and Alvin are trapped underneath the capsized ship.
Toothless manages to find an underwater cavern with air, and the group wanders around the cavern. When they find Grimbeard's real treasure, Alvin attempts to kill Hiccup. In the sword battle that follows, Hiccup learns that the reason he wasn't good at sword fighting previously is because he is left handed.
They are soon attacked by a Monstrous Strangulator, a creature resembling an octopus that was placed there to guard the treasure, who consums Alvin. Before it can do the same to Hiccup, however, he tricks it into injecting itself with its own poison. Toothless, Fishlegs, and Hiccup escape, deciding to leave the treasure behind. When they arrive back at Berk, they find that the Hooligans have won the battle but were forced to let the Outcasts escape.
In the epilogue, it is revealed that there is a secret compartment in the handle of the sword Hiccup used when fighting Alvin, and it contains the last will and testament of Grimbeard. It states that the sword was Grimbeard's favorite.
How to Speak Dragonese
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