Having dragons simply as brute monsters shows a real lack of imagination. I've recently enjoyed Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea Quartet and am currently reading Naomi Novik's Temeraire series with great enthusiasm.

It's also nice when not every aspect of mythological dragons is reproduced. E.g. in Temeraire, none of the British breeds of dragon can breathe fire, but they do have a breed that spits acid, and Temeraire himself has an earth-shattering roar which can break apart ships or buildings, and cause haemorrhaging in people. It's nice to see a bit of imagination regarding different special abilities.