Audio: A Natural History of Dragons (Brennan)

A Natural History of Dragons
The Memoirs of Lady Trent #1
Marie Brennan (2013)

[Audiobook]

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

A random audiobook to listen to while walking. It had a slow start (but then, I find most audiobooks have a "slow start" to get my attention, and I often listen to the first chapter a second time). It was enjoyable.

In this alternate history Victorian novel, dragons exist and usually keep to isolated mountains. Isabella (the Lady Trent of the subtitle) has already had a fascination with them and read any book that she could get access to, which would've been frowned upon. After Isabella meets Jacob Camherst, he courts her mostly because of her fascination with dragons instead of his wealth.

This is also the reason she manages to work her way into an expedition to the perilous mountains of Vystrana to study them, where she proves vital in discovering why the dragons have turned on the human population that they usually avoid.

This was a good audiobook, but, for once, I wonder if I would've enjoyed the printed version (or the ebook) because parts of the science might've been a slog to read through but a pleasure to listen to a voice reciting it. Granted, I don't know how much of it that I recall.

The book is told as a memoir of an older woman who became the foremost authority on dragons at a time that few women had such august positions. That does tell you that she will survive a long time and that there may be many more books to come.

On the other hand, this book is from 2013, and I hadn't heard of it before the library suggested it to me.

Just for giggles, I'll include what Google AI said about the book when I was looking up the publication date:

A Natural History of Dragons is the first book in Marie Brennan's Lady Trent Memoirs, a Victorian-era fantasy series about a woman who defies convention to become a renowned dragon naturalist, blending adventure, science, and fantasy as she recounts her early expeditions. The story follows the young, bookish Isabella as she pursues her passion for studying dragons, a pursuit that leads her on perilous journeys and ultimately to a career that brings the study of dragons out of myth and into modern science.

Key aspects of the book:

Genre: Science fantasy, with a tone reminiscent of Victorian natural history writing.

Protagonist: Isabella, Lady Trent, a strong-willed and intelligent woman who challenges societal expectations for women of her time.

Plot: The book details Isabella's early life, her forbidden passion for dragons, and her first expedition to study them in the wild, which is fraught with danger and discovery.

Series: It is the first book in The Lady Trent Memoirs, a series that chronicles her life and adventures.

Themes: The novel explores themes of scientific inquiry, adventure, and a woman's place in a restrictive society, all through the lens of dragon biology and behavior.


If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.

Tooth and Claw (Walton)

Tooth and Claw, by Jo Walton (2003)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

This was a Tor Books Book Club Ebook of the Month, or whatever it is called. I've downloaded many, and read few. I thought I go catch up on some of them, and this was the first one I went to.

The book takes place in a world of dragons. Not a world with dragons, mind you, but of them. All the characters are dragons, from the wingless dragonets to the wing-bound servants of modest size to behemoths that are 40 to 60 feet in length and can breath fire. (Breathing fire can accelerate a dragon's demise.) Their size varies and part of what accelerates that growth is eating dragon meat. Dragons eat other dragons, but usually not until they are already dead.

It is this where the story opens, in the cave of Bon Agornin, who is on his deathbed (or death pile of gold), where he makes a confession to his son Blessed Penn, who is a parson. Penn doesn't wish to hear it because only the old Church heard confessions and gave absolution, but he finally gives in to comfort his father. The confession isn't important here, but the fact that Penn heard it may be. Aside from this, Bon renews his wish that all his wealth by dividing equally among the youngest children since the older children have "made it" in the world. The older ones would take only a token piece of treasure. It is his and Penn's understanding that his body is part of that wealth. When he dies, Illustrious Daverak, his son-in-law, is the first in the room and goes on to claim a greater share of the body over Penn's protests, with his wife Berend caught in the middle. (She ends up taking a single bite -- but it's a large bite of chest meat.) The younger children and the dragonets, who need the dragon meat to grow, get slim pickens.

This actually sets everything in motion as Avan, the younger son, wants to take Daverak to court for satisfacton.

The child leave their cave, as planned, because Avan is not large enough nor established enough to defend it yet. Melodrama and romance ensue, like a primetime soap opera. With dragons. Not that this is a bad thing.

The only thing that was difficult to follow was all the honorifics. Blessed was easy for the parson. Bon was Dignified, but that was a landowner title, not religious. Illustrious is an even higher rank. There's also Exalted and Respected, the latter of which gets shortened to "'Spec" informally, and I hadn't a clue at first what it meant. Moreover, these titles are held by males but there are female versions: Illust, Exalt, Dignity, Blest and Respect, if I remember correctly. There are higher titles, but none have held them in a long time. The males are also the fighters and hunters and have the bigger claws. This also makes it more difficult to hold a pen and write, so females are more likely to carry out all correspondence, like the pink dragon Sebeth, who works with (and secretly lives with) Avan. She has secrets of her own, too. Maiden dragons are gold, but they blush pink when they are betrothed (and if they don't get betrothed, it could be scandalous).

There are dragon lords and dragon farmers. Some dragons are servants and some work in public buildings and slaughterhouses. Weak dragons get culled so that the stronger ones may thrive.

After a slow (and slightly confusing) start, it picked up the pace. I enjoyed the book, although the ending to the court case was a little less than satisfactory. (Basically, they punted.) Jo Walton has several series of books published by Tor in the past two decades. I wouldn't rule out looking for some of them sometime, although it's more likely that I'll pick one up should I come across one and recognize the name.