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Natural History Of Dragons Series

A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan

17 November 2013

Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: A Natural History of Dragons, Marie Brennan

Just finished reading A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan which I loved. This is such a lovely book written in the form of a memoir by the now Lady Trent who is taking a trip down memory lane and recounting her adventures. We take a look back at Isabella’s early years when her all consuming love of the inner workings of things and her natural desire to collect and examine specimens brought her into much bother until eventually she turned her passions to the study of dragons. A passion fortified by sneaking a book out of her father’s library and secretly reading it over and over again. The book “A Natural History of Dragons”. This is where it all began.

1. Rating: 🐲🐲🐲.5/5 Review: 'A Natural History of Dragons' is the first in a series of mock-memoirs written by a Lady Isabella Trent. Upon the publishing of this first volume, Lady Trent is already a world-renown dragon naturalist, who has decided to illustrate her childhood and foray/fascination into the world of natural science and dragons (something about after the/upon/due to) the.
2. In legends and folktales, dragons are magical-yet early naturalists often treated these creatures as part of the natural world. Biologists in Europe once wrote accounts of the behavior and habitat of dragons, along with lizards and snakes. Chinese scholars have classified the dragon as one of the 369 animal species with scales.

She is the remarkable woman who brought the study of dragons out of the misty shadows of myth into the clear light of modern science. But before she became the illustrious figure we know today, there was a bookish young woman whose passion for learning and natural history defied the stifling conventions of her day.

Of course, being set in the Victorian era (in a very similar world to ours but for one big difference – the existence of dragons) Isabella’s conduct and propriety must withstand scrutiny. She must behave in a manner befitting a lady – particularly if she is to marry well! And so, for a few years there Isabella is forced to conform – the ‘grey years’ as she fondly names them! Then Isabella is finally released into an unknowing society to secure herself a place amongst her peers. Fortunately she meets a like minded man in Jacob Camherst. They marry and for Isabella she begins to feel a little more freedom as her husband enjoys her eccentricities and actually encourages them.

Now, at the time, very little is known about dragons and so naturally scientists and like minded people are only too happy to embark on expeditions to strange sounding and exotic places and it is on one such trip, that Jacob is invited along to (after some string pulling from Isabella behind the scenes) and Isabella also manages to secure herself a place – obviously not to take part in scurrying around the countryside but to keep records and draw anatomical pictures – thereby freeing up the valuable men’s time to do the important things! And so the adventure begins and obviously it doesn’t go according to plan.

Things seem to have a way of going askew around Isabella! From kidnapping to drawing the unwanted attention of a demon she has the uncanny ability to not only attract but to find trouble in the strangest places!

So, what did I like about this story, apart of course that it’s a good tale.

Well, firstly, the writing is excellent. Brennan is a talented author. She depicts the era perfectly without the writing being cumbersome. She has an eye for detail and she manages to achieve an authentic sounding voice. The tale itself combines adventure, fantasy, mystery and sci fi with a tiny bit of romance but, more than all of this, when you read this you actually want to believe it’s true. Brennan has written this magical world of dragons – they’re not flying around breathing fire and carrying off peasants – although there are some attacks in the story but these are very much considered to be highly out of character and provoked in some way – and come on, who wouldn’t want to find a little dragon at the bottom of their garden!

Isabella is a good character. She’s got an abundance of curiosity and a serious lack of caution. Fortunately most of the constraints of the period have been removed from her character for the majority of the story as she is in unusual circumstances but even with that liberating factor you still can’t help gritting your teeth at certain points as her natural insights or theories seem to be ignored or, when they’ve actually been proven correct, adopted as the obvious. So, yes, you feel frustration for Isabella at certain times but that’s to be expected to a certain extent and actually it almost adds to the story in an odd way.

Anyway, I understand there are to be more stories, which is really good news! I will definitely read more about Isabella, I’m really looking forward to watching her character grow. Her story so far has been quite unique and ends on something of a sad note – but I think this will help her to exercise even more of her stubborn free will in the future – and obviously she does so – otherwise we wouldn’t be reading these memoirs from the new famous Lady Trent!

I heartily recommend this – it’s a beautiful tale, set in a period that is lovely to read about but has been twisted slightly, there are dragons! and, the book itself is a beauty. Quick, compelling and perfectly packaged.

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   Can’t wait to read this one, sounds great!

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   […] reviews : The Incurable Bluestocking ; Lynn’s Book Blog ; Little Red […]

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   […] A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan – a little bit of a cheat this one in more ways than one. Lady Trent originates from a place that is like an alternate London and – to be honest the majority of the stories are based elsewhere. But I do love this series so thought it was worth mentioning. […]

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   […] A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan […]

Marie Brennan begins a thrilling new fantasy series in A Natural History of Dragons, combining adventure with the inquisitive spirit of the Victorian Age.

You, dear reader, continue at your own risk. It is not for the faint of heart—no more so than the study of dragons itself. But such study offers rewards beyond compare: to stand in a dragon's presence, even for the briefest of moments—even at the risk of one's life—is a delight that, once experienced, can never be forgotten. . . .

All the world, from Scirland to the farthest reaches of Eriga, know Isabella, Lady Trent, to be the world's preeminent dragon naturalist. She is the remarkable woman who brought the study of dragons out of the misty shadows of myth and misunderstanding into the clear light of modern science. But before she became the illustrious figure we know today, there was a bookish young woman whose passion for learning, natural history, and, yes, dragons defied the stifling conventions of her day.

Here at last, in her own words, is the true story of a pioneering spirit who risked her reputation, her prospects, and her fragile flesh and bone to satisfy her scientific curiosity; of how she sought true love and happiness despite her lamentable eccentricities; and of her thrilling expedition to the perilous mountains of Vystrana, where she made the first of many historic discoveries that would change the world forever.

Typically I am not a huge fan of first person narration, but A Natural History of Dragons creates such an authentic picture of Lady Trent that I couldn’t imagine it depicted any other way. The novel is written as a fictional memoir, with Lady Trent reliving the past adventures of her youth, when she is known as simply Isabella Camherst. As a dragon lover, I was immediately able to relate to Lady Trent’s lifelong obsession to dragons and loved how she struggled to be a proper lady while still pursuing her own passion with the creatures.

“I attempted to restrain my enthusiasm; learning is an admirable thing, in women as well as men, but only when it is of the right kind. (That is, of course, society’s opinion; not my own. I am glad to say it has changed somewhat since my day.)”

I really enjoyed the time period of the novel as well. It takes place in an era where women wear petticoats, have ladies-in-waiting, and a lot of societal expectations. Though it reminded me of the Victorian period, the novel is set in a fictional universe, where not only do dragons exist, but not much is known about them at present. Throughout the novel, I struggled to progress as the story was framed as a scientific pursuit of dragons, and not a fantasy, adventure novel, so to speak. It could be quite dry, and parts of the novel that involved executing a dragon, were repugnant to me, a dragon lover. Though I did really enjoy the beautiful illustrations that resulted from their scientific research.

Natural History Of Dragons Series

“In which the memoirist forms a youthful obsession with dragons, and engineers an opportunity to pursue that obsession.”

Another thing that I really struggled with in the novel, besides the scientific nature of it, was the fact that Isabella’s husband, Jacob Camherst, was nothing more than a willing plot device. By marrying him, she has access to his library and is able to join on an expedition to study dragons as an “artist”–both things quite scandalous for her sex and for her time period. Though there is some affection between the husband and wife, it is not anything overly romantic and Isabella does not waste much time talking about him. And as Isabella frequently reigns herself in for the sake of her husband and his reputation, I was not overly surprised View Spoiler »when he was killed off at the end of the novel. Now as a widow, she has unrestricted access to his wealth and more freedom, as only her reputation will be harmed by her scientific pursuits. So basically her husband’s only role in the novel was to get her where she wanted to go and then die. Her miscarriage is similarly glossed over and practically irrelevant to her character development. « Hide Spoiler

“One benefit of being an old woman now, and moreover one who has been called a ‘national treasure,’ is that there are very few who can tell me what I may and may not write.”

Though interesting to see a man as purely a plot device, it didn’t really do anything to help me sympathize with Isabella. Furthermore, her high-class breeding is even less endearing at times/ She is condescending to the local villagers on her draconic expedition and outright rude to a self-made man of lower birth. Ultimately, I found myself getting tired of her voice around halfway through the book–quite a feat since I related to her dragon passion so much in the beginning of the novel. I liked Lady Trent much better when she was a child, devouring books and wishing she could do the same things boys did. As a young adult, and both an old woman writing her memoirs, Isabella is overconfident and unlikable.

It doesn’t help matters that Lady Trent herself states multiple times that she was very naive during the events of this memoir and that her early traveling works should not even be read. I can only imagine how bad those works were, as I was tired of reading the legitimate memoir. I was also dismayed the A Natural History of Dragons had more to do with Isabella’s constant poor decisions, illegal smuggling, murder, and other conspiracies, than actual dragons.

By far my favorite part of the A Natural History of Dragons concerned the world building before Lady Trent’s expedition and also the parts of her expedition that surrounded the local lore of the villagers. Much of it surrounds Zhagrit Mat, a king with the dangerous desire to become a dragon. I was similarly intrigued by the Draconean ruins that Isabella visited, and wished the novel had spent more time on these type of things over smuggling and conspiracies.

“You’re dragon-mad, Mrs. Camherst, and sooner or later you’ll be keen to have another chance at it. When that day comes, let me know.”

A Natural History Of Dragons

Though being quite dragon-mad myself, I will not be rushing out to purchase another novel in The Lady Trent Memoirs. I would be interested to see if future novels deal more with dragons and less with other subjects, but I don’t feel any urgency to read predecessors to A Natural History of Dragons. While I enjoyed the novel’s creative methods of narration and storytelling, there just weren’t enough actual dragons or a narrator likable to keep me hooked.

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