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| Look at the cover! It's so pretty! |
If you’re anything like
me, and I pray to God that you’re not, then you are horrified by the thought of
just purchasing something without having “sampled” it yet. And in this case, I
am of course referring to books and movies. Only on two occasions have I
purchased a book because I thought it might be good and it turned out to be a BIG MISTAKE. And I mean “big” in the
sense that I wasted several hours of my life attempting to read and like these
books, but failing. And more than that, my competitive streak deflated at the
thought that I was not returning to finish those books. Since then, I have not
bought anything I haven’t read, seen, tried on, sampled, whatever.
It’s
a good thing, then, that recommendations exist! I would feel much more at ease
buying a book or movie from a source I valued, and such was the case of this
book. Hank Green (for those of you not familiar with
Nerdfighteria/Nerdfighters, Vlogbrothers, YouTube or John Green, the author of
several best-selling Young Adult fiction novels, is an entertaining and pretty
geeky vlogger whose videos I watch, and you should too) recommended several
books in an early April VEDA video. Now, the other two
were science fiction novels, and true sci-fi literature is something I have not
delved into too deeply. But the third piqued my interest, partly because it had
the word “dragons” on the title. Ever since How to Train Your Dragon,
I have been started loving dragons. Hank Green's recommendation was
interesting, as well. He described A Natural History of
Dragons by Marie Brennan as “If J. K. Rowling, Charles Darwin and Jane
Austen had a baby, that would be impossible. That would be a messed up baby.
But if they wrote a book together, it would be this book.”
Is that not one of the strangest combinations of
writers you've ever heard of? Okay, maybe not "ever". I
could wrap my head around the Jane Austen and Charles Darwin part of it, and
the Jane Austen and J. K. Rowling part, but could not fit all three of them
together coherently. So I got it. And I read it. And I liked it.
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| One of the hardest questions I've ever had to answer. |
A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by
Lady Trent by Marie Brennan is about a Victorian Woman named Isabella,
and she is fascinated by dragons. Because dragons exist in her world, which is
also Victorian England, but it’s called Spirling, but
Brennan isn't fooling anyone, and she knows it. The just knows that
Spirling is basically England, but with dragons. Isabella is fascinated by the
anatomy and engineering of dragons. She wants to know how they work, how they
behave, what they eat, what their lifestyles are like, where they live,
everything. She is scientific, curious, headstrong and
adventurous, a combination which often leads her into trouble and danger.
She and her husband join a small observation
party, to study the rock wyrm(dragons) in Vystrana. This country is
essentially Russia or some similar Eastern European country, but it’s hard to
place it exactly. Lately, there have been dragon attacks, and this hardy group
decides to find out the cause and stop the dragon attacks.
There is a good deal of intrigue and mystery
as to why these dragon attacks are happening, and it’s not as simple as it
would seem. I love mystery, and often books with mystery have kept me up
until early hours (6 a.m. one time) in a desperate attempt to finish the book.
This book had enough intrigue to keep my attention, but not enough to stay up
too late (early?). I would gladly sacrifice several hours of sleep for
the right book, but this was not such book.
The characters themselves are likable, and I liked that Isabella
was adventurous. However, because this book is largely plot-based and
mystery-driven, none of the characters have very strong personalities. They do
not do outrageous things, have hilarious sayings, have a lot of character
development or develop strong relationships. In fact, it was fitting to the
writing style, given the fact that this book is set in Victorian times and
Isabella is compared to Charles Darwin. In this sense, Brennan wrote it in a
Victorian English style, but not so much that if Jane Austen were to rise from
the dead and for some reason decide to pick up this book, she would not confuse
it with one of her peers’ works. That might drive away some readers who lack
the patience or tolerance for a less-than-dynamic writing style/voice.
The ending, too, wrapped a little too quickly
and neatly for my taste. It was confusing, especially since the book is largely
plot-based. I mean, I can understand wanting to finish a book that has already
been going on for 300 pages, but this was a little too simple. It is just a
book for entertainment, and Brennan knows that her readers are not expecting
some profound declaration about the current state of society. In a way, the
ending is satisfying.
There are some really gorgeous works of art by Todd
Lockwood; he does fantastic fantasy art found here and here. If you like art, then I would
suggest checking out his stuff.
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| Just of a few of the, well, few illustrations in the book. |
All
in all, it was something you might like if you like scientific, adventurous and
a little bit of dry humor, (“Between that and the abseiling, I think I left
enough skin behind on those rocks to cover an entire person”), then you would
not be remiss in reading this book. I mean, come on! It has dragons in it! If that’s not enough
to convince you, then I don’t know what is.
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