Wow. What a fun memoir-style fantasy mystery! It’s totally unlike anything I’ve read, but I really, really enjoyed it. And when a novel makes a SAHM (stay-at-home-mom) not want to put it down and “adult,” it’s definitely worth your time. ;)
Back Cover Blurb:
All the world, from Scirland to the farthest reaches of Eriga, knows 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.
What I loved about this book:
FMC who is a science/naturalist NERD and doesn’t care what anyone thinks. She dissects birds and collects all manner of odd bones and feathers and whatever else she can find in her yard and garden. Isabella is very adventurous and will do whatever it takes to get what she wants, especially if it comes to satisfying her scientific mind. Even if she dresses like a boy to secretly go on a dragon hunt.
Her mother and father remind me of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet in Pride & Prejudice: a mother who has a conniption when she discovers her daughter dissecting dead things and her father who pretends not to notice when dragon books disappear momentarily from his personal library.
Romance is included, but does not detract from plot. Actually, the find-a-man trope in this Pride and Prejudice-esque story actually contributed to the majority of the FMC’s life and goals. When you happen across a young man who is nerdy like you are, well, it's pretty amazingsauce. I do enjoy a good regency-period culture'd story every so often.
Superb creativity in creating interesting things about dragons. I can’t say enough about the uniqueness of this dragon tale! Dragons in this world are ungendered until they reach maturity, and when they die, their bodies, bones and all, disintegrate, unless you submerge them in the correct liquid (something the FMC learned when she was young–see excerpt below). Or did you know that dragons mourn the deaths of their species by honoring their bones?
Third past tense POV. Not my preferred tense as of late, but it really was splendidly done. Lady Trent’s narrative voice was honest, fun, and invoked many smiles.
Dragon breeds listed in this novel (with lovely illustrations, too!): Sparkling, Wolf-drake, Akhian Desert Drake, Swamp-wyrm…probably missing a couple more.
What I didn’t care for in this book:
Weirdly-named locations and cultural terminology. The world is entirely fictional, so it is unrelated to anything familiar that the reader could be grounded by. Granted, there are other books she has written in this memoir-y vein, so eventually the world would become more familiar, but it was a lot to take in. When the writing rabbit trailed into descriptions of things/places/people that weren’t woven into the immediate, need-to-know story but seemed like worldbuilding for the sake of worldbuilding, I skimmed.
An important character dies! GAAAH. Since this person was my second favorite character, it made me sad. But like one of my beta readers commented on my WIP, “I see why it had to happen.” (Joyce, I’m looking at you!)
Excerpt:
When I was seven, I found a sparkling lying dead on a bench at the edge of the woods which formed the back boundary of our garden, that the groundskeeper had not yet cleared away. With much excitement, I brought it for my mother to see, but by the time it reached her it had mostly collapsed into ash in my hands. Mama exclaimed in distaste and sent me to wash.
Our cook, a tall and gangly woman who nonetheless produced the most amazing soups and souffles (thus putting the lie to the notion that one cannot trust a slender cook) was the one who showed me the secret of preserving sparklings after death. She kept one on her dresser top, which she brought out for me to see when I arrived in her kitchen, much cast down from the loss of the sparkling and from my mother’s chastisement. “However did you keep it?” I asked her, wiping away my tears. “Mine fell all to pieces.”
“Vinegar,” she said, and that one word set me upon the path that led to where I stand today.
Stars: 4
**A special thanks to Laura P for gifting this book to me for my birthday. ^_^ Love you, friend! This definitely inspires me for Skilder's tale. <3
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