A Natural History of Dragons

Book Title: A Natural History of Dragons

Author: Marie Brennan

Series: The Memoirs of Lady Trent #1

Date Started: November 3rd 2020

Date Completed: November 12th 2020

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Mystery, Historical

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

I enjoyed this a lot more than I was expecting to. It made me feel like a kid again even as an adult, in the way that only a whimsical but politically-conscious fantasy story can really do. Some people might think there aren't enough dragons and it's a little too domestic, but I get the feeling that this is an enormous biographic story that Brennan planned over a whole series, so it's not much surprise that the first instalment is a lot about the first steps.

I love the Victorian-esque setting and was impressed by how seamlessly the dragons had been placed into it. They were like exotic animals not that different to a tiger or a whale to the people themselves. As much as dragons are of course the centrepiece for the world-building, in general there's a lot about exploration, archaeology and other adventurous pursuits thrown in here. I think a good comparison (just to give people an idea of the kind of book this is, more than an explicit recommendation) is The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. These collections of stretching experiences that don't necessarily feel like they're making a plot but are totally immersive and ultimately do thread together to construct a person rather than a single story.

My one criticism, and it's quite a big one sadly, is that the writing borders on casually xenophobic at some points with the 'peasant village' the story takes place in and its inhabitants. While I get it fits with the time period being recreated, arguably the aesthetic, and that Brennan is demonstrating Isabella to be a complex and flawed character etc, this is a fantasy novel and it felt like that frame of mind wasn't really necessary the whole way through quite the way it was written.

Following on from that, however, I want to say how much I did adore Isabella as a character. The first third or so of the book follows her as a child as she collects tiny dragons and has this fascination and curiosity about them that no one appreciates. We've all seen similar origin stories before, but the whole world-building and whimsical nature of the dragons just made me feel so in tune with her, so like that child, and I fell in love with it. The retrospective narration of Isabella writing autobiographically once she's obviously made a name for herself added something to this as well; you could tell she was going to succeed eventually, so the journey of her initial (big) mistakes was all the more exciting.

Ultimately, the end of the book was a bit more complicated than it needed to be once it effectively became a murder mystery, but I still enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading the other books in the series. I also think this would make a kickass TV show.

Turtles All the Way Down

Book Title: Turtles All the Way Down

Author: John Green

Date Started: November 2nd 2020

Date Completed: November 3rd 2020

Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Mystery

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Three Star

Final Rating: Three Stars

Review:

The quirks! The angst! The profound quotes! It must be a John Green novel! In all seriousness, while I'm not personally a fan of quoting every author in history to reinforce your thematic points, Turtles All the Way Down has the charms all of Green's other books have too. They weren't quite enough to totally win me over, but it wasn't an unpleasant experience to read.

One thing I will commend Green on, which I know is sometimes controversial, is how mental health representation. I can't really remember enough of the books I read as a teenager, but I was impressed by how Aza wasn't just a 'tortured teen', she had genuine OCD and there was an understanding of what that means to all aspects of her life - and also that that doesn't condemn her forever. It explored things a past the glorified teen angst we're more used to from YA literature.

That being said, I know there's joking cynicism about Green's tortured teens and while I hate to put things in a blanket category, there were moments where I really needed some of the characters to get over themselves and engage their brains.

My biggest critique is that I'm not totally sure what the plot was. I didn't follow the mystery at all - in fact, I couldn't explain what happened in that respect other than someone went missing, then at the end they guessed where they were. Admittedly, the mystery is a side note, but it was a shame that nothing a bit more solid came of it because it's actually a pretty engaging concept.

John Green is a good writer, he's just got a niche audience in the grand scheme of things - which isn't a bad thing at all. I'm not here to diss a good writer, just to give it a try and say it isn't really my thing.

Jurassic Park

Book Title: Jurassic Park

Author: Michael Crichton

Series: Jurassic Park #1

Date Started: October 29th 2020

Date Completed: October 30th 2020

Genres: Sci-Fi, Adventure, Thriller, Horror

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

Michael Crichton's original story is anything but a novelisation of the film that has become so iconic, and I can see why a lot of people who know the film don't necessarily like the book. But I personally found this to be a great novel, if of course flawed. And actually, knowing the process of translating prose to screenplay, I was more impressed by both the source material and Speilberg's wonderful work to adapt it.

I think we all appreciate that it's impossible not to compare this book to the film, so I'll get the major things out of the way. The big changes are that Alan Grant likes kids (shocking, right?), the girl is actually the younger sibling and pretty much useless, and there are a lot more dinosaur encounters written down than end up in the film. In a broader sense, the book is both slower and faster-paced; the first section is all about the mystery of this strange lizard that has been found while the audience tries to work out what's happening - it's pretty obvious to all of us now, but I did like the way it really built up the ripple effect of Hammond's creations before we even got into the meat of what he had created. I'm also going to point out that the women in the novel are far less prominent, and written as figureheads. While Crichton is aware of the sexism that's around them, he doesn't do much to oppose it other than inferring to it a few times.

Aside from those inevitable comparisons, however, I was really impressed at how creepy and tense this story was. Considering it's written and has no actual visuals of dinosaurs for the reader to reference, it's very vivid and wonderous. Having been a dinosaur-obsessed child (as so many of us are) I could picture a lot of them, but even so their behaviour, the way they moved, the mere presence of size and strength was tangible.

The whole book reminded me a lot fo the Martian. It's very much fiction but backed up with a lot of constructed science, and very convincing. A lot of the tension is in the reader's realisation as the writer explains the evidence. A little unexpectedly, Crichton does a lot of this with maths as well as biology (Malcolm is even more pretentious than in the film if that's possible) and even starts delving reasonably deeply into philosophy. Again, potentially another reason why some people don't totally engage with it.

Overall, I really enjoyed Jurassic Park, although it does become repetitive the further on you go when it basically becomes Grant and the kids having various encounters with dinosaurs that only really differ depending on a very specific characteristic that highlights the behaviour of said species they run into. But you can tell it's an influential work of fiction because even the new films are still borrowing things from this first book.