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.