I love it when books begin with a warning as this one does: “this series will contain frozen mountains, foetid swamps, hostile foreigners, hostile fellow countrymen, the occasional hostile family member, bad decisions, misadventures in orienteering, diseases of an unromantic sort, and a plenitude of mud.”   And there is all that and more in this delightful fantasy memoir!

Lady Trent now an older woman recounting her life, explains that she is obsessed with dragons and has been from the time she was a child.  Raised in an era when women were not allowed to pursue scientific study and in a class that expected women to be beautiful and accomplished in the feminine arts of needle work and managing a household, Isabella feels out of place and frustrated.  With the help of her brother however, Isabella begins to feed her thirst for knowledge about dragons, first by obtaining a copy of Sir Richard Edgeworth’s, A Natural History of Dragons, and then by maneuvering her way into a hunt for a wolf-drake (a type of dragon) on her father’s estate. Although the hunt did not go as she intended, her resolve to learn more about dragons grew stronger and stronger. Her father, realizing that he cannot prevent her from this quest, eventually gives her a list of marriageable men who he has on good authority also have Sir Richard Edgeworth’s, A Natural History of Dragons in their libraries and who might be willing to take on such an unconventional woman like Isabella and be amenable to her unnatural interest in dragons.

Set in a country not that different from England and in a Victorian-ish era, Isabella is a strong willed, curious woman.  She falls into scandalous adventures and although she is sometimes regretful of the consequences she never apologizes for the thirst of knowledge that gets her into trouble.

Marie Brennan, who is an anthropologist and folklorist, claims to “shamelessly pillage” her own academic research and it is very evident in this book. She has created a special character in Isabella, who now as an older woman recounts her life and adventures with pride and a lot of self deprecating humor.  The beautiful drawings that accompany the book add immeasurably to the story as well.

This is the beginning of a new fantasy series, the second of which, The Tropic of Serpents is scheduled to be released in March of next year.

Brenda’s Rating: ***1/2 (3 1/2 Stars out of 5)

Recommend this book to: Lauren, Marian and Sharon.

Book Study Worthy: Maybe

Read in ebook format