Elitist Book Reviews

You were first introduced to Isabella Camherst in A NATURAL HISTORY OF DRAGONS (EBR review) in what Steve called a fantasy version of Downton Abby...kinda. I would also like to point lovers of Novik's Temeraire series, and even those who enjoy Elizabeth Peter's Amelia Peabody series, to this exciting new world Marie Brennan has created.

THE TROPIC OF SERPENTS begins three years after NATURAL's fateful expedition to the mountains of Vystrana. Isabella agrees to a second expedition, but this time it's a further-flung journey to study species on the continent of Eriga. It's a good thing she loves dragons because anyone with less passion would have given up by now considering the deck stacked against her: Isabella's family disapproves of her adventures, even scientists must deal with local politics, and the climate is not only oppressive it's dangerous. The mountains of Vystrana tested her strength, and now the jungle known as the Green Hell will test her resolve.

Along for this expedition is Mr. Wilker, the only recurring character to appear with consistency. If you recall in NATURAL, Isabella and Mr. Wilker didn't get along much, but here they have to rely on each other and come to a mutual agreement. There is also Isabella's mechanically gifted friend Natalie, who has to escape her family in order to join the expedition. There are various locals and a big-game hunter who stirs things up a bit, but on the whole the story is about Isabella and her experience. As a result the secondary characters don't go into much depth, but Isabella is such a fascinating person and her description of people and events is entertainment enough.

The locale is more in-depth here compared to NATURAL, but there are a lot of place and race names to keep track of. I mentally attempted to parallel the place/race with real-life equivalents, but that only gave me a headache. And there's a lot of politics: the local king, settlers from Isabella's country, locals who live in the swamp, and those who live on the other side of the swamp/river, potential invasions, foreigner meddling, etc. We have a lot to learn about Isabella's world.

Personally I wanted to skip all that for the dragon hunting. Fortunately, despite this front-heavy information, once all that is out of the way we get into the story itself. It's worth pushing through because it does matter to the story, and fortunately Brennan doesn't make it boring. And there's plenty of dragon information to whet one's appetite. Once Isabella arrives on Eriga we begin to get a better feel for the politics and culture, and as the story unfolds everything makes sense.

Brennan's prose and storytelling are a pleasure to read, compelling, delightful, and entertaining. Just like Downton Abby. Definitely worth your time.

Recommended Age: 15+ (my 15-year-old daughter loved the first book and snatched up this one as soon as it arrived)
Language: Very little
Violence: Peril (human and animal related) and off-screen deaths
Sex: Vague references

Find this enjoyable series here:

A NATURAL HISTORY OF DRAGONS

THE TROPIC OF SERPENTS

Have you ever wondered what a fantasy version of Downton Abbey would be like? I'm not gonna lie, I've watched every episode of the show. I like it quite bit. And yet every time I watch an episode I can't help but wonder what it would be like in a fantasy setting. It wouldn't be too different, which would allow it to retain the charm while still imparting that fantastical sense of wonder.

Earlier this year, after catching up on Downton Abbey, I picked up Marie Brennan's A NATURAL HISTORY OF DRAGONS: A MEMOIR BY LADY TRENT. As soon as I began reading I thought, "This is exactly what I've been asking for!" Don't misunderstand me, the entire novel isn't spent in a manor or anything, but it's the attitudes of the characters that make me draw the comparison. DRAGONS is a fantastic novel that should appeal to any readers of Victorian-esque fantasy. It has all the character and cultural charm of those shows where propriety and manners are of the utmost importance. But DRAGONS is also about following your dreams, regardless of your lot in life.

So what is DRAGONS actually about? Well, the title gives away most of it. The novel is told in a memoir format from the PoV of Lady Isabella Trent as she grows up, gets married and goes on an adventure. The entirely of the story is centered around her love for dragons. From her obsession with them as a child, to her first adventure in a foreign part of the world (note: it's not our world). Brennan does a remarkable job of allowing the reader to see and feel the wonder Isabella experiences in her encounters with the beasts. It is this strong female lead that allows the novel to succeed. While all the side characters are fine, none of them really shine - which is to be expected in a "memoir".

The story, while interesting, isn't actually the main focus of the novel. There is enough there to keep a reader going, but much of the world is glossed over due to the PoV. Again, this is a "memoir". We get only as much of the story as what the Lady Trent considers worthwhile and important. This is equally appropriate and frustrating. Brennan hints at such a deep world, but the PoV of the story just brushes off a lot of it with, "But you can read about that in another memoir." Hopefully this means we'll get more stories set in the world so we can learn more about it all.

As you read the book, story points are punctuated by illustrations courtesy of Todd Lockwood. While I'm not a huge fan of his art depicting people, no one can deny the guy is amazing with dragons. The illustrations throughout the book are fantastic, and really add to the whole package. In fact, the book as a physical product is incredibly well done. If I were an author, I'd be super jealous of the overall production of this novel.

A NATURAL HISTORY OF DRAGONS benefits from the sum of its parts being far greater than any individual piece. The characters are fun and interesting. The story has enough mystique to keep patient readers satisfied. I guess it comes down to the novel feeling...comfortable. Yeah. Comfortable. In every way, when I would sit down to read DRAGONS, I felt like I was truly taking a break. It's rather hard to describe, but hopefully you get my meaning. Depending on the type of reader you are, you may want to pick this novel up. This is not an action-filled novel. Don't even expect the same level of action as you see in Brennan's prior novels, like WITH FATE CONSPIRE. This is a cozy novel meant to help your imagination roam for a time.

Recommended Age: 15+
Profanity: Not really. Some very minor instances.
Violence: Very, very little. It all has to do with PoV, but it's handled well.
Sex: Not really.

Take a chance on this novel. Here's your link:

A NATURAL HISTORY OF DRAGONS: A MEMOIR BY LADY TRENT

Admittedly, there are some great perks to being a reviewer. The lavish lifestyle includes all-expense-paid trips to foreign countries, supermodels, perfectly cooked steaks...OK, none of that. I get books. Lots and lots of books. Some are awesome, and some are terrible. One of the greatest perks is reading a novel I'd never have picked up on my own and discovering how fantastic it is. That happened to me last year when I read Marie Brennan's A STAR SHALL FALL. Set in historic London, the novel unexpectedly shoved me down in my comfy reading chair and didn't let me up until I had finished the novel. Understand, that sort of thing rarely happens to me anymore.

Brennan's latest, WITH FATE CONSPIRE, quickly became one of my must-reads of the year. So when it came in the mail (personally sent by the author herself, no less) I happily returned to my comfy chair and began reading. The concern should be obvious. Could Brennan easily capture my imagination again? Would the literary lightening strike twice?

Yes. Yes it did.

WITH FATE CONSPIRE is a completely absorbing novel. I think, though, that much of the reason I loved Brennan's latest is that she didn't write the same type of novel again. Oh sure it is still about the Onyx Court. Faeries are still hidden right under the noses of the mortal Londoners. But this novel is SOOOOOO different. This story tales place in London of the 1800's with the underground rail system being completed. As you can imagine, the iron rails are causing immense destruction in the Onyx Court. WITH FATE CONSPIRE is the tale of a civilization of faeries trying to save their home and preserve it for the future. This isn't the love story that A STAR SHALL FALL was (though that element isn't totally absent). This is a tale of corruption and redemption.

One of the main characters of the novel is Eliza, a girl who saw her childhood love abducted by faeries years ago. Her goal at first is simple; find her lost love. The other main character is Dead Rick, one of the fae. He has no memory of his life prior to a few years ago, and his memories are being held hostage. They are two wildly distinct characters, and neither one ever got to the point where I thought, "Geez, i wish we could get to the other character again..."

However with these individual character stories comes my only real tiny issue with the novel. That bit I mentioned about Eliza looking for her lost love? It's mentioned on the dust jacket. It's her main motivation for the entire story. Yet as a reader, the story tried overly hard to avoid telling me what happened until over half-way through the story. Sure it was a great reveal when it happened, but seeing it earlier (like, at the very beginning) in full detail wouldn't have hurt the story in the slightest, and would have given me a much better reason to identify with her plight right at the onset of the story.

But that's it. That's the only small thing that stood out. The rest was absolutely great.

The writing was fantastic. There are very few authors that really impress me with the way they write. Bakker. Valente. Gaiman. Brennan, for me, is right there. I love how she writes. Her descriptions of old London are vivid. If I'm honest, I'm seriously jealous of how she does it. Her pacing is slow, but never dull. I often felt like I was slowing down my reading purposely so I could catch all the little literary goodies she has buried in the pages. And even though this novel (as is the case with her prior novels as well) is slower, I found the reading to be easy and relaxing. The pages flew by.

I love how believable her characters are. Everything in this setting is bleak, yet the characters never truly give up hope. They will go to any length to meet their diverse goals.

Brennan's work isn't for everyone. There are some readers who just won't like this novel as much as I do. Then again, that's kind of the point. Different strokes for different folks, and all that. I love these books. WITH FATE CONSPIRE is absolutely fantastic. It can be read as the fourth book in the series, or by itself. Whichever way you read it, the important part is that you DO read it.

Like I said, being a reviewer has its perks. One of those is being able to discover an author as awesome as Marie Brennan.

Recommended Age: 16+
Language: Based on the types of characters encountered, and the time period, there is a lot more swearing than in the prior novel. It never really feels shock value though.
Violence: Violence isn't really relied on in this series. Sure there is some great, brief action, but it isn't a focal point.
Sex: Talked about, but nothing detailed.

By now all you readers have probably figured you have us all figured out. You know what books we will like before you even read the review. More importantly, you know what books we will hate. We aren't going to argue much. We wear our taste in novels openly, and to be honest we have a good idea of whether a novel will be awesome/yucky before we even read it.

We receive quite a few ARCs every month. We sift through the tilting stacks of them and get excited when we see something from one of our favorite authors. Likewise we tend to feel a little nauseated when we see another "original tale of a human who falls in love with a deadly vampire." You see, some novels just don't interest us at all. Yet we read them. For you. Because we are inexplicably full of awesome.

Sometimes, a novel surprises the heck out of us.

A STAR SHALL FALL, by Marie Brennan, is an Alternate Historical Fantasy about London in the 1750's. With faeries. Uh huh. We enjoyed a novel with faeries.

Here's how the story goes. A while back, in 1666, there was a crazy fire in London. It gutted nearly the entire city. This is historic fact. What Brennan does is put a fantastical explanation to the historic event. Psycho dragon. Yup. He got hungry and angry and nearly killed everyone and everything in London. Luckily, the fae managed to exile the dragon into a comet that was passing by a bit (1682 after they had temporarily imprisoned the dragon) after the devastating fire. Problem there? It was Haley's Comet. You know, the one that comes by every back every 75 to 76 years? This is the part where all the fae realize how screwed they are. The premise alone made us sit back and say, "Huh. That is way cool."

It wasn't until we were partly through the first bit of the novel that we realized this was the third book in a series. It was a bit of a bummer, but really we didn't feel lost at all. Brennan does SUCH a great job with the clarity of her writing that we picked up meanings, and back stories of characters with ease. Our main PoVs are the Fae Queen of the Onyx Court, Lune. Apparently she has been a character throughout the entire series. Lune wasn't the main focus of the novel, but he characterization was fantastic. You could see the pain in her past, and her desire to do anything to protect her Court, and the humans in London. Irrith is another of the fae PoVs. Her fascination with all things human is described with such an alien way of thinking, but also in a very endearing way. Our main PoV belongs to a human Lord named Galen. He has some issues. In love with Lune. Bedding Irrith. Betrothed to another human. Oh, and resolving the whole "dragon coming to eat everyone" thing has been placed on his shoulders.

That, dear readers, is how you introduce conflict.

The thing about this novel is that it would have been easy for Brennan to focus on the event of the dragon returning, and then ignore any real character development. Brennan doesn't do this. A STAR SHALL FALL is a character drama. It is about how all these wonderful characters deal with the dragon's return, a potential coup of the Onyx Court, and love. This story is all about character development, and we loved it.

Before we go any further, we should mention that this book most definitely isn't for everyone. If all you read is action novels, you won't find that type of content here--though when we do get action in A STAR SHALL FALL, it is extremely well described. Brennan's novel is slow paced. There is a lot of people standing around talking about possible solutions for the various problems present. In a way, it feels a little like if Brandon Sanderson had written Historical Fantasy. We mean early Brandon Sanderson. ELANTRIS. You know, where people stood around and chatted for the majority of the novel. For us, in this particular case, it was a good thing. Will it work for you? Hopefully. But we realize that it just may be too slow for some people.

We really don't have many issues with A STAR SHALL FALL. It was just so refreshing to read. It didn't get bogged down in "Let me tell you all our history." No, she seamlessly integrates the story into the time period, and into the actual events in history. Our personal opinions? This is how Alternate Historical Fantasy should be done.

A STAR SHALL FALL is a terrific novel. It stands solidly on its own two feet despite being the third novel in a series. You should be reading this novel. Seriously, like, right now. If you are reading this review, it will take you a whole five minutes to order this book from Amazon. While you are there, do what we are about to do: pick up copies of the other two novels in the series. MIDNIGHT NEVER COME and IN ASHES LIE. If they are even half as fantastic as A STAR SHALL FALL, they will be excellent reads indeed.

Marie Brennan: Thank you for giving us one of the surprises of the year so far. If we were standing next to you, we would totally be giving you high-fives.

Recommended Age: 14 and up.
Language: We can count on one hand how many times characters swore.
Violence: Not a ton, but there are some decently shocking scenes. Extremely well done when included.
Sex: Mentioned tactfully, but never shown.