A Natural History of Dragons

I don't know what I expected, but this wasn't it. I'd describe this as a Victorian scientist explorer's travelogue based in a fantasy world, and giving a female perspective. The elegant writing style pulled a lot of the weight, making it an easy read that I didn't want to put down.

I find that every few pages something captures my attention but then I go to skimming the rest of the page. The narrative is too.... narrative-y for me or something.

Clunky and childish. Not so much fantasy as a 19th century travelogue with a thin coat of paint over some real-world cultures and, allegedly, dragons. I wouldn't mind if it were at least a good travelogue, but it's not. The narrator's voice is strong (if a little twee for my taste) and the main character, while hard to like at times, is well developed. But Brennan can't compose an actual scene to save her life. She's too far in her head, or her character's head, or whatever. I wouldn't mind it if this were a case of involved worldbuilding that turns into a dry but earnest infodump, but it's the opposite - the world barely feels like fantasy at all. Our 19th century #girlboss talks a big game about her scientitic passion for dragons, and you'd expect to hear a lot about them, but instead we plod around Romania saying racist things about the locals and occasionally get a few paragraphs of dragon that are somehow even duller than the rest of it. Pass.

3.5 stars

An interesting setting for a fantasy such as this with its upper-class, old school faux-British background. The book is full of fun British-esque location names which I enjoyed for some reason such as Scirland & Gostershire.

Isabella herself is clearly the standout of the book. Her constant state of enthusiasm about all things dragon is really endearing to follow. The way she will explain how she feels in terms of dragons just creates a contagious level of passion to learn alongside her.

There is quite a slow start and the book does take a rather long time to get going but once they start the expedition in Vystrani, I was definitely invested in the journey and just as excited to learn more about these creatures and solve the mysteries they came across.

The final act of the book surprisingly turns into somewhat of a whodunnit as all of the pieces start coming together that while I still enjoyed it a lot, was not what I was expecting and would have maybe liked more focus on the dragons themself rather than humans.

Maybe the strongest thing I can say is that the world had me so invested that each time Isabella would bring up a research paper or book she had read, I just wished it actually existed and could read it myself which I think marks a very strong connection to the book.

This felt like random bits of information until it all started coming together and I found out I was in love with these characters. I am amazed at how the story was told without overwhelming me with information. I have to continue this series.

This book made me forget that dragons are in fact not real and now I'm crying my eyes out

Read it for a book club; otherwise would not have read it, as it is not the type of book I knew I'd enjoy much

I loved the way this was written, the story and the scientific explanations of the dragons. The research really was a big focus and that was really great. Isabella was a great character and I liked how it described what role she has in society. I usually dislike books where they really focus on the fact that women are not valued as much but here I didn't mind it so much. I will definitely be reading the next one. 

dnf

The main character was just so obnoxious and driving me insane. There was also way too much emphasis on what it means to be a lady.

In essence, this is a memoir written by a 19th century English lady about her scientific expedition to Alpes. Places, ethnicities and some of the animals are replaced by fantastical ones, but everything else is pretty much the same.

If we swapped dragons for eagles this would be historical fiction about a woman struggling to get her footing in a world dominated by men. Which also shows that this isn't a children's book, or at least that most of the social commentary and thus most of the book, would go right over their head.

As for dragons themselves, there are numerous encounters with beats and people do get hurt, but the book tries to stay grounded in reality. No one is swinging swords and magic amulets against their blazing breath or anything like that.

If you like books set in 1800s you will probably enjoy this mild fantasy. But if not, I doubt dragons would do much to make this interesting enough for you.

What do you do when you have a strong curiosity, a scientific kind, and undeterred determination, but are born as a person the world doesn't consider capable of such things? You make the right friends, convince them to let you travel with them and write a scientific journal disguised as a travelogue. 

This is a slow burner, as those with rich world building are. The presentation of the story is first person with a voice that draws one into the story. The narrator was fantastic, sounding as though the character was telling right here in the room. 

I loved this story, the fact it is written long after the events leads to nice foreboding for the series.

2.5

Love at first sentence!

This book is nothing like anything I've ever read before and yet it has everything that I absolutely love in a novel!
The story is written as a memoir of Lady Trent, a Dragon naturalist. She is one of the most well written characters I've read this year! It took me one single sentence to fall in love with this character.
Sassy old lady telling us her story? YES PLEASE!

This book literally has everything. It's hilarious (had me cackling constantly), it sounds like it's set in the Victorian era (which by the way is one of my favourite settings of all time!), it's filled with adventure, it has a thrilling mystery, it has the most adorable romance, the narrator so witty and such a badass and most importantly (as you've figured from the title) has dragons!

I listened to this on audio (Kate Reading is the narrator so I just HAD to check it out) and it truly enhanced my reading experience. I couldn't imagine a more perfect portrayal of Lady Trent's character and voice. It was absolutely phenomenal! If you decide to pick it up (if you're still undecided, drop me a message and I'll convince you to pick it up) please please consider the audiobook. It's perfect!!!

As someone who's a wannabe naturalist and loves memoir, I was pretty into this. Brennan's ability to write in the voice of naturalist 1) in a memoir style and 2) at a time when very little is known about dragons impressed me quite a bit. Even though I mostly enjoyed this book and the strong as heck female protagonist, there was plot elements and character development elements I found lacking.

I really liked how realistic and touching the beginning was but at the end it went very downward. I wish it could have been different.

3.75* rounded up to 4*. Overall a fun read with a great premise that I'm interested in exploring in future instalments of the series, although the book starts a little slow and I can see the writing style and pacing not being to everyone's tastes.

As the series title suggests, we are reading the memoirs of a Lady Trent, an elderly lady who has made her name in natural history, specifically studying dragons, in her storied life. The first book in this instalment starts from her childhood and through to an expedition she undertakes as a married 19 year old accompanying her husband who is similarly passionate about natural history as herself.

The starting of the book meanders a little and it is not until about the halfway mark of the book that the action begins picking up and where the central hook of the story is established (with the introduction of Zhagrit Mat). Before this, however, you're pretty much slowly getting to know Isabella and how she managed to (sort of) reconcile her unladylike love for natural history and dragons with what society expects from her. The first half is where I would expect most people might stumble and DNF, but I do think the second half packs enough to redeem the book.

The world and premise is where this book really shines, in my opinion, with its interesting combination of historical fiction and fantasy. This was marketed as “Jane Austen meets dragons” and honestly, that checks out. The world is in a sort-of 19th century AU; Isabella as a teenager is expected to put herself out on the marriage market, attend balls, be a lady, etc. The social norms she needs to conform to are not unlike what you might read in a Jane Austen novel, or any novel of manners. The difference is, of course, the introduction of dragons being a very real and very wild animal found only in certain countries. Isabella's country of residence in this novel, Scirland, is a thinly-veiled adjacent for England. Similarly, Vystrani, the country that she later travels to in search of dragons is easily recognisable as an adjacent for Russia, with its icy climates, the names of its people (Dagmira, Ritelkin, Iosif). Much more interesting are the religions mentioned in this book. Isabella tells us that Scirland (England) are Magisterial, while those in Vystrani (Russia) are temple-worshippers, perhaps a parallel to Orthodoxy. We only get a glimpse of both religions in this book, but the elderly Isabella writing this book gives us scintillating hints that she would eventually have cause to re-evaluate her opinions and beliefs on these religions in her later adventures.

One of the bright points of this book is in the perspective. As mentioned earlier, this is written as the memoirs of an elderly Isabella looking back on her life and telling it in chronological order. Although most of the book is told in a fairly straightforward and linear timeline, where we follow Isabella from childhood up to adolescence, there are moments where our actual narrator, the elderly Isabella, breaks in to talk about how things have changed since then. Sometimes, she does so to talk about how natural history has evolved and expanded since, and how much more the present world now knew about dragons than they had back when she was a teenager. What was far more intriguing is when she breaks in to deprecate herself, her thoughts and worldview as a young person who is only just on her first adventure away from home, and how much more she has expanded her thoughts and opinions since then. I loved how this signified a larger and more complete story - how did 19 year old Isabella change, and what has she gone through between where we are reading to the person writing these memoirs?

Overall, I'd recommend this for those who are comfortable reading with classic literature and who also love a dash of fantasy and dragons in their story. If you enjoyed this, I'd also recommend reading Elizabeth Peters's Amelia Peabody series, which also has a spunky female lead from the Victorian era going against the norms of her society to gain expertise in a field traditionally not open to ladies - Egyptology in the abovementioned series. I might also mention that Amelia Peabody is told with a lot more humour and dry wit than this one, which is personally more up my alley. Nevertheless, A Natural History of Dragons has definitely captured my interest and I'm looking forward to reading more.

Interesting premise, good narrative, slow pacing. It is exactly what you think it is, and if after reading a few minutes you expect it to get “faster”, it won't. It is a fantasy biography, it reads as “dull” as a real biography of someone fascinated with biology.

The story of a woman interested in dragons, written by her older self as a memoir of her life. Since a very young age, she was always fascinated by the anatomy of animals, first dissecting them and then reading about them.

As she grew older, she had the opportunity to study dragons.

Read 1:51 / 10:17 18%

A really delightful read. If you're looking for epic battles and magic and dragons front and centre then this isn't the book you're looking for, however, if you are looking for something unique in the style of an adventure memoir - except with dragons - with a bit of mystery and a spunky female protagonist, this is it. Lady Trent herself is the gem of the story, in this volume recounting her first foray and adventures into the study of dragons, a decidedly non-female pursuit- where she pushes the boundaries of her station as a women in a society where they expected to be much more proper. Her passion and pluck set her off on a path she thought was only a dream, but turns into a fun, adventurous story. I really enjoyed her as a character and this enticing new fantasy world we only scratch the surface of in this book. I suspect future volumes will expand and build upon it and I look forward to following Lady Trent on her future adventures.

2.5*

It was okay.
Honestly, I don't have a lot more to tell you.
The characters were fine and the story was fine. The book isn't bad but - even though I am a sucker for everything dragon themed - it didn't spark me any real joy while reading it. Sure there were some cool parts, especially those of her childhood, but mostly I just didn't care for what was happening.

I have a feeling that the following entries will probably be better.
The series hasn't completely died for me yet but I got a ton of books with a higher priority on my TBR right now.

A lot of fun in that charming, Dame Maggie Smith kind of way. I'll definitely pick up the next Lady Trent book.

3.5

This book entirely surprised me. It sounded really boring and, at first, it felt like a slow read. But it truly picked up and had me crying by the end. A wonderful story and series about a woman pursuing her dreams against all odds and obstacles, and showing others that brilliance and determination are more important than gender, status, and propriety. I was so hooked after this book ended and you will be too! I think I read the whole series in three weeks!

Every since she was a young girl, Lady Trent was fascinated by dragons. She liked to study them, read books about them, and was very curious about everything pertaining to them. This was all very inappropriate for a lady. Ladies couldn't study dragons or science, they should stick to sewing, gossip, and fashion. Fortunately, Lady Trent doesn't really care what people think. I loved this book! The end was sad, but it is still a great book. I loved the narrator as well.