"A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent": Marie Brennan

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"A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent"

I first encountered this book mis-shelved under non-fiction at my local charity shop; in fairness, one can see why the staff (who are mostly neither native English-speakers nor scientifically-minded) would have made the mistake! By complete coincidence I was given a copy for Christmas, which has definitely earned a permanent place on my bookshelf, displacing Orson Scott Card in order to do so -- my shelves being long since so full that I operate a one in, one out system.

This is a full-fledged fantasy/alternate history novel, set in a quasi-19th-century social structure in which dragons of all breeds and sizes just happen to be a part of the animal kingdom like any other, from the tiny insect-like 'sparklings' to the wolf-drake that preys on famers' herds and the 'true dragons' only to be found in exotic parts abroad. It's also a story about a girl who wants to become a female scientist in a society where such an ambition is unheard-of; we know from the start that she eventually succeeds, since the entire book is written in the form of a memoir looking back on the follies of youth from the perspective of old age, but the means by which she manages to edge almost sidelong into the kind of studies she craves accords with the conventions and limitations of her world, which is a brave move on the author's part. It's a story about a female protagonist who achieves her dream, but not one where a modern teenager is implausibly transplanted into a period setting: Isabella doesn't run around in trousers firing guns (indeed, I saw one reviewer who complained that she was far too subservient to the men!), and for all her intellectual ambitions she takes many of the constrictions of her society for granted, which of course makes this feat of world-building all the more credible.

But the heroine has the outlook of a born scientist, and one of the joys of this book is the way that it depicts the fascination of natural history in the Darwinian era and the passion for discovery in the dawn of a new discipline. The dragons of Isabella's world are ordinary members of the animal kingdom, not magical quasi-deities or soul-bonded familiars, and they prey on humans and their herds without compunction: her devotion to them is an unsentimental appreciation of enthralling beasts for what they are, and a burning desire to know more.

The book also scores in its depiction of an unconventional but ultimately highly touching romance, which is glimpsed more or less between the cracks of the 'memoir' style: "I am a scientist, and not a poet. My feelings are as strong as any woman's, but I lack the words to express them". The progression is subtly and unobtrusively indicated without taking over the main plot of the book, which is both moving and appropriate to the spirit of detached recall with which it is written: by the end we really care about both characters.

It is made clear that this is the first novel in a series -- the narrator drops hints throughout as to subsequent significant events in the history of her world, such as the 'Aerial War' and of course many other expeditions in search of dragons -- and I'm definitely interested in seeing more. (There were in fact two volumes in the charity shop when I saw them: I wish I'd picked them up at the time!) It projects a convincing nineteenth-century mindset while establishing an independent-minded protagonist, it sketches in its alternate universe via tantalizing tid-bits of information from a narrator who takes it for granted that religious practices etc. are common knowledge, and it manages to portray a character with a genuine passion for science, even at the cost of her own safety, reputation and wellbeing -- a female Professor Challenger, if you like -- and to make this a sympathetic and engaging trait.

This is not a sword-and-fantasy adventure for people who like their dragons sentient, noble and magical -- and it's not a variation on the "Temeraire" stories, which are more Hornblower-with-dragons, though those are equally to be recommended. It's not a Young Adult adventure, and apparently it's not politically correct either (though I would have said that criticising Isabella for not being a feminist or anti-imperialist was not only anachronistic but rather missing the point that is being made about cultural presumptions). The author has made the most of her background in anthropology and archaeology, and of the memoir format that allows the older Lady Trent to comment ruefully on her younger self and her assumptions: it's a highly intelligent and very successful homage to an era of discovery that fascinated me as a child, but it's also drily witty, observant as to human frailties and filled with passages of thrilling adventure. (Also, spot the Jewish lore!)

Thoroughly recommended.