Igenlode Wordsmith

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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. ( Read more... )