Scan barcode
A review by rubiscodisco
A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan
3.0
I would never have thought "19th century England, but with dragons" would be such a prolific subgenre of faux-historical fantasy fiction, but I have so far read three series with this or a similar premise: This present series, the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik, and The Rain Wild Chronicles by Robin Hobb. Given their similarities, however, I cannot review this book except as a comparison against the other two.
Admittedly, I like a little more magic in my fantasy than just dragons and nothing else, so on that score I am bound to favor The Rain Wild Chronicles over the other two. But my bias nonwithstanding, I feel like Marie Brennan falls short in the epic-ness of scale that I would like in her worldbuilding. While she did make a good attempt at it, it lacked a sense of mystery and depth that Robin Hobb pulled off. With Temeraire, Novik at least had the advantage of using real world nations and history, so the reader already has vivid associations to cultures and places referred to on the page.
The book wasn't bad at all though. Very light, if a little simplistic, and not without some interesting themes. The tension between class privilege versus male privilege, as symbolized by the rivalry between two important characters, was where the author was doing her best work.
All in all though, while this book was a nice enough read, there is such a ready comparison between better works that this one feels like a quaint, charming pencil sketch to Robin Hobb's vivid, leap-off-the-page watercolours.
Admittedly, I like a little more magic in my fantasy than just dragons and nothing else, so on that score I am bound to favor The Rain Wild Chronicles over the other two. But my bias nonwithstanding, I feel like Marie Brennan falls short in the epic-ness of scale that I would like in her worldbuilding. While she did make a good attempt at it, it lacked a sense of mystery and depth that Robin Hobb pulled off. With Temeraire, Novik at least had the advantage of using real world nations and history, so the reader already has vivid associations to cultures and places referred to on the page.
The book wasn't bad at all though. Very light, if a little simplistic, and not without some interesting themes. The tension between class privilege versus male privilege, as symbolized by the rivalry between two important characters, was where the author was doing her best work.
All in all though, while this book was a nice enough read, there is such a ready comparison between better works that this one feels like a quaint, charming pencil sketch to Robin Hobb's vivid, leap-off-the-page watercolours.