A Natural History of Dragons

I went back and forth on this book. Half of it I dearly loved. Half of it made me want to punch characters in frustration. I'm settling on three stars has the happy medium of ratings system.

The parts I loved are basically any parts featuring dragons. Brennan takes a scientific approach to mythological beasts and I love everything thing about it. She takes the tropes associated with dragons and tweaks them just enough to create a new and interesting topic. I particularly love that dragons expel various substances from their mouths depending on breed and what would be sensible from an evolutionary perspective. The concept of Victorian Jane Goodall of the Dragons is intensely enjoyable for me, and for that alone the book deserves to be read.

The parts I don't like all pretty much deal with the humans. A lot of time in the book is devoted to a mystery that involves dragons only peripherally, and the humans in that drama are pretty obviously cast. The good guys are super-good and the bad guys are super-bad without much time to prove themselves otherwise. Also our heroine, while a neat concept, pretty much drove me crazy with her actions. The metaphor of “the dragon inside” this young, oppressed noblewoman is a bit too overdone for my taste. She's reckless and stupid and people die because of her recklessness. It's frustrating to a degree that knocks my love of the concept down. I'm hoping that as Isabella grows into the woman narrating, she grows out of her recklessness as well and I can stop wanting to punch her. I'm still interested enough to continue the series, but won't last long if the whole thing is going to be stupid people doing reckless things.

I'm honestly most worried that at the end she has a child. I'll bet Isabella becomes super-cautious and her reckless kid goes wandering into danger at every turn. It's going to be Carl, Stay in the Tent with dragons instead of zombies, isn't it? Please say it isn't. I so want it to be about the dragons...

So I'd still recommend it if you like your fantasy with a heavy dose of science. Also if you're a Jane Austen type fan. I think that's the audience to which Isabella is meant to appeal.