Dragons!

While I would really like to see a wider variety of mythical beasts (such as selkies, kelpies, banshees, and chimeras) in current fantasy novels, I must admit that I do love a good dragon tale. (See what I did there?) 

Here are three of my favorites!

1. A Natural History of Dragons, by Marie Brennan 

This really encompasses the whole series, which includes five books. I love them all. The books are presented as the memoirs of Lady Trent, a somewhat scandalous figure in her Victorian era-inspired fictional country. She has such a fresh, authentic voice (and you can take that to mean Lady Trent or Marie Brennan; I won't quibble). I especially love how realistic and detailed the fictional world is, and that we get to experience a different part of it in each book along with Isabella (Lady Trent).

The dragons in this series are just regular beasts, but there are many different varieties and there is some debate within the books about whether some species should actually be classified as dragons or as something else. I don't know why, that just delights me.

2. In His Majesty's Service, by Naomi Novik

This is yet another one where I really mean the whole series. I just finished the fifth book (out of ten) and have enjoyed every one of them so far! I very rarely get book crushes, but Will Laurence is definitely one of them. (The other two I can think of are from back when I was eleven or so, and they are Gilbert Blythe from the Anne books and Laurie from Little Women. Although when I got older, my Little Women crush became Dr. Bhaer.) Laurence is just so honorable, you've got to love him. He doesn't always make the choice I would have made, but he does his best.

In the world of this series (which is a fantasy alternate history set during the Napoleonic wars), the dragons can speak and are highly intelligent. This gives rise to some interesting questions such as, "Do they have souls?" 

3. Seraphina, by Rachel Hartman

I love the Seraphina books (and Tess's books!) because of the detailed fantasy culture, especially that of the Quigutl. Quigutl are somewhat draconic, but they can't shift into human form as true dragons do. Instead, they change sex several times over the course of their lives, and they are literally walking forges, creating ingenious and beautiful devices and trinkets out of spare bits of metal. The actual dragons read as autistic when they are in human form, which I find interesting because it really highlights that the dragons are not human. This differentiates it from the Temeraire series, because while the dragons in those books are perhaps a bit childlike in the way they express themselves, otherwise they could be human in their sensibilities and understanding.

I love Rachel Hartman's writing style and voice too! 

Finally ...

Honorable Mention: Dragon Rider, by Cornelia Funke

I read this a long time ago, so I don't remember it that well, but I do remember that I enjoyed it, and it's probably less well known than the other titles on this list. 

So those were some brief thoughts on a couple dragon-related series I've read (or am in the process of reading). If you have any other good dragon books that you don't see here, hit me up! I'm always up for a new dragon read. (Unless it's The Inheritance Cycle. Please don't recommend that to me.)

Talk to you next Wednesday!