Marie Brennan: In the Labyrinth of Drakes
Jun. 13th, 2018 12:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bibliogrammaIn the Labyrinth of Drakes, the fourth novel in Marie Brennan’s series concerning naturalist Lady Trent and her life-long study of all things associated with dragons, takes her to the desert country of Akhia to study the mating of dragons and attempt to establish a breeding programme.
War is looming, and one if the keys to victory may well be an adequate source of dragonbone. The bones of these large, aerial creatures are known to be unusually light despite their strength, but they also decay quickly - but in recent years, a method has been found that enables the preservation of dragonbone. The Yelangese have been hunting dragons, collecting the bones, and building an air force - zeppelin-like aircraft with gondolas made of dragonbone. The Scirland Royal Army is determined to build their own air armada, but there are not large dragons native to Scirland. Instrad, they have negotiated permission from the sheikh of the Akhian tribe of the Aritat to hunt and capture the great desert drakes in his territory. If dragons can be bred in captivity, Scirland can have its own source if dragonbone, and its own air force.
Sexism being rampant in Lady Trent’s time, it is actually her associate Tom Wilker who was originally asked to head up the scientific aspect of the project, but his insistence that Isabella be part of the mission has landed them both in a situation that is both rich in opportunities for close observation of the mighty dragons, but also fraught with dangers due to the political instability between the Akhian tribes, and between urban and desert dwellers - an instability that the Yelangese, who do not want to see Scirland with access to unlimited numbers of dragons, are more than willing to exploit.
And, much to Isabella’s delight, she learns on her arrival in Akhia that her companion from the latter stages of her voyage in the Basilisk, the archaeologist Suhail, is the brother of the Aritat sheikh, and closely involved in assisting the Scirlanders with their mission.
As Isaballa and Tom carry out their observations of the mating and egg-hatching behaviours of the dragons, they are kidnapped by enemy tribesmen. An attempt is made to poison them, and a Yelanese agent sets fire to the headquarters of the programme in Akhia. Surviving all of this, with more than a little help from Suhail, they undertake a final exploration into the deepest desert, facing sandstorms and the killing heat of high summer in their search for knowledge.
And in the end, they find, not answers, but data that leads to greater questions, in true scientific fashion. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s as much the love of science in both Isabella and Tom, and in Suhail, who becomes an integral part of Isabella’s life during these events, as it is the heroic woman adventurer, that makes these books so engaging. I’ve marked these books as fantasy, but in a very real way, they are also deeply, delightfully science fictional.
War is looming, and one if the keys to victory may well be an adequate source of dragonbone. The bones of these large, aerial creatures are known to be unusually light despite their strength, but they also decay quickly - but in recent years, a method has been found that enables the preservation of dragonbone. The Yelangese have been hunting dragons, collecting the bones, and building an air force - zeppelin-like aircraft with gondolas made of dragonbone. The Scirland Royal Army is determined to build their own air armada, but there are not large dragons native to Scirland. Instrad, they have negotiated permission from the sheikh of the Akhian tribe of the Aritat to hunt and capture the great desert drakes in his territory. If dragons can be bred in captivity, Scirland can have its own source if dragonbone, and its own air force.
Sexism being rampant in Lady Trent’s time, it is actually her associate Tom Wilker who was originally asked to head up the scientific aspect of the project, but his insistence that Isabella be part of the mission has landed them both in a situation that is both rich in opportunities for close observation of the mighty dragons, but also fraught with dangers due to the political instability between the Akhian tribes, and between urban and desert dwellers - an instability that the Yelangese, who do not want to see Scirland with access to unlimited numbers of dragons, are more than willing to exploit.
And, much to Isabella’s delight, she learns on her arrival in Akhia that her companion from the latter stages of her voyage in the Basilisk, the archaeologist Suhail, is the brother of the Aritat sheikh, and closely involved in assisting the Scirlanders with their mission.
As Isaballa and Tom carry out their observations of the mating and egg-hatching behaviours of the dragons, they are kidnapped by enemy tribesmen. An attempt is made to poison them, and a Yelanese agent sets fire to the headquarters of the programme in Akhia. Surviving all of this, with more than a little help from Suhail, they undertake a final exploration into the deepest desert, facing sandstorms and the killing heat of high summer in their search for knowledge.
And in the end, they find, not answers, but data that leads to greater questions, in true scientific fashion. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s as much the love of science in both Isabella and Tom, and in Suhail, who becomes an integral part of Isabella’s life during these events, as it is the heroic woman adventurer, that makes these books so engaging. I’ve marked these books as fantasy, but in a very real way, they are also deeply, delightfully science fictional.