My life in books

Tate Hallaway, Precinct 13

A somewhat more serious foray into urban fantasy than Hallaway's previous series, but still sparkling with the wit that marked her Garnet Lacey novels. The protagonist, Alex Connor, a recently elected coroner living in Pierre, South Dakota, soon learns that one of the local precincts doesn't exactly handle your run-of-the-mill crimes, and its cops and their methods are definietly not mundane. It's quite a turn-around for Alex, who's spent most of her life being labelled an psychologically unstable by her stepmother and various doctors because she can see thing most people can't. Suddenly, her differences are an asset. Plus, dragons. Well, one dragon, anyway. Hallaway (nom de urban fantasy plume of Lyda Morehouse) is currently serialising the sequel, Unjust Cause, here: http://www.wattpad.com/story/14069466-unjust-cause - so once you've read Precinct 13 and found out how much fun it is, go and support the sequel there. Please.



Marie Brennan, A Natural History of Dragons

Sometimes the blurb says it all:

All the world, from Scirland to the farthest reaches of Eriga, know Isabella, Lady Trent, to be the world's preeminent dragon naturalist. She is the remarkable woman who brought the study of dragons out of the misty shadows of myth and misunderstanding into the clear light of modern science. But before she became the illustrious figure we know today, there was a bookish young woman whose passion for learning, natural history, and, yes, dragons defied the stifling conventions of her day.

Here at last, in her own words, is the true story of a pioneering spirit who risked her reputation, her prospects, and her fragile flesh and bone to satisfy her scientific curiosity; of how she sought true love and happiness despite her lamentable eccentricities; and of her thrilling expedition to the perilous mountains of Vystrana, where she made the first of many historic discoveries that would change the world forever.

Yes, it's the story of an intrepid young wonan in a world somewhat like our own, ca. 1880 or so (i.e., the height t of Victoriana) who defies gender expectations to become a natural scientist and who specialises in the study of dragons. And it's delightful. Brennan has captured the voice of the period, and presents us with a compelling heroine, an alternative Earth-like world with similarities and differences to our own history (much like Naomi Novik's Temeraire novels), and dragons. I am entranced.



Hazard Adams, The Truth About Dragons: An Anti-Romance

I've read that this is an 'underground classic' - if so, it's deservedly so.

It's the 1970s, and Firedrake the dragon lives in the hills near Santa Barabara, guarding some very important secrets, gathering treasures, and observing the progress of humankind. Finding a cassette recorder, Firedrake embarks on a project - part diary, part record of musings about many years of observing humans, and part attempt to tell the truth about dragons, from a draconic perspective. Wise and witty, and well worth reading.