From the Bookshelf of The Sword and Laser…

A Natural History of Dragons (The Memoirs of Lady Trent, #1)

Marie Brennan

Start date: December 1, 2013

Finish date: December 31, 2013

Discussion: 2013 Reads

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2013 Reads

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What Members Thought

Feb 22, 2013 Brittany rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, dragon-books

Sometimes you love books you really shouldn't.

Or, no, it wasn't quite love. Not exactly. It's more like a hedonistic weekend with someone you know isn't good for you, but you also know it's just a fling, so it's kind of OK.

This book was like that. I should do a chart, but books I read while on vacation by some body of water, large wooded area, or hunk of rock tend to do better than if I'd read the same book somewhere else. Anywhere other than on vacation, this probably would have been a three-st ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Jun 23, 2014 Jlawrence rated it really liked it

In an alternate Victorian era where scientific expeditions set out to find and study those dangerous and mysterious animals called dragons, Isabella (Lady Trent), our narrator, grows up fascinated with the species and navigates around her society's resistance to an un-lady-like fascination with science and flying beasts to get herself on just such an expedition.

I wish there had been a bit more dragons and a bit less solve-the-mystery-of-the-village-our-protaganists-are-stuck-at, but Lady Trent i ...more

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Sep 07, 2015 Deirdre rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Probably closer to 3.5 than 4 but better than most 3 star books.

An alternative history in a land that closely resembles Britain (and why bother create a new pseudo-britain when you already have a perfectly good for purpose one there?) in the Victorian era. Lady Trent writes an autobiography of her time with science. Growing up in a time where girls didn't do science in any meaningful way, society stymies her natural curiousity and mental abilities. She fights against it until an unthinking mome ...more

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Feb 15, 2016 Emily rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

so, i have mixed feelings. i think i really liked it. but the end left me cold, even though i saw it coming from almost the beginning.

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Sep 03, 2017 travelgirlut rated it it was ok

I listened to the audiobook. The narrator wasn't my favorite, but was ok. I felt like the story was overly sentimental and sappy. I only finished it because it was the only audiobook I had at the time. I do wish I'd been able to see the illustrations in the print book. So, like the rating says, this was just ok, not bad, not great, just ok. ...more

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Jun 27, 2012 Michael Underwood rated it it was amazing

Shelves: speculative-fiction, my-friends-books, 2013-reads

Blurb: "Utterly charming, with a strong vein of proto-feminism, scientific curiosity, and realistic romance founded on intellectual pursuits." ...more

1 like · Like · see review