I like reading fake history novels. I love ‘natural history’ or biology as we would call it. And I would like to point out that while the title suggests this is very much a fantasy novel, this is way more a historical novel which happens to focus on describing dragons in a scientific way.
Lady Trent writes her memoirs and in this first volume, she is quite young. However she has a passion that she would love to pursue and preferably make a career out – it just happens to be the Natural History of Dragons. This being a historical fiction (setting feels rather Victorian to me, although the countries are made up) she struggles more with her gender while trying to achieve this goal than with the actual dragons.
I thought this was a very interesting first novel. It was a bit slow in places but after a while I had a hard time putting it down. Lady Trent, during the novel, alludes to events I am sure will be covered by the later books in the series, and I am rather curious to read those as well. Finally, that ending! I didn’t see that coming at all!
A Natural History of Dragons (The memoirs of Lady Trent #1) – Marie Brennan
Url Phantomhive 
This is such an odd series – I struggled with the first book, but all of the sequels were fantastic. You’re right to point out that she’s really young in the first book and that may explain some of the attitudes that I struggled with in this one.
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It is good to hear the sequels are great. I have a copy of the Tropic of Serpents but still need to get the rest. (Somehow it didn’t make it in the Little Bit More challenge but still hope to read it this year – I’m done starting series and then waiting years to continue with it)
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