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kilroyPrint date: 2006 (20s: 1, 50s: 1, 60s: 2, 70s: 6, 80s: 5, 90s: 3, 00s: 10)
I pulled this one because I wasn't in the mood to go through bad books this time. It's been on my radar for quite a while; the author is the friend of a friend, so I knew about it well before Tycho put in his two cents. And more than a few people have told me how good it is, so here we are.
This is the kind of story I can imagine staying up with my kids and reading before bed. At heart it's an adventure hewing to a pretty simple formula: take a gentleman officer's Napoleonic war story and add dragons. There's action and spectacle, humor and high manners, bravery and treachery. I blew through the entire book in about two days; not because I felt obligated to turn the next page to find out what happens next, but because it's just so easy to turn to the next page. This is one of the most accessible books I've seen since Harry Potter.
But let's talk about some of the flourishes. To get the obvious one out of the way, the dragons are actually fully integrated into the world. They're amazing on their own merits, but at the same time they need bandages, they grouse, they're messy eaters, and the relationship between them and humans is functional but complicated. In short, they're realistic. They fit as part of the larger world as opposed to constantly giving the feeling that they're intruding.
The characterization is generally both brave and excellent. It defies convention in subtle ways but still makes total sense within the story. The most obvious example is the relationship between the main character and his dragon; there's a strong homoerotic undertone that would probably make most mainstream writers quail but really, really works here. The rest of the book is like that. The characters, particularly the women, always do things that make sense for their situation even if it's not how the story usually goes.
And of course the period detail is immersive. The metaphor that springs to mind is a carpentry one; it feels like the author has really taken the time to screw down every board and make it fast. You can run your hand along the sides and never hit a bump. It's a vivid, bright, and well-polished setting.
If the book has any failing, it's that it feels like the set-up rather than the pay-off-- which of course it is. Had the author not gone on to write more in the series I'd feel a little disappointed, but as it is I consider this to be the overture before the symphony really begins.
Verdict: Keep. (17.5/50 keepers)
Page count: 353 (10142 total (yay, broke 10000!))
Completed: 28 (14 female authors, 14 male authors)
Rejected: 22 (12 male authors, 10 female authors)
Next book due: 9/21
I pulled this one because I wasn't in the mood to go through bad books this time. It's been on my radar for quite a while; the author is the friend of a friend, so I knew about it well before Tycho put in his two cents. And more than a few people have told me how good it is, so here we are.
This is the kind of story I can imagine staying up with my kids and reading before bed. At heart it's an adventure hewing to a pretty simple formula: take a gentleman officer's Napoleonic war story and add dragons. There's action and spectacle, humor and high manners, bravery and treachery. I blew through the entire book in about two days; not because I felt obligated to turn the next page to find out what happens next, but because it's just so easy to turn to the next page. This is one of the most accessible books I've seen since Harry Potter.
But let's talk about some of the flourishes. To get the obvious one out of the way, the dragons are actually fully integrated into the world. They're amazing on their own merits, but at the same time they need bandages, they grouse, they're messy eaters, and the relationship between them and humans is functional but complicated. In short, they're realistic. They fit as part of the larger world as opposed to constantly giving the feeling that they're intruding.
The characterization is generally both brave and excellent. It defies convention in subtle ways but still makes total sense within the story. The most obvious example is the relationship between the main character and his dragon; there's a strong homoerotic undertone that would probably make most mainstream writers quail but really, really works here. The rest of the book is like that. The characters, particularly the women, always do things that make sense for their situation even if it's not how the story usually goes.
And of course the period detail is immersive. The metaphor that springs to mind is a carpentry one; it feels like the author has really taken the time to screw down every board and make it fast. You can run your hand along the sides and never hit a bump. It's a vivid, bright, and well-polished setting.
If the book has any failing, it's that it feels like the set-up rather than the pay-off-- which of course it is. Had the author not gone on to write more in the series I'd feel a little disappointed, but as it is I consider this to be the overture before the symphony really begins.
Verdict: Keep. (17.5/50 keepers)
Page count: 353 (10142 total (yay, broke 10000!))
Completed: 28 (14 female authors, 14 male authors)
Rejected: 22 (12 male authors, 10 female authors)
Next book due: 9/21