The tropic of serpents : a memoir by Lady Trent by

20 August 2016


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The memoirs of Lady Trent : book 2

Three years after her fateful journeys through the forbidding mountains of Vystrana, Mrs. Camherst defies family and convention to embark on an expedition to the war-torn continent of Eriga, home of such exotic draconian species as the grass-dwelling snakes of the savannah, arboreal tree snakes, and, most elusive of all, the legendary swamp-wyrms of the tropics.

It seems a very long time ago that I read A Natural History of Dragons, but it was only three years, less really. Which is no time at all, really. And yet there are four books out in this series already. That’s very impressive when you look at some other fantasy fiction authors1. I have another two sitting on my to be read pile on my desk, so hopefully I’ll get to them pretty soon. I think I will, because I really enjoyed this book. I just really like Brennan’s style of writing. In many ways it feels like a Georgette Heyer book. Only not really because it has dragons and Heyer certainly never had those, and Lady Trent goes far beyond what is socially acceptable in her quest to understand dragons than any Heyer heroine did in her quest for romance.

But still, it has that sort of upper-English-class feel to it, and yes I’m aware that Scirling is not England, but there are, let us say, some resemblances.

It’s just a lovely read. And I really enjoy the way that Lady Trent seems of her time and society (quasi-Victorian) and yet aware of the sexism, racism and all the other -isms that are out there. She isn’t as aware of them as the reader might be, but she is certainly waking up to the realities of her world and how wrong they are.

Also, there are dragons. Although maybe not so many as I was hoping for.


  1. ah, the years of waiting for WOT books 

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4 Responses

  1. Kailana says:

    I really enjoyed book 1. Must get back to this series. Glad this one was good!
    Kailana´s last blog post ..Week in Review – Week 33

    • Fence says:

      I’ve since read some other reviews by people who didn’t like it as much as the first. It is a bit more politicy and the dragons feature less. But then again these are the memoirs of a Natural Scientist, not books about dragons :)

  2. Richard R. says:

    An excellent series. I’m fully read up and awaiting the next one. You have happy reading ahead of you.