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#marie brennan
terapsina · 6 months
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#2 for the book worm ask game!
(ask game)
2. Favorite fantasy book(s).
(Eeeeexcellent, I do love fantasy books. Though how I'm gonna narrow it to only a few I've got no idea. Okay. I'm going to remove the very obvious choices like Lord of the Rings (though it is one of my faves)).
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Monstrous Regiment. I love the entire Discworld series (especially The Witches) but I've also got a huge soft spot in my heart for Terry Pratchett's take on 'a girl dresses like a boy to go to war' (and thinks of everything except some spare socks in- erm... the right place). Along with Polly, the squad consists of a vampire, a troll, an Igor, a religious fanatic and two very, very close "friends" (and yes, the official summary put the friends in quotes too). And everyone has their own secret.
I love basically everything about this book and I can't tell you guys any of it because it would spoil all the fun.
The Goblin Emperor. This one's a story filled with light. Maia the half goblin son of the elven Emperor was never supposed to take the throne (or to ever even be at court. because racism). And then everyone ahead of him dies in a single "accident" and suddenly he's the new Emperor. Maia is a good person, and a kind one, and despite everything that gets thrown at him he keeps hold of that understanding of right and wrong and refuses to bend.
(I have to mention that the language of the writing is kinda hard to get into in the beginning, and the characters's have very complicated and long names, but once you get into it it really did enhance the story for me).
Good Omens. An Angel and a Demon try to stop the apocalypse and instead lose the Antichrist. I've loved that book for like a decade now and if I don't put it on a list of my faves that list would be a lie.
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The King of Attolia. Third in The Queen's Thief series and my favorite one out of all of them. I've always enjoyed Outsider POV in fics. And here is a book that just... proves why. We've got Eugenides and Irene, the Thief and the Queen, and we know them from the two previous books. And adore them. But the story isn't from their POV, it's from the POV of Costis, a Queen's guard who's suddenly gotten assigned to the King. The useless, weak, undeserving king that as far as Costis is concerned doesn't deserve to even kiss the Queen's boots. And it's hilarious to read the story from the eyes of someone who knows so much less than us. And so satisfying, as he begins to understand.
(I recommend the whole series and am personally glad to have read them in the published order but Megan Whalen Turner has stated that she wrote them in a way that allows you to jump in at any point you want).
The Raven Tower. The story is from the viewpoint of a sentient, omniscient rock whose name is Strength and Patience of the Hill and it is the GREATEST THING EVER. The gods are real and must be very careful with their words, because if they speak a lie the reality will alter to make that lie the truth but if the lie is bigger than the power of the god... well. Inspired by Hamlet.
(the book also has a trans man as the main character; the other main character? The sentient rock is the narrator but the largest part of the story focuses on Eolo).
A Natural History of Dragons. The first book from The Memoirs of Lady Trent (and honestly it would probably be more honest to say that every single book from this series fits the category of fave but I'm putting up the first here because this isn't a series where you should skip ahead). The book focuses on the life of Isabella as narrated by her older self. This is the story how a Scirland lady bucked all tradition and became a world renowned expert on the Natural History of Dragons.
(this series has a piece of my heart and always will).
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(and finally, here's some more of my favorite fantasy books that I also adore and would totally ramble about but I got tired of typing).
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maddiesbookshelves · 3 months
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A Natural History of Dragons, by Marie Brennan
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The memoirs of Lady Trent narrate the life and research of Isabella Trent, world-renowned naturalist now an old woman, whose wit and humor are merciless towards imbeciles. In the first tome, Isabella, first as a young girl and then a young woman, challenges class and period conventions to satisfy her scientific curiosity and accompany her husband on an expedition in search for dragons in Vystrana...
I was scared that the memoirs format was going to be boring to read, but it was actually the best way to tell the life story of a woman who has lived so many adventures, I really liked it. The good thing about memoirs is that it allowed Isabella's personality to shine, especially her humor, and to have some hindsight on what happened. The teases about future events that she reveals later in the series really make you want to read what's next
Volume 1 introduces themes and ideas that I thought were fleshed out better later in the series, and what I considered as small flaws (a lot of things were repeated so many times I started thinking "yeah, okay, I get it") are way less prominent
As for Brennan's worldbuilding, it's deceptively simple at first glance (Victorian era but make it fantasy), but actually had so many details that make it extremely rich. Everything is inspired by countries/cultures from the real world, but Brennan mixed a lot of them and I thought it was really well executed. And the further along you get in the series, the more details sprinkled in the first 3 books come together to form the final picture. When I got to the end of book 4, I wanted to scream because of how delightful and well put together the reveals were
French version under the cut
Les mémoires de lady Trent racontent la vie et les recherches d'Isabelle Trent, naturaliste mondialement connue et désormais vieille dame, dont l'esprit et le style empreints d'humour s'avèrent sans pitié pour les imbéciles. Dans le premier volume, Isabelle, petite fille puis jeune femme, brave les conventions de sa classe et de son temps pour satisfaire sa curiosité scientifique et accompagner son mari lors d'une expédition à la recherche des dragons de Vystranie...
J'avais peur que le format des mémoires soit un peu ennuyant à lire, mais en fait c'était la meilleure façon de raconter la vie d’une femme qui a vécu autant d’aventures, j’ai beaucoup apprécié. L'avantage des mémoires c'est que ça permettait au personnage d'Isabelle de nous dévoiler sa personnalité, notamment son humour, et d'avoir du recul sur certains évènements. Les références à des évènements qu'elle nous dévoile plus tard dans la série donnait vraiment envie de lire la suite
Le tome 1 introduit des thèmes et des idées que j’ai trouvées mieux développées dans les tomes suivants, et ce que je considérais comme de petits défauts (pas mal de choses sont répétées de nombreuses fois donc au bout d’un moment je me disais "oui, c’est bon, j’ai compris") sont beaucoup moins présents
En ce qui concerne le monde créé par Brennan, il paraît relativement simple au premier abord (époque victorienne mais version fantasy), mais en réalité, énormément de détails le rendent extrêmement riche. Tout est inspiré de pays/cultures du monde réel, mais mélange pas mal de trucs et j’ai trouvé que c’était très bien fait. Et au plus on avance dans la série, au plus les détails disséminés dans les ~3 premiers tomes s'emboîtent et le tableau final se précise. Quand je suis arrivée à la fin du tome 4 j'avais envie de hurler tellement les révélations étaient croustillantes et bien amenées
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vote yes if you have finished the entire book.
vote no if you have not finished the entire book.
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teaearlgrayhot · 1 year
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if i had a nickel for every time i read a historical fantasy series about a world with dragons that followed a Georgian/Victorian era English protagonist where each book in the series focused on a different geographical part of the world and ultimately featured the protagonist struggling to follow their own code of honor against a global political conflict
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i’d have two nickels
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bookishfae · 4 months
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i understand isabella camherst bc i too would marry a man who had a library and shared my hyperfixation
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logictoinsanity · 1 month
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Isabella Camherst is the most autistic, aro ace bitch I've ever heard of, and while I will not be accepting questions at this time, I am only on the second book, so im open to growth and fluidity. she's 100% autistic and queer though, I'll fight u on that
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caribeandthebooks · 1 month
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Caribe's Fantasy TBR - Part 3
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wardingsong · 2 months
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WELCOME TO WARDING SONG!
Do you like books about dragons? Do you like books about pirates? Do you like books about both? Then do I have the book for you!
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‘A pirate’s daughter and a doubt-ridden dragon must team up to outrun the law, escape their would-be killers, and find a mysterious hoard of treasure. These islands are dangerous, even for a dragon.’
Me and my friend/co-author have been working on this since 2019/2020 and we are so proud of it! This is our first full length novel, and we hope it will be the start of a new fantasy series, which we are calling ‘Ocean of the Sky.’ If you’re a fan of book series like Marie Brennans ‘A Natural History of Dragons’ or Naomi Noviks ‘His Majesty’s Dragon’, we think you’ll love this new dragon filled series.
The ebook of Warding Song is due to launch on 22nd March 2024!
We have a website! https://www.oceanofthesky.com It’s got all of the lore and world-building we don’t go into detail about in the book, and whenever we develop the series, more details will be added to it!
We’re also on Substack! If you want to be amongst the first to get updates on the preludes or would like to comment and share them in places other than here on tumblr, consider subscribing for free at
https://oceanofthesky.substack.com
“I regret to inform you that despite apprehending the dragon-riding criminal…the dragon itself evaded capture. It attacked the fort in which the prisoner was being held. She escaped her bonds and reunited with the dragon. Their current whereabouts are unknown.”
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medic981 · 4 months
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Books with dragons...
I had a comment the other day in regards to books about dragons. And with BookTok and other social media being obsessed with another book about dragons, I wanted to share some other books with our favorite winged beasts. Here are some books (from my shelves) which feature dragons.
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Below, and my current read, is A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan. So far, it seems to feature a Victorian Era woman who desires to buck the system by following her dream to study dragons. So, if you wanted the protagonist of a Jane Austen novel to pursue dragons instead of suitors, this could be a good pick.
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Next up, we have a few books that are often in the spotlight due to their successful adaptations. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. While A Game of Thrones isn't heavily about dragons, they do become more prevalent as the series goes along. And I would be remiss if I didn't include the great and mighty Smaug from The Hobbit.
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And then there is Eragon by Christopher Paolini. The Inheritance Cycle is geared towards a younger audience and just saw book 5 release after a prolonged time since the release of book 4. Also, book 1 was recently released as an illustrated edition.
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I recently finished The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. While I didn't love the book, it did have some fascinating dragon lore. And I hear the prequel book, A Day of Fallen Night, is better than the first. The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter has long sat on my shelf, and I plan on reading it soon.
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Two very recent additions from the self-published realm... Of Fire and Blood by Ryan Cahill, and the whole The Bound and the Broken series, heavily deals in dragons. Also, Ascendant by Michael R. Miller and his Songs of Chaos trilogy. As a bonus, Miller also has another trilogy by the name of The Dragon's Blade.
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I hope you find this useful. I will end this with a quote from one of my favorite authors...
"Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisioned by the enemy, don't we consider it his duty to escape?. . .If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we're partisans of liberty, then it's our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!"
- J.R.R. Tolkien
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Here There Be Dragons
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I was thinking about dragons, and while a SHOCKING number of my dragony books are still in tubs in my Dad's basement in Alaska, I do have a few dragony books on my shelves at the moment and I wanted to share them, who their dragons are, and why I love them.
A Natural History of Dragons follows Isabella Camehurst (the future Lady Isabella Trent) as she works to build the field of draconic studies. The dragons here skew more animalistic than intelligent, but they're very cool, and the exploration of both the natural history of dragons and Isabella absolutely obliterating pseudo-Victorian gender roles in the name of science is extremely fun.
Heart of Stone features the draconic mob boss Janx, who fully has all the energy of "class clown who grew up to use his powers for evil" and simultaneously is himself a dragon. Between his phenomenal chemistry with Margrit and his on-again off-again tempestuous relationship with Daisani, Janx is never not fun.
Guards! Guards! features the absolutely darling Errol, who frankly is a miracle of nature and everyone's sad panda dragon. I get very Tad Cooper vibes from Errol, and between him and the great dragon summoned to eat Lady Sybil, the dragon shenanagins in this book are a solid 10/10. But then, it's Terry Pratchett, what else would we expect?
Ok, full disclosure: Calling on Dragons is the third book in the Dealings with Dragons quartet, but my copies of the first, second, and fourth books are in Alaska, so we are sneaking this one in. This particular book is lighter on the actual dragons than the first book, but Kazul just going full on Quincy P. Morris on a group of wizards never gets old, and Wrede's voice is, quite simply, incomparable.
Last but never, ever least (Naomi Novik has never written a bad book in her life and the JEALOUSY and ADMIRATION I feel are intense) is His Majsesty's Dragon. Temeraire, baby, you keep doing you and dragging Lawrence to the light side because you might be young and inexperienced but you're RIGHT. And just utterly charming. Not to mention the fact that his entire formation are a treat--I would hug on Maximus forever, we really need more gentle giant himbo dragons in the word (Maximus disagrees when he meets Kulingile, but we're just going to ignore that).
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somebogwitch · 10 months
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Natural History of Dragons Audiobook Review
Tiktok is all about fantasy with dragons in it right now and I love a band wagon (so long as that wagon contain a dragon)
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theravenlyn · 1 year
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thinking about how isabella was just ranting away to herself in the diving bell and suhail was like 'she's gonna want this written down for future reference' aND HE DID IT
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maddiesbookshelves · 3 months
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Fav books of 2023 (in no particular order and not including re-reads)
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vote YES if you have finished the entire book.
vote NO if you have not finished the entire book.
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Books of 2023: DRIFTWOOD by Marie Brennan.
This is another one I picked for the Driscoll Vibes, but make it Fantasy and turn the Melancholy Dial all the way up (instead of Most Of The Way Up, which is the setting for Driscoll): Driftwood is where worlds go to die in the wake of their own personal apocalypses. Featuring snow drifting through the woods from our cabin trip last weekend.
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readinthedarkpod · 11 months
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Kristen breaks the first cardinal rule of the podcast - she brings a vector cover book to discuss. Kaitlyn, on the other hand, talks about dragons. We still have a lot of fun! We also discuss how we pick our next reads, the solidity of contemporary romance plots, and play a game of "Two Truths and a Lie" Locked Tomb edition!
Books Discussed: Two Wrongs Make a Right by Chloe Liese A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan
Books Mentioned: Slow Burn by Kristen Ashley Tentacle Entanglement by Siggy Sade Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir The Wicked King by Holly Black Valiant by Holly Black The Book of Night by Holly Black Prince's Gambit by C.S. Pacat
you can follow the hosts at @adxmparriish @figonas @hazelsheartsworn @laequiem
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