Voyage of the Basilisk

Voyage of the Basilisk (2015) Marie Brennan

The third installment of the Memoirs of Lady Trent finds Isabella on a ship with her son, his governess, and her friend Tom Wilker touring the world while continuing her research on dragons.

I found my quarters at first shockingly small, then acceptable, then unbearable, and finally as unworthy of comment as the water in which a fish swims.

On this tour she continues to make discoveries (including getting to dissect an arctic sea serpent).

I thought of the six criteria customarily used to distinguish “true dragons” from draconic creatures: quadrupedalism, flight-capable wings, a ruff or fan behind the skull, bones frangible after death, oviparity, and extraordinary breath.

Meets many people, both explorers and natives.

I have never attempted to hide that I have had two husbands in my life.

I have, however, neglected to mention that in between them, I had a wife.

And gets herself in and out of danger.

“You did not tell me there was any such danger!” I said to her— it may have been more of a shout.

She apologized for this lapse, though with an expression that suggested I should have had the brains to realize that the dead ground was not safe.

But most of all there is science and natural history in all their geeky gloriousness.

How did lower forms give rise to higher? Which ones were the lower forms, if the family included everything from sparklings to swamp-wyrms, fire-lizards to wolf-drakes? And if it did not include all those things, then where did the boundary belong?

It’s an utterly delightful story, and I remain entranced.

And I want to note that these remain some of the most gorgeous covers I’ve come across in recent years.

Publisher: Tor Books
Rating: 8.5/10

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