In the Labyrinth of Drakes: A Memoir by Lady Trent

In the Labyrinth of Drakes: A Memoir by Lady Trent (2016) Marie Brennan

The 4th book in Lady Trent’s memoirs finds her traveling with Will to Akhia to attempt to start a dragon breeding program.

(I suppose I should offer fair warning. Because this volume of my memoirs concerns itself with my research in Akhia, it will of necessity say more than a little about the mating habits of dragons and other creatures. Those whose sensibilities are too delicate to endure such frankness might well be advised to have a more stout-hearted friend read them a carefully expurgated version. Though I fear that edition might be rather short.)

As with the previous book, there is plenty of science and natural history.

It was not so dauntingly many as it might have been. After all, in the progress of any given egg, there is a long stretch of time wherein nothing much happens. I could skim quickly past Lord Tavenor’s meticulous daily notations of “no change” or weekly measurements, pausing only for the entries of greater substance.

And finally, she finds love again, in her second marriage.

Andrew let me squirm for a long moment. Then he said, “I should have guessed, when you asked me to carry that love note to him.”

My outraged squawk startled lizards back into the rocks. “It was not a love note!”

“From you? ‘A piece of research material’ is as good as a lock of your hair, tied up in a scented ribbon.” He laughed.

This is such a lovely series.

It doesn’t hesitate to look sharply at the struggles of being a woman in the sciences.

“Ah, yes,” I said ironically. “I have made myself exceptional. It is a wonderful game, is it not? Because I am exceptional, anything I achieve does not reflect on my sex, for of course I am not like them. Strange, though, how that division seems to vanish when we are speaking instead of my shortcomings. Then I am a woman, like any other.”

And general geekitude.

It is inevitable, I suppose, that one cannot unpack a box of books efficiently, at least not when the books belong to someone else; I was immediately diverted by looking through them.

Lovely!

Publisher: Tor Books
Rating: 8.5/10

• Browse the archives:
  
• One Corpse Too Many » »
• « « River Marked, Audio Edition