The Voyage of the Basilisk

January 12, 2015
Brennan’s third fictional memoir in the voice of controversial naturalist Lady Isabella Trent (after Tropic of Serpents), which describes a voyage designed to expand Isabella’s understanding of seagoing dragons, matches real-world Victorian scientific narratives almost too closely. Potential points of excitement, such as bribing officials, are given the same weight as making hotel arrangements, and Isabella’s true feelings for Tom (her expedition partner) and Suhail (an archaeologist) are veiled behind Victorian-era mores. The memoir finally humanizes Isabella after a storm shipwrecks her and Tom on Keonga, a thinly disguised Hawaii, and her emotions creep in, engaging the reader. Discoveries about the connections between dragons and humans mix with bone-punk technology, and revelations crash like waves in a satisfying conclusion. This is a good pick for lovers of Victorian fiction or those seeking a novel approach to dragons. Agent: Eddie Schneider, Jabberwocky Literary Agency.

January 15, 2015
Third in Brennan's fine natural-history fantasy series, set six years after the events detailed in The Tropic of Serpents (2014).This time, iconoclastic scientist Isabella, Lady Tren of Scirland, embarks on a two-year global voyage, hoping to determine the relationships among the endless varieties of dragon. Joining her aboard the research vessel Basilisk will be her commoner sidekick, Tom Wilker (here given little to do), her young son, Jake, and the vessel's captain, Dione Aekitinos, who, we're frequently reminded, is "mad," although he never does or says anything that remotely warrants such an epithet. As they approach the tropics, Jake joyfully takes to the seafaring life, though to Isabella's disappointment, he shows little interest in natural history. Also joining the expedition will be Suhail, an archaeologist whose theories-concerning an ancient, long-vanished civilization whose buildings, artifacts and script suggest they were dragon-tamers-neatly coincide with Isabella's interests. Their relationship rapidly develops beyond the professional. But politics are never far away, with the expansionist empire of Yelang a looming threat. Then, entering the Broken Sea, a dreadful storm hurls the Basilisk onto a reef, necessitating extensive repairs. The inhabitants of the local archipelago are none too pleased with this development, suspecting them of being allies of the Yelang. Worse, they regard Isabella's affinity for dragons and sea serpents as unnatural. This volume lacks the complexity and intensity of its predecessor but is nonetheless beautifully worked and thoroughly engrossing.Fans of this charming series won't be disappointed.

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March 15, 2015

Determined to expand knowledge of the various dragon species, Isabella Camhearst hires a ship to take her around the globe. Bringing along her son Jake and longtime colleague Tom, Isabella also meets a handsome foreign archaeologist who joins the crew for a time. Shocking reports back home may imply impropriety in her travel arrangements, but Isabella insists, even in her memoirs, that it was all about the science. When the Basilisk is shipwrecked in the Polynesianesque tropical island of Keonga, Isabella may finally get her breakthrough in dragon studies. VERDICT Dedicated naturalist Isabella, last seen in 2013's Tropic of Serpents, continues her memoirs of dragon hunting in a gently paced but always entertaining adventure. Fans of Patrick O'Brian's "Aubrey-Maturin" series protagonist, Stephen Maturin, will appreciate Isabella's devotion to her studies, and those who like the Victorian feel of steampunk might want to try this variation on the theme.

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