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The Tropic Of Serpents (2014)

by Marie Brennan(Favorite Author)

3.95 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0765331977 (ISBN13: 9780765331977)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Tor Books

series

Memoir by Lady Trent

review 1: I enjoyed this second novel in the Lady Trent Memoirs. In this one, she goes on a second expedition to "Green Hell," a remote swampy jungle. While there, she is required to steal dragon eggs for a ruler, find the secrets to the jungle tribe's priesthood, communicate with hunter gatherers who have a culture completely different from hers, and, oh by the way, survive poison insects, swamp rot in wounds, yellow fever, falls from enormous trees, and giant cataracts of water. It's all in a day's work for Lady Trent, who delivers her memoirs with a slightly acidic tone directed both at herself and others, something I find quite enjoyable. This is a real treasure of a book...a book for a smart reader not afraid to do a little work to understand what's going on. Brennan's tone str... moreikes me as being very similar to older books, where authors weren't afraid the reader wouldn't understand if they didn't talk down to them in words of one or two syllables. Very nice!
review 2: If you liked the first one, this one is also for you. It reminds me of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and not because there are zombies. It is like someone took Lizzie and put her on a dragon safari rather than a horror movie. It is very much written as a Victorian period piece, so if you are not into that period of literature, you may become impatient with the style, but I enjoy it, especially with the addition of outrageous adventures in search of dragon knowledge. The only part I found somewhat tiresome is that rather than straight up making it an alternate history of our world if it had dragons, the author has made up fictional names for countries, cultures, etc. as if it were set in a different world althogether. I don't see what purpose is served by this, as it just makes the reader expend a little extra mental energy to figure out which real-world location or culture the story is approximating, after it so clearly begins by imitating the Victorian England setting. I think it is clear that the series will take Lady Trent around this entire world, and I will continue the journey with her. I am interested to see how much more daring her adventures can be. less

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