Warning - contains a thread of wit so dry it will cut the page that it's read from.

The story writing is an interesting blend of the Bronte sisters and the brothers Grimm. That isn't a criticism. There is also a vague flavour of steampunk around it. Just a hint, but enough to season the experience. I won't go into a critique of the story itself, other than to say that I really enjoyed it.

What elevated the story to the level of "I will listen for just five minutes more...no, another ten minutes...bugger, is that the time already?", was the impressive narration of Kate Reading. It will take a few minutes to get used to the irritating pomposity of the voice of the protagonist, but then you will discover that her voice actually changes, consistantly, to match the protagonist as she changes in age. She is so believable that I didn't even snigger at the voices she pulled for all the male characters. Consistency wins. What a professional!

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24 people found this helpful

Part of the book is missing

What disappointed you about A Natural History of Dragons?

Nothing wrong with it as a story, but part of chapter 3 is missing from the recording. Very weird

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21 people found this helpful

Loved this book.

Simply put; I loved this book.

I'm a huge Terry Pratchett fan, and somehow this book resonated with me in a Terry Pratchett way. Yet it's not at all like Sir Terry's books in that this is written as a serious fantasy piece. That said, if Lady Sybil Ramkin's Grandmother wrote a serious memoir cross anthropology book on Dragons, this could well be that book.

The author captures the essence of what we imagine Victorian England and their conquests of the World might have been like. The narrator carries that image through the way she uses her tone and inflection. Both merge to bring the story alive in a beautiful way. The engineering quality is also good with this audio download, which is nice as that is something that can be lacking on some downloads.

This is going to be a firm favourite of mine, and I have no trouble given it top marks all the way round.

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12 people found this helpful

Not to my taste

The story is written from the perspective of the author reading through and reviewing an earlier memoir, and although this style can work, it did not do so for me. I wanted to get lost in the story but instead was irritated by the constant 'interruptions' of the narrator (not Kate) passing on asides and thoughts.

I found Kate's reading generally ok but there are some words she speaks with a very strange emphasis. As a Brit I found this quite distracting. Perhaps to an American the manner of speaking is more normal.

The story was ok, but I found myself not feeling much desire to find out any more.

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8 people found this helpful

A good idea but a bit dull

I really loved the premise of this book and initially really enjoyed it. However, it soon began to drag and the quaint way is wooden soon began to grate. I'm afraid I couldn't finish it and that's very rare for me. Very disappointing.

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6 people found this helpful

Fantastically realistic fantasy

If you can preserve through the rather slow and tedious first few chapters(which do in fairness hold required back story) and make it to the main plot of the book, then you are in for a treat.

The author has mastered a very clever way of writing as lady Trent, totally engrossing you into this fictional characters life in a realistic way. There were times I had to remind myself this wasn’t a real memoir and dragons don’t exist!

The narrators performance is exceptional with a voice that perfectly suits the class and character of lady Trent.

A fantastic listen/read, highly recommend for a alternative dragon fantasy with a more low key , realistic and scientific feel.

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3 people found this helpful

Dragons everywhere.

A very good book, well written and well narrated. I now have 2 dragon series to follow. Anna McCaffrey's Pern and now Marie Brennan and her series about Isabella and her search for dragon knowledge. I look forward to reading others in the series.

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3 people found this helpful

Just could not get into it...

The narrator is just wrong for this book. Not bad per se, just not right for this. The narration matches the period setting of the story but is at odds with the more fantastical elements. It is also one of those unfortunate examples where a female reader attempts to imitate gruff male voices - rather than just reading it straight - and the outcome is jarring, making it hard to connect with the story. I persisted for several hours but never made the halfway mark.

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2 people found this helpful

Enjoyable adventure

I felt that the narrator match the characters wonderfully.
I will definitely be listening to the other books in this series.

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2 people found this helpful

Not the expected

In my opinion, too much narrative. The backbone is about dragons and the science is also there but the main story settles in humans and their conspiracies, looks like a policial/detective's story.

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2 people found this helpful