Tooth and Claw

This is literally a Jane Austen novel -- with a cast of characters who are all dragons. This is not done for whimsy -- it's not a whimsical book.I had the feeling that Walton may have been pondering the rigid code of the English upper classes that Austen's world wears like a corset, and have had the sudden flash of inspiration that it would make more sense if the species living by it were not human.Imagine a society where a young woman's "purity" was the prime requirement for respectability, and therefore young women are sheltered and cloistered and hedged about with restrictions -- and now imagine that a maiden's loss of purity is a matter of emotions, not physicality, a biochemical process that shows up in a dramatic change to the color of her skin.Imagine a society where male aggression is carefully channeled into legal forms, but treated as inevitable -- and now imagine that males are actually carnivorous predators built for lethal combat. Imagine a society where the greatest desire of a man's life is to leave his children and estate well-provided for -- and now imagine a society where sleep and healing are dramatically improved by sleeping upon gold, where the only way for a member of society to grow into their full size and strength is by consuming the flesh of other members of society, and where droit de seigneur is not ravishing maidens, but culling and eating the weak of one's demesne. Inheritance and greed suddenly take on a whole new meaning!Walton has produced such an impeccable dragon justification, such a perfect dragon fit, for the norms of Regency society, it's almost as if the human version of them had been blindly copied from dragons. If you enjoy Austen and the more substantial Regency novels, if you enjoy dragons, or steampunk, or just good SF world-building... you'll enjoy this unforgettable novel.

Jo Walton has written what is essentially an Anthony Trollope novel populated with dragons! This is really great. Highly recommended. My daughter told me I would love this book, and she was right, although she described it as Jane Austen with dragons, her familiarity with nineteenth century English novels is limited. Definitely Anthony Trollope and not Jane Austen. There is more social criticism in this novel of manners than Jane Austen would have written, this is Victorian, post Dickens, with social justice themes but with less melodrama than Dickens and without the wild emotions of any of the Brontes or Hardy. l loved Jo Walton's My Real Children. This is less devastating, and more fun. I need to read more of her work.

I was absolutely delighted with this book. Right away you start with a familiar touchstone, a deathbed, and a family assembled to grieve. Then that frame gets twisted as you discover these are dragons. The story continually uses this push and pull of fantasy and the well known. There are proposals, haughty nobles, concerns of respectability, social mores, schemes and lawyers but they all have a draconic twist. To me this all has the ring of Downton Abbey but a more educated person would pull from Victorian English literature, I'm sure.I enjoyed every moment of my journey through this land. If you like Downton Abbey, dragons or Jane Austen then you may like this as well.

It's rare that a writer has the foresight and skill to take a seemingly outlandish premise — an aristocratic society of dragons reminiscent of mid/late 19th century, in this case — and follow its logic and implications to their full extent.Walton does just that, filtering our own societal structures and conventions (and problems plaguing them) through a fantastic lens, so as to examine them with greater clarity.She explores the predatory nature of hierarchies, women's liberation, rape culture, familial dynamics, capitalism and exploitation — all under the guise of "what if society but everyone is a dragon."Despite not shying away from hard hitting topics, this is an awfully cozy book. The main characters are lovely and sympathetic, the central conflict is cleverly set up and exquisitely developed through the plot, and the narrator voice is kindly and witty and likeable.Definitely my favorite book with/about dragons.

Borrow characters and situations from Austen, Dickens, Trollope and Heyer, add a few plot points from the books you used to read as a kid (e.g. finding a treasure in a cave after a picnic, something the Famous Five could have done). Turn your protagonists into dragons, imagine a few details that make their world different from a human one (they sleep on gold, females turn pink when in love and lose their maidenly gold, dragons need to eat dragon flesh or remain stunted.) Now write in a style accessible to the less discerning : for example, if you want the reader to understand X is amazed, do not write "It's amazing ! X said," but rather "It's amazing, X said, amazed", and Bingo! you have a novel.

If your reading tastes run to Trollope, Austen, Dickens, and Tolkien, you will probably savor this book as I did. Imagine a world of prim Victorian maidens, avaricious relatives, lost heirs, and the pressures of money. Then make all the main characters dragons! The death of old Bon Agornin sets all the actions of the plot into action. Who will rescue Haner and Selendra by marrying them? Will the Lady Catherine de Bourgh of the novel keep her son from happiness? And what sorts of hats will the female dragons wear to the parties?This novel is obviously derivative, but "counter books" are all the rage just now. And it's fun, funny, and thought-provoking. If dragons were sentient and had to co-exist with humans (Yarges), what would the world look like? What if a maiden had to marry as soon as she brushed up against a male dragon and turned pink? Yikes!While Jo Walton's other novels don't suit my tastes, this one was more than enjoyable.

This is unlike anything I've ever read in fantasy.If Jane Austen, or maybe Charles Dickens, felt the sudden urge to write a fantasy book about dragons, this is probably what they would have written.It has everything: daughters who need to marry, a lost inheritance, etiquette, romance, a greedy family member, a confession, and charming characters. Only...they're all dragons. And they also eat each other.If any of that sounds at all intriguing to you, please pick this up. It's short, charming, witty and heartwarming.Jo Walton takes dragon lore and mythology and makes it work with the customs in Victorian society. The world building is delightful. The characters are charming. The society is, frankly, amusing. We've got lords and ladies, only they're all dragons (did I mention everyone in this book is a dragon? But they sit at tables, drink tea and travel in carriages. Just making sure, I definitely mentioned that.) and they all attempt to thrive in society either via their profession or the partner they choose to marry. They go to church, they have servants, oh and, they eat the weak and the ill to better their race. Dragon meat helps smaller dragons grow, only to eat, you must already be big and strong...and please don't forget to wear the proper hat.I've enjoyed this read a lot and recommend it to fans of the Classics just as much as I recommend it to fantasy fans.

As another reviewer has said, this book is hard to categorise. As it is about another world and about dragons, I guess that makes it fantasy, but the story is about the characters and the society they live in rather than the more usual, epic themes - and it is all the more enjoyable for that. (Come to think of it - even in more epic fantasy novels, the things that usually hook me are characters and well-thought out details about their culture and history...) I particularly liked how some aspects of this world and its history only became clearer are the book progressed.If you're into gritty battle scenes, convoluted storylines and/or elaborate systems of magic, this probably isn't for you, but if you like being immersed in another - often oddly familiar - reality, caring about the people (OK, dragons) you are reading about and seeing various strands of the storyline weaving nicely together, then this is a wee gem. My only complaint is that it is too short - I want to hear more about how the characters get on. I would particularly relish more focus on some of the themes - such as class, religion, or the Yarge - that are touched upon in this (hopefully, first) book.

I have read my fair share of books about dragons and maybe my not so fair share of Austen and the like, but never one quite like this. The book is a brilliant combination of styles and the quite unexpected transposition of dragons into the main characters of an essentially Victorian society that has been at war with humans in the past. Well written and witty, it takes us from an eldest son calmly discussing with his father, who is on his deathbed, who should eat the biggest share of him when he passes away, to kidnapping, dragons riding trains in preference to flying, and wearing wiggs when appearing in court, and all points in between.A little slow in its opening phase perhaps, otherwise I found it an excellent read. Thoroughly recommended.

Ok, so curiosity about this book got me reading it... and I enjoyed it - a wierd blend of gothic romantic drama & dragons! It reads like a Victorian novel, then it drops in a description of a Dragon's latest bonnet... or conversation around a dining table... and you suddenly remember on how ridiculous it must look, or how enormous the dining room & table must be!Worth a try, for curiosity factor as much as anything... I'd read another one though, I didn't think I was going to stick with it, but by the end, would like to see a follow up :-)

I liked this book, though it was really dark in parts and I wasn't expecting that. Also, while the writing is similar to Austen in tone, the plot is actually closer to Dickens' books with the legal drama involved.