“We were all monsters and bastards, and we were all beautiful.”
(Cool quote, but doesn’t it sound a bit Lady Gagaish… or maybe Doctor Whoish?)
I don’t like talking animals. Don’t like them in books, movies and especially don’t like them in commercials. I’m ok with anthropomorphism is general – loved Tangled’s chameleon and Toothless in How to Train Your Dragon – I just don’t like it when they talk. It’s like it takes my suspension of disbelief too far.
It’s probably because of this that some of the dragon books I’ve read before didn’t quite do it for me, including Eragon of His Majesty’s Dragon. So I had my expectations in check when I let myself succumb to the book blogosphere’s love of Seraphina.
A bit of plot: an unstable peace exists between humans and dragons in the medieval kingdom of Gorred, where dragons walk the streets in human bodies, so as not to frighten people. Outlawing dragons’ natural form is one of the cornerstones of the peace treaty signed 50 years ago between the two races. But when a royal family member is murdered in a suspiciously draconian way just days before the treaty’s 50th anniversary celebration, Seraphina, a talented Court musician, must be careful to hide the truth about herself.
The story, which basically a whodunit, develops somewhat slowly, but that’s not a problem when there are so many interesting details to discover about Seraphina’s world, her past, her profession and her fellow courtiers. Everything about the worldbuilding is interesting, from the descriptions of the cobblestone-covered Medieval city, to the pieces of the history between dragons and humans and the well-thought-of religious beliefs (comparable to the detail George R.R. Martin puts into his ’s Seven/Old Gods system). Lots of stuff to further develop in upcoming books.
Add finely nuanced characters (a shout out to Orma, dragon scholar and Seraphina’s teacher), shapeshifting dragons fascinated by human art and a society balancing mistrust and infatuation and you have a winning combination.
(Spoiler alert, although for something that’s revealed pretty early on) I know most posts about this book focus on Seraphina dealing with her half-breed status, and indeed it’s all done in a very subtle and engaging way, (/mild spoilers) but for me the best part of the book was the dragons vs. humans dynamic. It often brought to mind Star Trek and the relationships between the rational and logical Vulcans (and even droids like Data) and the more flawed (is that the word?) Humans. There’s tension, but also a mutual fascination and need to understand and be understood that can be applied about many inter-human conflicts around the world today. Fascinating stuff!
A short note on the romance bit just to say it was very satisfying without overpowering the book or creating the ANGST that’s ruined so many YAs for me.
One of the best of 2012 and I gladly add my voice to the rest of the enthusiastic choir.
***
Other thoughts: things mean a lot, Stella Matutina, Magnificent Octopus, The Book Smugglers, Steph Su Reads, Wear the Old Coat, Charlotte’s Library, intoyourlungs, Books Without Any Pictures, The Readventurer, Anna Reads, The Book Swarm, Good Books & Good Wine, Book Sake, Beyond Books, Iris on Books (yours?)
The Sleepless Reader 
10 comments
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January 17, 2013 at 3:37 pm
April Books & Wine
I agree, the world building for Seraphina was meticulous but also utterly fascinating. I loved reading about the world Hartman created.
AND! I also really agree about the romance to say it was nice that it was not the pivot around which the entire book revolved. Great review!
January 17, 2013 at 4:34 pm
sakura
I’m dying to read this one as it sounds fantastic. The premise isn’t one I’ve come across before and there seems to be so much love out there for this book!
January 17, 2013 at 6:44 pm
Iris
Yay! So glad you loved it too! And, like you, I was facinated with the rational vs. emotional debate.
January 17, 2013 at 10:18 pm
Joanna @ CreateYourWorld
This is definitely on my list for this year!
January 18, 2013 at 10:38 am
readingwithtea
How To Train Your Dragon is such a great movie. I caught it on TV the other night about half way through… Glad to know you have good taste in films that are not based on Austen books… 🙂
January 18, 2013 at 11:29 am
Charlie
I’ve seen this around but not really read much about it. I like the concept of dragons as humans against a (faux) historical backdrop, I suppose history is usually used in fantasy, but the dragon part sounds almost futuristic. Glad it worked for you, it’s always nice to find a book that bucks the trend.
January 18, 2013 at 12:26 pm
Falaise
This is going to sound a little odd but the whole dragons assuming human forms thing reminds me of a book I read about 15 years ago whose central conceit was dinosaurs dressing as humans to avoid attention. It was called Anonymous Rex and was a hard-boiled noir-ish detective story. Great fun!
January 20, 2013 at 11:07 am
Ana @ things mean a lot
yay, I’m so glad you’re another convert 😀
January 20, 2013 at 4:13 pm
Jenny
I agree with everything you have said. I can’t wait for the sequel, but it’s not coming out for like TEN YEARS. (Or one year. I guess.)
January 23, 2013 at 4:05 am
Vasilly
I haven’t read this yet but I definitely will sometime this year. Glad to hear that Seraphina doesn’t have all the teenage angst that I hate reading about.