Marie Brennan, author of the Lady Trent series that began with A Natural History of Dragons, is on tour promoting her latest book, In the Labyrinth of Drakes.
The fourth and penultimate book in this amazing series, In the Labyrinth of Drakes details the adventures of famed Dragon Naturalist Lady Trent while studying the desert drakes of Akhia.
Her event at Powell’s Books on Monday, April 11th was certainly a treat for fans.
Marie Brennan, sweeping in wearing a Victorian-style dress, kicked off the event with a popular vote about her reading.
The choices were either an excerpt from the final book (due out next year) or a recently-published Lady Trent short story.
A "spoiler-free" scene gets to be very difficult once you get to the fifth book, so we will hear a #LadyTrent short story. #powellsevents
— GeekyLibrary (@GeekyLibrary) April 12, 2016
I was vastly outvoted, which in retrospect, was a good thing.
Brennan fell into a aristocratic British accent to read “From the Editorial Page of the Falchester Weekly Review” (available to read on Tor.com).
The story, which plays out in editorial letters published within the pages of a magazine, details a conversation between her and a Mr. Talbot. While not wanting to give away any spoilers, I will say that it was exceedingly amusing read out loud, especially with Brennan’s performance perfectly capturing the stuffy, condescending voice of Mr. Talbot.
Brennan brought dragon artifacts to share in the same manner a naturalist like Lady Trent would while giving a scientific lecture.
Although we have until next spring the final Lady Trent book, Marie Brennan has a new novella, Cold-Forged Flame, coming out this fall. However, Brennan cautions fans of Lady Trent that the novella is vastly different in tone. In fact, she calls the main character an “angry, pessimistic amnesiac” who it turns out is based on her LARP (live-action role playing) character.
This followed right on the heels of the revelation that A Natural History of Dragons was partly inspired by a Dungeons and Dragons compendium, featuring artwork by Todd Lockwood (who would later illustrate the novels) and all sorts of biological information on dragons, from life cycle to skeletal system.
It may come as no surprise to hear that I love this series, but let me just say I have a new geeky appreciation for this author.
Want to catch her on her latest tour? Check her scheduled public appearances on her website.
Kallen Kentner ·
