Voyage of the Basilisk
The Memoirs of Lady Trent, book 3
by Marie Brennan
Six years after her adventures in Eriga, Isabella sets sail on a two year expedition to study a wide variety of dragons.
I wanted more dragons after the last book, and we get them in this one. The book picks up six years after the last one, Isabella’s grown up a bit and her son Jake isn’t a baby anymore. Embarking on a ship around the world to visit a number of places and the varieties of dragons inhabiting them, this story includes a lot of locations, cultures, environments, and creatures. It felt more like an adventure because things were always on the move, a lot kept happening, and the narration style results in some of things happening rather rapidly.
I think a common problem within these books is the pacing. The majority of the book is rather slice-of-life, interesting but not too exciting, enjoyable if you like the main character. Then, as the ending gets closer, things pick up quite a lot and come together rather quickly. In this instance, because we covered so much ground throughout the novel, it wasn’t always clear where exactly Isabella was, or when in the long timeline we were. Because of this, the ending didn’t feel as satisfying and the overall story didn’t feel especially cohesive.
That being said, I do like Isabella as our main character. I like the slower parts of telling us the plans for the expeditions, the culture shock of a prim and proper lady arriving literally anywhere else in the world. It was great to have Jake finally present in the story and see how drastically their relationship has changed as he’s grown.
If you liked the previous two books in this series, chances are you’ll enjoy this one too.
<3D
LessthanThreeD 