#jacob camherst

[bookishfae]

i understand isabella camherst bc i too would marry a man who had a library and shared my hyperfixation

[derangedpracticality]

I love the way Marie Brennan writes romantic relationships in these books. I'm re-reading book 1 right now and thus thinking specifically about Isabella and Jacob.

There's this quote about friendship/relationships, originally by Albert Camus, which says (paraphrased and translated) "Don't walk in front of me, perhaps I won't follow you. Don't walk behind me, perhaps I won't guide you. Walk beside me and be my friend." It's been my favourite quote about love for years, and it's such a delight to see these characters inhabit the sentiment expressed by these words.

Yes, they walk side by side, and share a vision, and they are friends and partners in the best sense of the word! I enjoy this way of writing relationships so much.

At one point, after the cleansing ritual, when Isabella and Jacob are in Drustanev without Hilford and Tom, she thinks about how unlike her and Jacob's relationship is from everything she was taught to expect from love and marriage, but how real and present it feels. I love that part. This is not only my favourite kind of fictional relationship dynamic, it's also what feels the most real and emotionally raw to me, personally. I relate to it a lot, and it's unexpectedly refreshing and relaxing, even soothing, to see it depicted in a story.

[bookwyrminspiration]

Jacob: *is stabbed in the gut in the middle of nowhere*

Me: haha, there’s no way he can survive that!

Jacob: *doesn’t survive that*

Me:

[sharry-arry-odd]

He regarded me with a bemused expression. "You want me for my /library/." Put so baldly, it sounded ridiculous. "Oh dear–I don't mean to insult you–" This time his laugh was more full-bodied. "It's the strangest insult I've ever suffered, if indeed I would give it that name. So Edgeworth, then–"

A Natural History of Dragons, by Marie Brennan

[hermitknut]

A Lady Trent Glossary: Book 1

Being for my little Lady Trent book group, and anyone else who finds it useful. This is carefully written to apply to book one without revealing anything about the later books. Subject to updates as we progress through book one.

CHARACTERS

Isabella: Our protagonist, her maiden name being Hendemore, her married name being Camherst.

Andrew Hendemore: The only one of her brothers relevant to the story, her supplier of dragon books.

Jacob Camherst: Isabella's husband, the second son of a baronet.

Amanda Lewis: Isabella's childhood friend, who helped orchestrate the boy disguise plan.

Jim: Stableboy who helped with the boy disguise/ wolf drake plan

Natalie Oscott: Granddaughter of Lord Hilford, nice young lady.

Maxwell Oscott / Earl of Hilford / Lord Hilford: Natalie's grandfather; typically referred to as Lord Hilford. Money behind the expedition to Vystrana.

Mr Tom Wilker: Lord Hilford's assistant and protégé. Working class.

Dagmira: Isabella’s maid in Drustanev.

Iljish: Servant to the men of the expedition in Drustanev.

Relesku: Servant to the men of the expedition in Drustanev.

Astimir: A young man who lives in Drustanev.

Reveka: A young woman who lives in Drustanev.

Menkem Goen: Local religious leader in Drustanev.

Urjash Mazhustin: Mayor of Drustanev.

Jindrik Gritelkin: Lord Hilford’s local contact in Drustanev, who is missing when they arrive.

Chatzkel: A smuggler.

Iosif Abramovich Khirzoff: the boyar responsible for the area containing Drustanev.

Rossi: A man who works for the boyar.

Ledinsky: A man who works for the boyar. 

LOCATIONS

Chiavora: Country which borders Vystrana, which the expedition travels through to get to Vystrana.

Scirland: Basically fantasy!England. The capital is Falchester; Isabella grew up in the Tam River Valley in Tamshire. 

Vystrana: The destination of Lord Hilford’s expedition. Specifically, the expedition travels to the village of Drustanev.

DRAGONS/DRAGON-LIKE CREATURES

Akhian Desert Drake: The gold dragon in the King’s Menagerie is one of these. 

Moulish Swamp-Wyrm: The green dragon in the King’s Menagerie is one of these. Very ugly, it breathes out a noxious fume.

Sparkling: Isabella’s inspiration, they were initially thought of as insects. About the size of your hand, they can breathe sparks as some kind of mating display.

Vystrani Rock-Wyrm: The albino in the King’s Menagerie is one of these. These are also the type of dragons that Lord Hilford’s expedition is investigating in Vystrana. They breathe ice rather than fire.

MISCELLANIOUS

Sir Richard Edgeworth’s A Natural History of Dragons: Much beloved book of Isabella’s. 

Draconeans: An ancient people who worshipped half-dragon gods. Little is known about them.

Zhagrit Mat: A mythological figure, a king who became part-dragon and very evil.

[biblioshark]

Book Review *Spoilers*:

Title: A Natural History of Dragons a Memoir by Lady Trent

Author: Marie Brennan

Star Rating:

Synopsis: All the world, from Scirland to the farthest reaches of Eriga, know Isabella, Lady Trent, to be the world's preeminent dragon naturalist. She is the remarkable woman who brought the study of dragons out of the misty shadows of myth and misunderstanding into the clear light of modern science. But before she became the illustrious figure we know today, there was a bookish young woman whose passion for learning, natural history, and, yes, dragons defied the stifling conventions of her day.

Here at last, in her own words, is the true story of a pioneering spirit who risked her reputation, her prospects, and her fragile flesh and bone to satisfy her scientific curiosity; of how she sought true love and happiness despite her lamentable eccentricities; and of her thrilling expedition to the perilous mountains of Vystrana, where she made the first of many historic discoveries that would change the world forever.

Review: I am pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I usually do not like books written in this style or era but Mrs. Camherst aka Lady Trent is such an interesting character and the storyline kept my attention throughout the book. There were a lot of things I liked about this book such as the world building, dragons, characters, and wittiness and then some things that I did not like such as I felt there were not enough dragons. I am also extremely mad that Jacob died because he was so sweet and caring about his wife and it was so refreshing seeing a male character from that era that was allowing his wife to be herself and not force her into societies norms. All in all this was a very enjoyable read and I have ordered the rest of the series to continue!

[dragon-discourse]

A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir By Lady Trent

For Lady Trent Month I intend to re-read, and then review, every book. And where better to start than with the first one?

Spoilers below, you have been warned.

SYNOPSIS

As the subtitle suggests the story is a memoir from Isabella Camherst, the titular Lady Trent. In this volume, she details her first expedition into the study of dragons, taking her to the mountains of Vystrana to study their dragons, the Rock-Wyrms.

THE PLOT

As stated before, the book is a memoir, so it has that element of writing going for it. The story will pause momentarily while the elder Trent spends a page or two discussing something, such as a reference to another book she wrote, or to mock something her younger self had done.

While the bulk of the story is centered around the Vystrana Expedition, that does not occur until Part Two, nearly a hundred pages in. Before that the book goes over her childhood, introducing us to her childhood passion for dragons and such, and then her meeting her husband Jacob. This all serves as an introduction to Isabella as a whole, so that we may understand the woman we are to be following.

When we get to Vystrana, the book focuses both on the mundane day to day of their lives, as well as the nature of their research, with pages set aside to discuss the details of their research. This is a feature that will continue through the series, and it serves to make the books feel both like the memoirs they are as well as a scientific text in their own right.

Trouble starts to emerge, for the dragons are attacking people when they shouldn’t be, and there’s a little issue about a demon, but I’ll leave you to read about it for yourselves.

THE CHARACTERS

Isabella is the main character, obviously, but because of the writing style it is almost as though we have two different versions of her. We have her in the past, engaging in the actions as they happen, and we have the narrator, who has the benefit of hindsight. Additionally, since the narrator is now an elderly woman of high acclaim, you get that sort of dry wit that only very elderly women can obtain.

Jacob is the second character of note, being Isabella’s husband, and damn do I love him. In a world where women aren’t expected to pursue scholarly pursuits Jacob supports Isabella fully, even if the expedition is dangerous and improper. He cares more about her happiness than what others may say. In fact, her scholarly nature is the reason he proposes to her in the first place. As he puts it “you are not the first young lady to set her cap for me. But I do believe you are the first one to do so, not because of my wealth, but because of my hobby.”

Thomas Wilker and Lord Hilford join them on the expedition, technically speaking it is Lord Hilford’s. Lord Hilford does not get too much notable screen time to himself, but he is a sort of gruff yet agreeable elderly fellow, who was plenty happy to bring Isabella along, valuing her passion for knowledge above her sex.

Tom and Isabella butt heads quite a bit, with him being jealous of her rank, and her jealous of his sex, but I will discuss him more in later reviews. He becomes a bit of a regular, and a close colleague and friend.

There are minor characters here and there, with them all feeling plenty fleshed out for what they are given. Some will return, some won’t, but they all feel like real people with lives.

THE SETTING

I am going to mention this briefly, and only here, but the setting of this book, and all the ones to follow, are amazing. The author is an anthropologist, and brings real world culture into her books.

THE DRAGONS

The first book isn’t as dragon heavy as later ones, later books will have dragon lore aplenty, but what we do get is rather wonderful. The Rock-Wyrms are the focus of the book, with the bulk of the research and information being about them, but early on there are mentions of Sparklings, small dragon-like creatures believed to be insects, and the Wolf Drake, a flightless predator which, allegedly, prefers female prey.

These books do use the True Dragon concept, but more on that later. The books go an interesting direction with it.

COMPLAINTS

This may sound odd, given how much I gush about this series, but when I first read this book I was sort of meh towards it. I think this is because it came out when I was feeling sort of jaded towards dragon media as a whole, with how it’s usually human focused instead of dragon focused.

But then the second book came out, and I liked it, and when the third book came out I loved it. So when the fourth one came out, and I re-read all four for the first time, I found the first book to be far better than I remembered.

So I’ll say this. My one complaint is that this A Natural History of Dragons is to The Voyage of the Basilisk what A New Hope is to The Empire Strikes Back.

[dork-empress]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Memoirs of Lady Trent - Marie Brennan Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tom Wilker/Andrew Hendemore, Tom Wilker/Jacob Camherst (unrequited), Isabella Camherst/Suhail ibn Ramiz ibn Khalis al-Aritati, Isabella Camherst/Jacob Camherst, Isabella Camherst & Thomas Wilker Characters: Tom Wilker, Isabella Camherst, Jacob Camherst, Suhail ibn Ramiz ibn Khalis al-Aritati, Andrew Hendemore, Natalie Oscott Additional Tags: Tom POV, Period Specific Homophobia Summary:

Tom Wilker's struggled to get where he is in life, but Isabella Camherst makes him consistently question everything.

[bookwyrminspiration]

Jonathan would listen to people praising Mina for a day 🥺

And so would I! Jonathan and Mina are the couple. Ever. There is something about them that's so enthralling, so appealing. The lawyer and the train fiend. We've gotten to see their personal thoughts on each other and how completely fond they are of each other from practically the moment we've met them.

They're so entwined with one another and it makes reading about them all the more captivating. Their intrigue doesn't come from complicated pasts, conflicted feelings, sexual tension, anything of the like. It's so intense while being about them. Them at their core, their dynamic and love for each other is so pure and overwhelming, it's a relationship I didn't know I was missing.

As someone whose read a lot of love triangle and enemies to lovers story arcs, it's incredibly refreshing to read about the two of them. Because they feel so real, at least to me.

[bookwyrminspiration]

Hi Quil! First off, congratulations on the new fic! I don’t usually read Kam but I’ll try this one out and tell you what I think!

It’s been a lot of fun seeing you reading warriors, and makes me nostalgic for my when I used to read those books a few years back. It’s also fun to see you talk about things and think “haha they don’t know what’s going to happen next ;)”.

Also thanks to you I started reading the Lady Trent books! I’m currently about halfway through the first book and I’m loving it. I love characters who are super passionate, I love science and fantasy together, and I also appreciate Lady Trent as a narrator. One of my favorite moments so far is when Isabella met Jacob and they were being dragon nerds together! I had to put down the book and just shake out my excitement for a few minutes. Also this book gives me neurodivergent vibes :).

Happy soon-to-be-pride month (at the time that I’m sending this)! I’m really excited for pride this year.

Have a nice day!

- Amethyst

~

Hi Amethyst!! If you read the fic I hope you enjoy it, and I look forward to seeing what you think about it! Everyone’s been nice so far, which is encouraging.

You’re not the only one who’s been enjoying my warriors journey! I accidentally activated like at least half a dozen wc sleeper agents within the mutuals, which has been entertaining. I’m enjoying the books, though I think I would’ve enjoyed them more if I’d read them at the intended age range. There are a couple things I know are going to happen--like I know Fireheart is going to become a leader at some point, but how that’ll play out I don’t know. Lots to discover and so so many books left to read!

Also!!! Omg!!! I would love to hear any and all thoughts you’re willing to share about the lady trent memoirs they’re one of my favorite series ever they’re so much fun. Isabella’s such a fun narrator and character. I also adore Jacob with my whole entire heart. I wish so badly to be them and to find someone to study dragons with me. The series grows a lot beyond the first book, but it holds a very special place in my heart as the introduction to it all <3

You may have seen some of my posts about it in which case it’s a little too late to do any good, but just in case you haven’t: I have posted spoilers so. Beware! The tables are turned and I’m watching you going “haha they don’t know what’s going to happen next ;)”

I’m very excited to see what you think of what you do read--I think book 3 might be my favorite, but I’m also quite fond of book 2. The stand alone with her granddaughter as the main character is also quite fun, but has a different kind of conflict and setting.

But anyway!! Happy pride!! I hope you’re doing well and have an excellent pride month <33

[bookwyrminspiration]

when Jacob Camherst said "but I cannot bear to deny you. not with you looking at me like that" he invented romance, actually

[bookwyrminspiration]

(spoilers for A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan)

I legitimately can't stop thinking about "He would not move from this place: Jacob knew it, and so did I." The dawning horror of his injury culminating in that one sentence punched me straight in the face. The structure of the book tricks you into believing that they're both going to survive, because Isabella is an elderly woman who talks about her husband in the present tense looking back on her past, so clearly that means they both survived, right?

I was actually fully prepared to critique and assess whatever method of treatment they used to miraculously get Jacob through a stab would in the middle of nowhere all alone with no supplies, because the format made it so I didn't even question at all whether he'd survive! Books have characters miraculously pulling through so frequently I paid almost no heed to the possibility that he wouldn't be okay

And then "he would not move from this place" completely shattered everything and he died collapsed on the ground, telling Isabella to stay strong with one last kiss. The following moments where it all sinks in that Jacob, loving Jacob is dead.

I cannot get over it and I cannot stop thinking about it. He would not move from that place, and he didn't. There he still lays, six feet under

[sharry-arry-odd]

"Then the question, I suppose, is how much those criticisms concern you." "No." I glanced up at Jacob again, and saw the quirk in his mouth grow to a rueful smile. "The question," he said, "is whether that concern is important enough to warrant making my wife miserable."

A Natural History of Dragons, by Marie Brennan

[sharry-arry-odd]

Readers of these memoirs know that I have never been very religious. I am not ashamed of this fact; I have endeavoured to be a good woman nonetheless, and to do good for those around me. Still, it was embarrassing to have it revealed that my son was a little heathen, ignorant of even the most basic stories in Scripture.

Voyage of the Basilisk, by Marie Brennan