Jane Austen’s Dragons by Maria Grace
Author: Maria Grace
Published: 2016-2024
Genre: Historical Fantasy, Fantasy, Dragons
Synopsis From Goodreads:
England is overrun by dragons of all shapes and sizes. Most people are blissfully aware of them and the Pendragon Treaty that keeps the peace between human and dragon kind. Only those born with preternatural hearing, like Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet are able to hear and converse with dragon kind. When the first firedrake egg laid in a century is stolen from Pemberley, the fragile dragon peace teeters on collapse. Darcy has no choice but to chase down the thief, a journey that leads him to quaint market town of Merton and fellow Dragon Keeper, Elizabeth Bennet.
Elizabeth shares a unique bond with dragons stronger than anything Darcy has ever experienced. More than that, her vast experience and knowledge of dragon lore may be the key to uncovering the lost egg. But Elizabeth can’t stand Darcy’s arrogance and doesn’t trust him to care properly for a precious baby firedrake. After all, he already lost the egg once. What’s to prevent it from happening again?
Can he win her trust and recover the stolen egg before it hatches and sends England spiraling back into the Dark Ages of Dragon War?
Books in this Series:
#1: Pemberley: Mr. Darcy’s Dragon
#2: Longbourn: Dragon Entail
#3: Netherfield: Rogue Dragon
#4: A Proper Introduction to Dragons
#5: The Dragons of Kellynch
#6: Kellynch: Dragon Persuasion
#7: Dragons Beyond the Pale
#8: Dragon Keeper’s Cotillion
#9: The Turnspit Dragon and other Tales of the Blue Order
#10: The Dragons of Pemberley
#11: Miss Georgiana and the Dragon
#12: Here There Be Dragons
#13: Secrets of the Dragon Archives
#14: Dragons at Land’s End
My Take
Have you ever wondered how a world would work if there were dragons of all sorts…and if they could talk? That is how Maria Grace has reimagined Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion. On the surface, the world is the same as the Austen classics. But that is only half the story in these books, as there is a hidden world of dragons. Dragons the size of hummingbirds and falcons, cat-like dragons, rabbit-like dragons, all the way to fire-breathing dragons the size of small hills populate the world, and they stay hidden through a natural gift of persuasion and the work of the humans who can hear them: the Blue Order. Now combine that with all of the manners, pomp, and circumstance of the original without forgetting the ridiculousness of Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Collins, and you have a thoroughly enjoyable and intriguing new adventure with the warm familiarity of an old friend and a known ending, but with the excitement of a new path getting there.
A few notes going in: If dialogue or characterization changes bother you, be prepared. It does not happen often, but there are a few areas where whole chunks of dialogue are given to a different character than in the original. Also, Mr. Bennet’s character is less of a self-absorbed, absent-minded, and permissive father and more of a disagreeable, cranky, and pushy person. I did not like him in the original, but I did not mind him. In this series, I did not like Mr. Bennet at all. Also, it takes the first three books to complete the Pride and Prejudice story, so don’t get frustrated at the end of the first book; it will continue and end happily. It just takes two more books. Book #4 is a “throw-back” book that introduces you to Elizabeth as a child. I would suggest reading this book first, but it assumes you already have all of the world-building knowledge from the first three books and does not explain things that would be necessary if they were read first. It is interesting but unnecessary in the order and progression of the overall storyline. Books #5 and 6 retell the story of Persuasion, but with this world’s twist, and books 7 and following are original storylines from Ms. Grace that combine Elizabeth, Darcy, Anne, and Wentworth, building on the books that came before, and dealing with all new dragon shenanigans.
Language:
An occasional swear word occurs throughout this series. But it is so rare that when I went back through looking for this review, I could not come up with an example.
Sexual Content:
There are a couple of kisses throughout the series.
Drug/Alcohol Use:
As in the original, there is mention of wine at dinner or a ball or men having drinks and a cigar after dinner. There is also an instance of chloroform or something similar being used in a kidnapping.
Violence:
There are threats of dragons eating people or each other, a kidnapping, and some other human-against-human violence such as being knocked out and tied up. None of it is graphic or extended.
Plot/Storytelling:
Threads of fantastical dragons are blended seamlessly with the original Jane Austen works. Some of the middle books seemed to bog down at times and I enjoyed some more than others, but as an Austen die-hard who also loves fantasy, this was a wonderful series!