{"version":"1.0","type":"link","provider_name":"Hardcover","provider_url":"https://hardcover.app","cache_age":86400,"title":"Kyrie's review of The Tropic of Serpents","url":"https://hardcover.app/books/the-tropic-of-serpents-2014/reviews/@tanukigrrl","author_name":"Kyrie","author_url":"https://hardcover.app/@tanukigrrl","description":"\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;The Tropic of Serpents was definitely a step up from A Natural History of Dragons. Not that I thought the first book was bad. There\u0026amp;#39;s just a noticeable difference in the pacing and ratio of human/dragon interaction from the first book to the second.\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;The second book of Lady Trent\u0026amp;#39;s memoir opens with the notes on dragon bone preservation being stolen during the yearly symposium. I admirably resisted the urge to shake my fist and scream, “WERNSTROM!!!”\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;Yep. Definitely resisted the urge. Did not do that. At all.\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;But, opening scenes aside, the symposium theft didn\u0026amp;#39;t really matter. Or at least, it hadn\u0026amp;#39;t mattered by the end of the book, and it wasn\u0026amp;#39;t even the main focus of the story.\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;The real plot is centered around Isabella and company going into the Memoir version of a rain forest to study dragons. And then, politics get involved. As opposed to the first book, which was distinctly lacking in actual interactions with dragons, this book actually has Isabella studying living dragons in their natural habitat. It still takes a while to build up to that point, granted, but it\u0026amp;#39;s there.\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;Most of the story is focused on character building, though. There\u0026amp;#39;s a wonderful scene, about halfway through the book that was an obvious characterization dump, but hearing the characters speak so frankly about their thoughts and emotions was so sweet that it didn\u0026amp;#39;t bother me at all.\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;The pacing here is much slower than in the first book, and it takes more time to set up the geography and culture of the area, so I definitely enjoyed this one a little more.  \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;","thumbnail_url":"https://assets.hardcover.app/edition/22309730/bc9484d5f30f36a9ff6f5add02c5a3ffe3f8217e.jpeg","thumbnail_width":334,"thumbnail_height":500}