Tooth and Claw

I absolutely LOVED this little allegorical tale that reads like a regency story as told by Aesop. You really don't need any summary of this story; the plot is right out of Jane Austen with all the class consciousness, priggishness, and blatant sexism of 19th century England, but all the norms of behavior have been translated to dragonkind. In addition, Walton addresses servitude/slavery, religious influences (I loved the CofE and RC analogous dragon religions), and racism in a way that Austen never did. Like Austen's stories, "Tooth and Claw", is fun and entertaining with fabulous characters, subtle satire, and a very tidy ending. Unlike Austen, Walton exposes the truth of a highly dysfunctional and abusive society by using an animal illustration much like Aesop in his Fables. Philostratus said of Aesop, "...he by announcing a story which everyone knows not to be true, told the truth by the very fact that he did not claim to be relating real events." And indeed, Walton tells some great truth while she entertains us with dragons.

John Lee provides a wonderful performance of the story making this an all around terrific audiobook!

This is a story right out of Austen, Trollope, or Dickens, all about social class, money, property, marriages, and society. But all the characters are dragons. It's really charming to read about the dragons putting on hats, attending church, riding on trains (when flying isn't socially acceptable), and then sitting down to a few raw cows for dinner. And if tensions between them get too high, they just eat each other! A tour de force and very well narrated.