I’ve been finding it more difficult to focus on audiobooks recently. Lots of stress at work means music is generally the better choice. After a come-to-Jesus moment with spacing out for an entire novella (my sincerest apologies to Bujold; I’ll return to you in print format) I thought I needed to disconnect from audiobooks totally until things calmed down. Turns out I just needed a cozy little fantasy story about a middle-aged woman inheriting a dragon egg.
The Premise:
Miss Mildred Percy doesn’t love her life. She lives with her sister far longer than she ever planned to, doesn’t particularly like her sister, and has disconnected entirely from her adventurous youth. When she inherits a trunk of oddities from her great-uncle, it turns out that a dragon was in her future, as was a vicar whom may or may not be the type of man she could envision her life with.
Read if You Like: cozy fantasy that isn’t overly twee, incompetent villains, finally standing up for yourself
Avoid if You Dislike: small stakes, petty family drama, larger characters getting the spotlight
What Worked For Me:
Olson’s writing is just delightful! She’s got a gift for straightforward prose that is sharper and more insightful that it appears at first glance. Casual noticings are strung throughout the book, turns of phrase that feel like something that hadn’t occurred to me yet feel like an essential truth of the world. The furniture’s wood is dark, but she’s got no clue what species it comes from (yet authors seem to insist on mentioning it constantly). She just has a gift for hitting the bullseye with her observations of life and how stories go, without it feeling overdone or intrusive. I spent the majority of this book in a constant state of small delights. Despite this not being a comedy, the closest comparison I can make are the Discworld books, of which my favorite parts are Prachett’s notes on the unspoken realities of our world. Even better, it all fits in nicely with Mildred’s predilection for natural philosophy.
I’m not sure if cozy fans would call this a properly cozy book, but I think it fits? The villain of the story is a bit of a bumbling young man after his inheritance, but gets so captivated by Mildred’s niece that he’s not nearly as effective as he could be. It’s brimming with choices that scream cozy, such as celebrating the second (and third) slice of cake and allowing protagonists to have bodies that are usually denied to main characters in all but the most comedic stories. On the other hand, dragons start fires, Mildred’s relationship with her sister is toxic in a very realistic way, and the story is willing to acknowledge harsh realities more than cozy stories sometimes allow. Overall though, this was the type of cozy that works for me, because the stakes felt real, the characters vividly imagined, and the plot filled with small little moments of joy and surprise. It’s light reading, perhaps not the most thematically ambitious, but very enjoyable.
What Didn’t Work for Me:
Honestly not a lot. Most of my criticisms of this book would push it into something more serious or traditional, neither of which would be smart choices for the story. However, it does keep me from giving a full-throated general recommendation. While no book will be perfect for everyone, I think some of the more classic Fantasy fans will chafe at the lack of action and adventure in this story.
However, as long as you know your own tastes, I think Olson does a great job of nailing the vibes of the story in her marketing. You’ll have a pretty good idea very early on whether this book will be a good one for you.
Conclusion: a witty and insightful cozy fantasy. It was a piece of catnip I needed for a rather stressful time of the year
- Characters: 5
- Setting: 3
- Craft: 4
- Themes: 2
- Enjoyment: 5
I enjoyed this book! I remember having some things about it that annoyed me at the time I read it, but I can’t think of what they were now… so I think it might have just been my mental state when I read it. I want to go back to read more in the series soon.
LikeLike