In the Labyrinth of Drakes: A Memoir by Lady Trent (The Lady Trent Memoirs, 4)

I loved this book, but wanted to give special credit to the ending. **Minor spoilers ahead!** Instead of shoehorning in a physical confrontation with an evil person or creature, this book uses an amazing discovery as its climax and it's absolutely perfect. In a series about anthropology, that IS the most exciting thing you could put in a narrative! One of my favorite things about this series has been how seriously the characters take their work, including small asides from Lady Trent about how this or that standard has changed between the time she's describing and the time she's writing her memoirs. These little details have always been a great way to make the series feel like an actual autobiography of an early naturalist, even though of course it is not. And for me, the choice to make the ending of the book focus on an watershed moment in the characters' research was an even bolder move in that direction. Although this series has always handled its endings very well, I was thrilled to see it shake off the standard novel formula of "bad guy shows up in the final hour" to do something truly bold and say that discovery, not conflict, is the pinnacle of the story.

Love this book series. My 11 yr old grandson has finished the 5th one

If anything, it just keeps getting bolder. Here, the Lady faces poisoning, desert heat, ugly politics, and more. But, she learns yet more about her beloved dragons, and joins - most closely - another scientist as passionate as she is.For a couple like that, it's hard to imagine greater personal and professional joy than seeing their discoveries overlap so dramatically.I might call this YA, but even some of us adults feel young at times. If you (or yours) want a strong female lead with nerd pride of the headiest kind, set against an Edwardian, dragon-filled backdrop, you've come to the right place.-- wiredweird

The book is too short. Quite unlike previous volumes there is no logical finale, the story stops suddenly on the most interesting moment. It feels like writing was rushed to keep with schedule which is a pity since a lot was sacrificed to meet the deadline. Unlike earlier book this one cannot be enjoyed by itself - lots and lots of plotlines from background stories emerge every time. However it is not as bad as it may sounds. For the old readers familiar with plot and characters it is good read, but new readers should pick up one of the previous volumes to start the series.

Thoroughly enjoyed this whole series -- I like the narration, the way that the same stubbornness and curiosity that cause our protagnoist's problems also help her solve them, and the study of the assorted dragons. I think this book contained my favorite line of the series: "I like to imagine there is a clerk who sits between the brain and mouth, to check the messages coming from the brain before letting them out; but mine occasionally lays his head down in exhaustion and just lets things slip past."

This series starts off slowly, and the first book is fairly boring, but each book is better than the last. I don't know that I would recommend any book in the series as an individual work, but the series as a whole is interesting and the topic is novel. I think the author has gotten a better handle on the characters as she has progressed, so they seem more relatable and their behavior is more understandable now than it was in earlier books.

Finally got a lot of my questions answered since reading all the other books prior to this one! I'm really enjoying how each book has taken its characters to new locations, from Mountains, to swamps, the vast ocean itself and the various islands and countries it holds, and now what I can only describe as the equivalent to the Sahara desert. I've greatly enjoyed the adventure I've been reading about thus far and I'm looking forward to reading how it'll all come to a close in the final book.

I'm an avid reader, and this is my new favorite series - Lady Trent is magnificent and the books are terrifically well written. They read like a sassy Victorian lady's memoirs, but in a world where there are dragons and she, of course, is a dragon naturalist. This installment of the series may be my favorite because of the exciting things that happen to Lady Trent both personally and professionally.

Received used book. Don't even have an option to return it. Bad experience

great series!

Picking up Lady Trent's tale from where it left off in Tropic of Serpents, her draconic research continues in Akhia.As with her other tales, In the Labyrinth of Drakes provides information on ancient civilisations, living in harsh conditions and a woman forging her way forward in a man's world.A wonderful book.

Could not get into it.

Note: this is book no. four in the “Memoir by Lady Trent” historic fantasy series and should not be read as a standalone. If you're new to the series, I recommend to start with “A natural History of Dragons”.ReviewOh, it was really easy to get back into Dame Isabella Camherst's wonderful world full of dragons, adventure and even some romance. I somehow felt as if it hadn't been a year that I read “The Voyage of the Basilisk” and therefore felt right at home.Isabella and Tom get the chance to work on a dragon breeding program for the Scirling army, although Isabella, being a woman, is given this opportunity rather grudgingly, since women in nearly all societies in her world and time are looked down to by [most] men. And as in the prior books, this theme remains one of Isabella's constant battle fields. She has grown, though, and is not as prone as before to wreak political havoc on each occasion presenting itself. One has to acknowledge that she works hard to do the political opportune thing, yet keeps working on her reputation as a scientist on the field of dragon studies. I appreciated it a lot that she still recognizes the pivotal moments in her life, where it is so much more important to do the right thing, instead of doing the proper thing. Her actions in her last adventure increased her notoriety in Scirling and everywhere else and so it's a good thing that her and Tom's place to work is a Akhia, the faraway desert land where her acquaintance Suhail had to return to after their joint trip on the Basilisk. And in quiet moments, Isabella even admits to herself that she would really love to meet Suhail again. I will give a minor spoiler telling you that she does indeed meet him again, but in circumstances she wouldn't have imagined.As in the previous books about Isabella's adventures, the description of the countries and societies she visits is vast and made me feel as if I actually was there. Again, I'm awed by the flawless world-building that gets more intriguing with each installment. The world is reminiscent of Victorian age earth, but it contains dragons and they play an important role on how the world is shaped. But Isabella's struggle for recognition could very well have happened in 19th century Britain.I loved how the mystery of how Isabella became Lady Trent is revealed and I loved it even more that it happened in a way I never imagined. I was so sure about what must happen and I was so wonderfully wrong. The author really did surprise me here.As for the series: the book concludes a pivotal part in Isabella's life and answers a lot of the questions I had, but there is room for more adventures, since Isabella is only 34 at the time the book ends. So I can look forward to accompany Isabella Lady Trent a while longer. Great series, great book.