Utterly sui generis…It's a rare book that leaves me wishing it were twice as long, but Tooth and Claw is one such.” —The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
“A delight. On a basic level, Tooth and Claw works much the same way that Watership Down worked…Highly recommended for anyone who loved the books of Austen, or Heyer (or Laurie Colwin's more contemporary novels, for that matter), and wishes that someone was still writing social comedies that were just as sharp and just as pleasurable.” —Kelly Link, author of Stranger Things Happen
“Jo Walton writes with an authenticity that never loses heart.” —Robin Hobb
“The Pride and Prejudice of the dragon world... I love this sly, witty, fast-paced, brilliant little book.” —Jane Yolen
“Plot strands come together just as they should, with delightful triumphs, resolutions, revelations, and come-uppances.” —Locus
The Barnes & Noble Review
Jo Walton, author of the acclaimed Tir Tanagiri trilogy (The King's Peace, The King's Name, and The Prize in the Game), has written a stand-alone novel that -- similar to Mistress of Dragons by Margaret Weis -- revolves around a family of dragons and the intricate political machinations of the society they live in.
After a powerful old dragon dies, his five children and their families promptly devour him --according to tradition. But one dragon, a greedy brother-in-law, devours much more than his allotted share. One of the dead dragon's sons, Avan, wants to see justice done and demands retribution from the law. But with one of Avan's young sisters forced to live with his evil brother-in-law, the lawsuit puts her and several siblings who are hiding secrets in the path of danger.
Fans of Walton's Tir Tanagiri novels will find Tooth and Claw a dramatic departure. Reminiscent of Richard Adams's Watership Down and Fire Bringer by David Clement-Davies,Walton's novel touches on themes of freedom, morality, kinship, and love among animal families. And although this novel doesn't contain the deep allegories of Watership Down, it has a lot to say about the dark side of human nature. With all the legal squabbling, family feuds, and romantic subplots, it's like a reptilian soap opera. Picture a fire-breathing Susan Lucci covered in scales and lying atop a mound of gold, and you won't be far off. Paul Goat Allen
Dragons ritually eat dragons in order to gain strength and power in Walton's enthralling new fantasy (after 2002's The Prize in the Game), set amid a hierarchical society that includes a noble ruling class, an established church, servants and retainers. On the death of the dragon Bon Agornin, his parson son Penn, one of five siblings (two male and three female), declares, "We must now partake of his remains, that we might grow strong with his strength, remembering him always." But Bon's greedy son-in-law, Illustrious Daverak, consumes more than his fair share of the departed dragon, setting off a chain of unexpected and, at times, calamitous events for each sibling. Avan, the younger son, decides to litigate for compensation. One unmarried daughter, on moving in with the married sister and Daverak, discovers a house filled with injustice, while the other unmarried daughter goes off with Penn and falls in love. Full of political intrigue and romance, this provocative read sets the stage for further adventures in a world that, as the author admits in her prefatory note, "owes a lot to Anthony Trollope's Framley Parsonage." (Nov. 19) FYI: In 2002, Walton received a John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
The deathbed confession of Bon Agornin places his heirs in a quandary as the five siblings maneuver for position and power within the family. What makes Walton's tale of dynastic intrigue unique is that the individuals are all dragons, with their own customs and traditions-such as the practice of consuming the bodies of their dead and killing their weaker children. Walton (The King's Piece) combines delicacy and savagery in a finely told tale suitable for most fantasy collections. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
It would be wonderful to report that Walton offers a bold new step in the world of fantasy, takes the standard knights/swords/dragons huggermugger and turns the whole thing upside-down. Alas, that's not the case. The author had some success with her career-starting trilogy (The King's Peace, 2000, etc.) but has decided here to branch out into something new. The conceit: a world in which class reigns supreme, aristocracy and all its attendant silliness governing people's everyday lives, even though it looks like the old way of doing things is about to come under attack. The big exception is that all the characters in the book are dragons. Real, scale-covered, sleeping-on-a-bed-of-gold, fire-breathing (well, the older ones), bloody-carcass-eating dragons. Things start off with an undeniably eye-catching scenario: Bon Agornin, a dragon who wasn't of gentle birth but has amassed a respectable fortune, is on his deathbed. His children have gathered for the momentous occasion: when he finally dies, as is dragon tradition, all will come together and eat the body. After this shocker, which Walton plays as just a matter of course, no more stunning than dividing up a parent's bank account among the children, the story descends into a dull maze of subplots involving the children, their in-laws, and the vagaries of dragon prejudice. A more skilled writer could have taken this setup and made a Watership Down-style exercise out of it, pulling readers inexorably into the lives of creatures they normally wouldn't much care about. But while Richard Adams can make us forget we're reading about rabbits, Walton succeed as such with dragons. Silly when not plain dull: a mediocre soap with bloody trappings.
