Here There Be Dragons

Jane Austen's Dragons, Book 12

By: Maria Grace

Narrated by: Benjamin Fife

Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Life was definitely better when one’s fondest dreams came true. Better indeed for newly made baronet, Sir Frederick Wentworth. Enjoying a title, a sea-side estate, a dragon to keep, and most importantly—marriage to his dearest Anne. Life was far better than he dreamed it could be. Better, but not easier.

Stubborn local sea dragons refuse to talk, much less entertain a treaty with the Blue Order. The Order’s patience is wearing thin, and the local Order magistrate—impertinent, ineffective, and downright hostile toward all things cold-blooded or female—only makes matters worse.

Lady Anne Wentworth, Special Liaison for the Blue Order, not being cold-blooded but female, finds her duties impeded at every turn. She tolerates his machinations until the delayed arrival of an urgent letter calls her across the county. If only she is not too late....

Naturally, upon Anne’s departure, relations with the local sea dragons shift from becalmed to turbulent, threatening the fragile balance of Blue Order peace. Can Wentworth tame the gale-force dragon storm threatening to capsize the life he holds dear?

A fresh new gas lamp fantasy adventure in the engrossingly intricate world of Jane Austen’s Dragons. Anne McCaffrey meets Jane Austen, a perfect mix for dragon lovers and regency era fans alike.

©2023 Maria Grace (P)2023 Maria Grace

Kellynch and the Wentworths are my favorites

After a slower previous book, I'm thrilled this one got back to the snuggling plot more quickly AND picked up with what is quickly becoming my favorite dragon keeping family in the saga. The British empire causing trouble by giving away land that wasn't theirs is apparently a tale as old as time, with some drama occurring when the Wentwortha find that Kellynch has been given sea territory belonging to another dragon.

Kellynch has quickly become my favorite dragon, being the rare one who keeps minor dragon friends of his own (sir, those are his emotional support hatchlings) and clearly caring for Anne and Wentworth.

Anne of course is unpacking some of her personal trauma from previous books, feeling lonely in her new post as manor mistress, and I loved seeing her continue to come into her own as an order operative. I loved to see her marriage here explored further in a way that hasn't gotten much focus past the two Kellynch books.

The novel ends on a note suggesting I will see more of Kellynch and the Wentworths solving Order issues, and I look forward to it!

Tremendous story. I loved it.

As Maria Grace’s Austen Dragon World continues and develops I want to note that this latest edition has lost no momentum at all as it evolves. I’m champing at the bit for the next book more than ever. In fact we’re left with a bit of a cliff hanger. Anne and Frederick have become equally important in the workings of the Blue Order as Elizabeth and Darcy have been.

The troubles that have arisen in Lyme Regis with warring sea dragons threatens to bring the Blue Order down. But we see nothing of what’s going on at Pemberley or in London at headquarters in this book. I suspect we will be apprised of those doings in the next book.

There are so many themes in this story that directly relate to our current experiences, even if you aren’t looking for them some will be obvious. Parts of society disenfranchised and becoming less and less tolerable. You sense this again and again. With what was happening in the 1800’s socially and politically, the dragon world is a veritable model of those times. Unfortunately the world we live in today is seeing the same thing. This made Here There Be Dragons exciting and ominously dramatic throughout.

The author doesn’t stop there, our heroine Anne becomes a force to be reckoned with herself. Frederick is juggling so many balls in the air he gets no rest. And the couple is separated by their tasks for a large part of the book, worried about each other and missing each other. The things they both go through are trying at best, dangerous and life threatening at worst.

There is a scene in the book that involves Anne’s previous ‘friend’ Lady (now known as Viola) Russell that pushed a very sad button in my life. It stays with me after reading the book and now listening it the audio. Very sad but realistic.

Highly recommended.

everything

that it came to an end and the next book wasn't out yet. ta da