Obviously, I am on a dragon kick this year, at least book-wise. Beyond that, dragons are always awesome. Just ask my dining room decor. After seeing yesknopemaybe’s review of Heartstone, I decided to check it out even though I am not always the biggest fan of Pride and Prejudice re-imaginings (the other dragon series I read this year also had a little Pride and Prejudice inspired short story!). I think my ambivalence about P&P retellings is actually more because the original isn’t my favorite Austen novel, so I don’t necessarily want to relive all the twists and turns rather than any inherent dislike of reimaginings. I love well-done takes on old classics! I like the beginning of Pride and Prejudice a lot, and it’s not that I dislike the middle parts, but I guess I don’t like them enough to want to read them over and over again? Wickham usually just shows Elizabeth in a bad light since she is so easily taken in and willing to believe anything said against Darcy so his scenes always make me cringe, in any iteration.
In this world, Mr. Bentaine (Bennet) is the accountant/clerk for the lord of the manor who has hired five Riders to help get rid of the gryphons that have been accosting his people and making his lands unsafe. The Mr. Collins character is actually the lord’s cousin when he shows up in the novel rather than a Bentaine cousin. As in any iteration, Mrs. Bentaine wants to see her daughters married off, but in addition to being worried about their financial future, she has the very real motivation to want to see her daughters leave their home for a more physically secure and safe location. Who could better protect one’s daughters than a Rider, someone who is bonded with a supernatural creature and saves other people from monsters for a living?
Daired (Darcy), Brysney (Bingley) and his sister are among the five Riders, and Daired is part of the only family chosen by dragons compared to everyone else’s wyverns. As a result, he has his usual chip on his shoulder, partially a result of pride and partially a result of his sense duty and responsibility. Aliza judges him harshly on his treatment of those he deems lower, such as the hobgoblins which she views as friends while he sees them as pests. The plot goes through the usual points with some well-done tweaks. I actually really liked the twist on the Wickham-Georgianna story presented here, and appreciated one of adjustments done to Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
I quite enjoyed the magical world White developed and would have liked to explore it more. I actually thought the Pride and Prejudice framing became a constraint by the end because it meant that certain aspects and potential looming threats had to be dealt with quickly when I felt they could have been fleshed out more and turned into a longer series. I actually wouldn’t mind if she rewrote a few more Austen novels into this same world and turned it into a series, especially since some of the plot pieces made Aliza start wondering at how fantastical creatures ended up being categorized, and whether maybe that was too simplified a way of looking at things. I would love to see where that could go.