Pemberley: Mr. Darcy's Dragon
A Pride and Prejudice Variation
Series: Jane Austen's Dragons, Book 1
By: Maria Grace / Narrated By: Benjamin Fife
Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
Ahhhhh, the sequels to this series are a MUST—Listener beware of getting hooked… or getting peeved…!
I’m pretty sure I haaaate it when an author makes you DESperate to get to the Next in a Series right after you’ve finished the first, the second, the blah blah all through the entire thing blah. I mean, I’m still all ticked off with Michael J. Sullivan, have spouted off ENDlessly about him, and I’ve yet to review the poor guy. So there you go; I’m impatient and just all-around cruddy…
That’s kinda the case for Pemberley as when this ended, I wanted more. But, you see, I haven’t been feeling shamefully manipulated; rather, it’s been a case that author Maria Grace has split up the original story of Our Dear Couple and fleshed it out to create this fantastical world wherein Dragons Rule the Day—Well, actually, there’s a treaty between them and humans which has made for a peaceful coexistence whereby Dragon Keepers care for the area/estate’s Dragon. In this case we have Mr. Bennet as a Dragon Keeper to Longbourn, the imperious and obstinate and lackadaisical dragon of the estate, and Lizzie is the heir(ess) apparent Dragon Keeper. As the estate is entailed, most of this segment of Grace’s new world is of Lizzie coming to terms with the fact that she MUST marry Mr. Collins, as the Dragon Longbourn will have nobody BUT her to care for him.
But that’s not the entirety of the story, for immediately we’re introduced to how some humans can hear and bond with Dragons and have Friends. And I greatly appreciated that Mary is a special young woman, being able to hear and care for the Dragons, so huzzah for Mary not getting short shrift as per usual.
What’s the grand scope of this book in the series? The (NATurally!) dastardly George Wickham has stolen a Dragon egg, the first in eeeeons, from the Pemberley estate. Dragon Keeper Fitzwilliam Darcy is sent to hunt it down in the vast country surrounding Hertfordshire where Wickham has been tracked, and as the territory is unknown to most, he’s sent to Mr. Bennet and Lizzie as they know the area, and they’re vastly respected. Lizzie has spent her entire life delightedly caring for Longbourn and her own little Friend, and over the years she’s compiled her vast knowledge into an encyclopedia of sorts. But the two, Darcy and Elizabeth don’t hit it off, have the usual misunderstandings, and Grace somewhat astoundingly is able to follow canon even as she’s crafted a world we’re immersing ourselves in. Mr. Bennet is Mr. Bennet of canon, selfish and not into exerting himself, plus he’s all hampered by crippling arthritis or something, thereby requiring even more of Lizzie and Mary.
What I liked: We get to see a Dragon birth with little Friends imprinting on humans, and we get to see Mary as she cares for, and gains confidence as a young Keeper of her own little Friend and of irascible Longbourn. The Gardiners are also MAJOR characters with Aunt Gardiner coming to hear Dragons at this later stage in her life. Also, there’s the EVER riDICulously evil Wickham as antagonist, pitting himself against Darcy, squirreling the firedrake egg away so that it can’t imprint on Darcy (Or any human, thereby setting it up as a wild Dragon hellbent on destruction and likely to slaughter humans, wreak havoc, generally disrupt the Dragon-Human treaty).
And I have to admit that I liiiiiked that this is a series whereby we neeeeed to get onto the next in order for the entirety of Our Dear Couple’s journey to be sussed out. This is sooo well-crafted and sooo thoroughly written that it’d have to be a simply MASSive audiobook were we to get the entire story all at once. I enjoyed savoring the story in this morsel, this tidbit that we’re given! EsPECially as Lizzie starts to feel trapped by her duty, even as she loves what she does; we see the Elizabeth Bennet that we’re all fond of, loving and dutiful even as she’s strong and independent.
What I didn’t like: Okay, this is kinda sorta bad of me, but that it follows canon so greatly got to feel a bit like cheating where some of the writing was concerned. Grace gives us conversations verbatim, and it got to be a bit much. What saves it is that some, but not all, of the more memorable P&P lines have a Dragon-y twist to them which wind up being clever, if not hilarious. So, phew! Now a bit of a poke at the narration: Benjamin Fife does an overall nice job, but he’s a bit of an Inhaler, not pacing his reading as a more seasoned narrator might. I know, I know; I looked and saw he has about 47 audiobooks to his credit, but seriously: We hear him take huge breaths before every bit of back and forth between characters.
All right, those are my only Harumphs, and they’re decidedly small ones and might be just me. Cuz Fife is actually okay, and I dunno if it’s his voice or the production, but the Dragons, large and small, came through well, and I did like his voice for Lizzie well-enough (Tho’ he did Mr. Bennet’s selfishness so very well, I wanted to smack him upside the head… same with Longbourn now that I think of it…).
All in all, a really neat way to get my Animal ya-yas in, as they’re some well-drawn creatures. And this was a mighty fun way to indulge in a Variation that was soooo far-fetched as to be enjoyable sans the ever-possible eye-roll that the more divergent departures can inspire.
I’m ready for the next, please!
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