Book Review: Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton
Nov. 28th, 2014 02:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
juushikaTitle: Tooth and Claw
Author: Jo Walton
Published: New York: Tor, 2003
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 544
Total Page Count: 148,457
Text Number: 436
Read Because: fan of the author, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: A Victorian romance, peopled by dragons—which means proactively engaging the genre's presumptions and clichés via worldbuilding, from the role of the genders within courtship to the consequences of socioeconomic status, or: "the result of wondering what a world would be like if [...] the axioms of the sentimental Victorian novel were the inescapable laws of biology." Tooth and Claw doesn't touch sexuality and its agenda is transparent; the antagonist is simplistic and the ending a predictable bundled of tied threads and easy resolution. But all flaws are forgivable, because the sum of the novel is clever, playful, and thoroughly engaging, the best the premise can offer and precisely what I'd expect from Walton. I enjoyed this far more than I expected on onset (the start is a little slow); a true delight, and highly recommended.
Author: Jo Walton
Published: New York: Tor, 2003
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 544
Total Page Count: 148,457
Text Number: 436
Read Because: fan of the author, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: A Victorian romance, peopled by dragons—which means proactively engaging the genre's presumptions and clichés via worldbuilding, from the role of the genders within courtship to the consequences of socioeconomic status, or: "the result of wondering what a world would be like if [...] the axioms of the sentimental Victorian novel were the inescapable laws of biology." Tooth and Claw doesn't touch sexuality and its agenda is transparent; the antagonist is simplistic and the ending a predictable bundled of tied threads and easy resolution. But all flaws are forgivable, because the sum of the novel is clever, playful, and thoroughly engaging, the best the premise can offer and precisely what I'd expect from Walton. I enjoyed this far more than I expected on onset (the start is a little slow); a true delight, and highly recommended.
