Cover Art – ‘A Natural History of Dragons’ (Marie Brennan)

I know this book has been around for a little while now (via Tor I think) but not only did I miss that anyway, I love this cover and reckon it’s worth another post :o)

In all the years that I’ve been reading fantasy books with dragons on the cover, I never stopped to think about what they looked like under all those scales. Thanks to this cover, I finally get to find out…

I love the way this has been set out like a biology diagram with the mixture of bone, muscle and scales making for some incredibly eye-catching artwork. I’m not one to go on about fonts but, this time round, I really like the ones used here. They make for a really genteel feel to the book and I wonder how deliberate that is, given how the blurb is promising a certain direction to the book. Talking of blurb, have a look below and see what I mean,

All the world, from Scirland to the farthest reaches of Eriga, know Isabella, Lady Trent, to be the world’s preeminent dragon naturalist. She is the remarkable woman who brought the study of dragons out of the misty shadows of myth into the clear light of modern science. But before she became the illustrious figure we know today, there was a bookish young woman whose passion for learning, natural history, and, yes, dragons defied the stifling conventions of her day. Here at last, in her own words, is the true story of a pioneering spirit who risked her reputation, her prospects, and her fragile flesh and bone to satisfy her scientific curiosity; of how she sought true love and happiness despite her lamentable eccentricities; and of her thrilling expedition to the perilous mountains of Vystrana, where she made the first of many historic discoveries that would change the world forever.

I couldn’t really get into Brennan’s ‘Onyx Court’ books (as much as I wanted to) but the blurb here has piqued my interest and I want to give ‘A Natural History of Dragons’ a try as soon as I can. I’ve got high hopes, lets put it that way.
Did anyone here read ‘A Natural History of Dragons’ when Tor published it (I’ve got the UK edition published by Titan). What did you think of it?