The Dragons of Kellynch

Jane Austen's Dragons, Book 5

By: Maria Grace

Narrated by: Benjamin Fife

In order to secure her future, a young lady must marry well.

One would think Anne Elliot, a baronet’s daughter, would find the marriage mart far easier to navigate than a more ordinary woman. One would be wrong.

After refusing a poor, but otherwise perfect sailor, on the advice of her friend Lady Russell, Anne finds an unhappy choice before her: marry deathly dull Charles Musgrove or hope against hope that another suitable proposal might come her way before she becomes a spinster on the shelf.

Anne’s disgracefully independent choice to refuse Charles’ offer turns her world entirely arsey-varsey and not in the expected turned upside down sort of way. She begins to see things...hear things...things like dragons.

And once one sees dragons, one talks to them. And when one talks to them, nothing is ever the same again.

Must a young lady marry well if she hears dragons?

A must-listen gas lamp dragon fantasy! Jane Austen meets Anne McCaffrey with a touch of Harry Potter!

©2020 Maria Grace (P)2020 Maria Grace

Persuasion Mixed with Dragons

This is a fun series. I love the addition of dragons and dragon speakers to some of my favorite Jane Austin classics. My only complaint with this book is that it has a very abrupt ending in the middle of the story that leaves you needing the next book to complete it (which is also not out yet on Audible 🙁). The narrator does a wonderful job with the characters and voices, and really was an asset to the story.

—I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

A look at a different family in the same era.

I am often reminded by reading books, how the life of all females have changed, over the past 200 years. Without independent thinking and acting women, how are lives could be very different.
Yes, this is a story of such a strong willed young woman, but she has another new ability, that of 'hearing' dragons.
I was confused when I started this book, with the names of the daughters the same as the Bennett sisters. However, the Elliott family is very different from those we met in other episodes of this series, although the thing to tie this story to the previous is the "Hearing" of dragons.
This is a cliffhanger, in so far as it doesn't resolve all issues in this episode.

Glad the Author ventured into another Austen novel

After introducing dragons to the world of Pride and Prejudice, this newest addition to the series takes us into the story of Persuasion where Anne Elliot has never recovered from her broken engagement with Captain Wentworth. However, when she learns (later in life than is expected) that she can hear dragons and is in line to be the next keeper of the dragon of Kellynch, everything changes. Lady Russell wants her to marry Charles Musgrove, the Blue Order wants her to marry the heir to Kellynch, the heir has other ideas, and Anne just wants to learn more about dragons and this new world where women might be treated as equals to men regardless of marital status. She also learns that she has a voice and can speak up for herself and what is right.

I enjoyed this audiobook a great deal. The narration by Benjamin Fife was superb as always. The characters in the story were definitely Austen's characters, but they developed based on their interaction with the dragons which was interesting to watch. Lady Russell's transformation was particularly surprising and entertaining. It was a bit confusing that Anne's sisters were named Elizabeth and Mary (since the earlier books included sisters Elizabeth and Mary Bennett), but we can blame Austen for that. I loved all the new things still to be discovered about the dragons in this saga and look forward to the rest of the story.

I received a free audiobook from StoryOrigin and have reviewed it willingly.

In which Anne learns to hear dragons abnormally

This book took a little getting used to because the main character’s siblings have the same name as the first 4 books protagonist family, but once you realize that it is not the same family the book is quite good and does not disappoint as a sequel in the series. It is fun to see a longer transition into dragon hearing in a family that is much more hostile to dragons.

Look forward to listening to all in this series

This is the fifth book I have read/listened to by this author (all were in this series) and I would listen to another. I am enjoying how she has tweaked Jane Austen’s story to include the dragons. The first book follows the original story’s wording quite closely in parts and each subsequent one has taken portions of it and expanded. I love how she has been, even after this many books, able to still use the basis of the original story to go forward with the dragon concept.——-

I look forward to listening to this entire series series. ——-

This is the eleventh book I have listened to by this narrator ( Benjamin Fife ). He has now become synonymous with these characters for me. I like his interpretation of the dragon voices and he does very well with both male and female character voices. His tone of voice and slight accent is perfect for these pre-Victorian era stories. ——-

There are no explicit sex scenes, excessive violence, or swearing. ——-

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and voluntarily left this unbiased review.
Please feel free to comment on whether you found my review helpful.