Customer Reviews

Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls

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Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls is the first novel by the author. It is the story of Sarah, a nearly thirty year old resident of the Home. She is autistic but is able to communicate somewhat by repeating more or less appropriate quotes from literature. She has a two-headed stuffed dragon figure and a mechanical owl that can fly.

Sarah has a special talent which she hides from most people: she can talk with inanimate objects such as her dragon and owl. She can find out the combination for a door alarm just by asking and hidden objects announce their presence to her. However, she has difficulties telling such information even to her friends and has no desire to communicate with anyone else.

When budgets are cut, Sarah is released from the Home and faces an uncertain future. She wanders the streets, cold and hungry, and finally huddles in a doorway and sleeps. Sarah is found by Abalone, a shirtless young girl with a wolfhead tattoo between her breasts, who questions her and then takes her to the Jungle. In this cylindrical tank-like structure are the Pack, children of various ages, camped on catwalks, ledges, and the floor. The Head Wolf rules within the Jungle according to the Law of the Pack.

After the Head Wolf accepts Sarah into the Pack, she is put in the charge of Abalone. She is taught the customs of the Jungle and shown how to steal cars. Shortly thereafter, Professor Isabella Lacey joins the Pack. A former staff member at the Ivy Green Institute while Sarah was there, the Professor had read countless lines of literature to her, from which Sarah now drew her quotes.

When Sarah and the Professor hear that two of the former residents of the Home have been brought back, Abalone breaks into the Home computer and discovers that a readmit order has been issued on Sarah. Later, searchers from the Home raid the Jungle looking for her.

This novel was greatly influenced by the Mowgli story in the Jungle Book. However, the tale revolves mostly around her autism and talents. Despite her serious handicap, Sarah herself is a bright and cheerful person and her friends are loyal and brave.

Highly recommended for Lindskold fans and anyone else who enjoys tales of suspense, adventure and character in a SF setting.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Have you ever read a book that was so good that, as soon as you finish it, you actually find yourself missing the characters as if they were real people? That's how I feel about Sarah, Betwixt and Between, and Abalone. Jane Lindskold is right up there with Roger Zelazny, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, and Robin McKinley as my favorite fantasists. Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls is her 1994 debut novel and one which I have read over and over, much like the works of the other above-mentioned authors. Believe me, I'm so glad this book has been newly republished (thank you, Orb Books); my old copy is in tatters. The mood-setting black and white art on the cover (check out the back cover for a more detailed version) is very evocative and should, hopefully, lure in the casual reader; with respect to Rowena Morrill, Patrick Arrasmith's cover art here improves on the original Avon Books publication.

Set in the very near future, Lindskold's rookie effort tells the story of 30-year-old Sarah, an autistic girl who cannot form her own words and must thus speak by repeating literary quotes (Shakespeare, Bacon, the Bible, etc.). She is often seen conversing with her rubber dragon with two heads, whom she calls Betwixt and Between. But what people don't realize is that the dragon talks back to her. In fact, inanimate objects talk to her and tell her things.

When the mental home in which Sarah resides suffers budget cuts, she is forced out into the streets. She is found by a young hacker girl named Abalone, who takes her to her street gang, the Pack, which is run by the insane, strict yet fair Head Wolf. Adopted by the Pack, Sarah is placed under Abalone's care, who soon has Sarah helping her run automobile scams.

Everything is gravy until Abalone finds out that the Home wants Sarah back. Abalone and Sarah investigate and discover something nefarious behind the Home's surface good intentions. Before too long, Sarah and the rest of the Pack find themselves in terrifying danger, as amoral and powerful forces, somehow tied in to Sarah's enigmatic past, attempt to gain control of Sarah by any means. Sarah, with the help of the ferocious Pack and her faithful, invaluable rubber dragon, must attempt to use her powers to save herself and her friends.

The first 76 pages reads in an almost idyllic manner. Don't get me wrong, these opening pages are great reading, and things are going on, but there isn't that "oomph" that propels the story forward. Until, of course, we get to Pack member Peep's revelation to Sarah that the Home was looking for her, and then you could feel the author step on the gas pedal. From there on, the pace increases and the book becomes more action packed. But, still, Lindskold, narrating thru Sarah's voice, maintains clarity in the tale. It's wonderful story-telling.

I gotta admit: when I first read the book years ago, 75% of Sarah's quotes went over my head; I wasn't much of a Shakespeare guy. Nevertheless, the drive and magic of the book were such that my ignorance never got in the way of my enjoyment. Even though this was her first book, Lindskold already knew how to write fleshed-out characters. Sarah, Abalone, Professor Isabella and the other lesser characters (Head Wolf, Peep...) will make you care about them and draw you into their personal story arcs. Even Betwixt and Between - and, later, Athena the robot owl - seemed to be real people to me.

Not only does the book give us an insight into the world of the high-level autistic, it also unveils the fascinating infrastructure and interpersonal dynamics of the Pack, a street gang which survives by harsh rules, yet whose members are brave, protective, and steadfastly loyal. Throughout the book Pack members resolutely state their credo: "We be of one blood, ye and I." You can't ask more from friends. Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls is one of the best first novels I've ever read, and, from this, you can tell why Jane Lindskold is considered to be one of the best fantasy writers out there.

The sheer creativity of this book just blows my mind. It dances around genre, at turns resembling science fiction, fantasy, and cyberpunk, and ultimately transcends them all. The idea of a gang of streetkids - thieves, thugs and prostitutes - who draw their pride and identity from Kipling's Jungle Book is such an amazingly bizarre concept, but when encountered it seems completely natural - or at least no stranger than anything else in the world seen through our protagonist's eyes.

Sarah is, as she flatly states in the first chapter, insane. Not stupid - she's highly intelligent. But with a mild form of autism that manifests as the inability to speak in her own words. Instead, she must rely on an (impressive) array of quotes drawn primarily from classic literature (most of the ones I recognized came from Shakespeare and the Bible, but I'm sure there were others I missed.) She can communicate, with those who have the desire and the patience to listen, but her frustration with her own inability to form her own sentences and with the tendency of others, even her friends, to unconsciously underestimate her because of that, is palpable.

The book opens with Sarah's expulsion from the Home, the asylum in which she has spent her entire adult life. For the first time in her life, she's forced to interact with the completely unfamiliar real world, without anyone to take care of her or tell her what to do, equipped with one change of clothes, enough money to feed her for maybe a week, and some skill in the kind of manual labor that's been done by machines for years.

And one thing more: Betwixt and Between, a two-headed rubber dragon that speaks to Sarah, and that no one else can hear.

Sarah is found and adopted by the Pack, brought to live in the Jungle. It's not an idyllic existence, this world of graceful ritual and merciless justice, of children earning their living by prostitution, but it has a savage grandeur to it. Sarah finds a home there, under the watchful eyes of her Baloo, the thief Abalone, and of the mad, frightening, loving Head Wolf. But then word reaches her that the Home wants her back - just her.

Why can't Sarah talk? Does it have anything to do with the fact that she can hear inanimate objects talking? Why can't she remember anything but the fuzziest memories of her childhood - and why are her dragons so reluctant to discuss it with her? Why would an asylum short on funds go to such effort and expense to find one autistic woman? And how far will Sarah go to find out the answers?

And more importantly, when push comes to shove, will her newfound Pack stand with her, or will they turn on the strangest, most troublesome of their Wolves?

It's a beautiful story, beautifully written. I usually hate stories told in the present tense, but from Sarah's first-person perspective it sets an interesting mood, at once keenly observant and somewhat detached. The language of Sarah's quotes and of the Jungle Book sayings adopted by the Pack lends an otherworldly feel to the story.

This book was so truly unique and imaginative! I was riveted. Jane Lindskold created a multi-dimensional universe. I was fascinated by the elements of animation she brought to the various characters... stuffed animals, even walls. I even really loved the illustration on the cover. I would recommend this book most highly to someone seeking the unusual

This book is wonderfully written and it involves the reader in the life of the main character, I dropped everything else I was doing and started reading it immediately, and finished it the next morning when I couldn't keep my eyes open and had to go to sleep. The themes are interesting and novel and for once a story about someone who is is not mentally stable is told in a way that makes the rest of the world seem disturbed. If you're a fantasy fan or a fan of excellent writing, I definitely recommend reading this novel

Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls has been my favorite book for years. I was enticed by the cover picture when I saw it, thought the plotline seemed interesting, and was blown away by the book. I've read it a good twenty times now, and refuse to lend it out--except to my fiance before we lived together, and I nagged him for days to finish it because I wanted it back to read again! It's a very comfortable read that sucks you in so you can't put it down. I wish I lived in the Jungle, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is even remotely intrigued by the blurb on the back cover... because my expectations were vastly exceeded when I actually read the book.

I read this book when I was in middle school and have looked for it a couple of times since. It has an interesting premise, the writing is superb and the characters are interesting. All in all a beautiful read but lacking in substance. I wanted more depth on the society that Sarah finds herself in and a more thought provoking foundation to the book. This will always have a special place on my bookcase however because it was the first book I read that dealt with mental illness not as a destructive force but a trade off or just a different way of being.

Apparently I am in the minority of disliking this book, but here my honest review of it regardless.

This book was such a disappointment to me. At first glance - the premise of the plot seems really intriguing. A 30 year old woman named Sarah lives in a Home for mentally handicapped people. (she is autistic) However, she can communicate by repeating quotes from literature. She carries with her a two-headed toy dragon that is named Betwixt and Between. Sarah has an unusual gift - she can talk with her dragon, and is able to communicate with other inanimate objects. When budgets are cut, Sarah is more or less kicked out of the Home to wonder the streets alone. This is where the story becomes disappointing for me. Sarah is found by Abalone, a shirtless young girl with a wolfhead tattoo between her breasts - and takes her to "the jungle" to meet the "head wolf" and learn the "jungle laws." Sarah becomes a part of this underground society where Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book" is the basis of how they rule.

As a reader I was not interested in the story of the "the jungle" and the people in it. I am interested in Sarah, in her gift, in her unique ability to communicate. Unfortunately, the author does not explore that very much. The book had an amazing idea but it just fell flat. I kept reading because it was compelling - however, I ended up exchanging the book for something else, cause quite frankly, I was so disappointed in it.

Perhaps you may enjoy the story of the "headwolf" and `the jungle' - I however could care less. This book didn't seem to have depth or heart to it. Just an interesting little premise that wasn't nurtured into a proper story.

I love Jane Lindskold's writing and I was fascinated to learn that she had a book I had managed to miss. After reading it twice, I have to say it is not the best book I have ever read, but it is well-thought out and fun. I enjoyed the main character quite a lot. I feel the first two-thirds of the book and the last third have a disconnect in style and plot. If you like fantastical sci-fi and a book that is a little bit twisted, you will like this book.

Although I love her "WOLF" series, with some minor reservations, I subsequently have been reading her other efforts and these look to be more like a beginers attempts at serious writing.