Tooth and Claw (Mass Market Paperback)

by Jo Walton (Author) "Bon Agornin writhed on his deathbed, his wings beating as if he would fly to his new life in his old body..." (more)
Key Phrases: speaking room, sleeping cave, young dragons, Illustrious Daverak, Exalt Benandi, Bon Agornin (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Dragons ritually eat dragons in order to gain strength and power in Walton's enthralling new fantasy (after 2002's The Prize in the Game), set amid a hierarchical society that includes a noble ruling class, an established church, servants and retainers. On the death of the dragon Bon Agornin, his parson son Penn, one of five siblings (two male and three female), declares, "We must now partake of his remains, that we might grow strong with his strength, remembering him always." But Bon's greedy son-in-law, Illustrious Daverak, consumes more than his fair share of the departed dragon, setting off a chain of unexpected and, at times, calamitous events for each sibling. Avan, the younger son, decides to litigate for compensation. One unmarried daughter, on moving in with the married sister and Daverak, discovers a house filled with injustice, while the other unmarried daughter goes off with Penn and falls in love. Full of political intrigue and romance, this provocative read sets the stage for further adventures in a world that, as the author admits in her prefatory note, "owes a lot to Anthony Trollope's Framley Parsonage." FYI: In 2002, Walton received a John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
Walton says this book is "the result of wondering what a world would be like if the axioms of the sentimental Victorian novel were inescapable laws of biology." It is also something truly different in the line of the novel. After a father dies, his children must deal with the circumstances of his death. One son, a parson, agonizes over his sire's deathbed confession. Another starts a court case to gain the inheritance. One daughter must choose between her family of origin and her husband. Another falls in love, but her course does not run smoothly thereafter. So what's different about all that? Well, everyone in the story is a dragon, and in their society, children eat their deceased parents, and the stronger eat the weaker, for only by eating the flesh of its kind can a dragon achieve full strength and power. So therein lies the difference, and the distinction of a little masterpiece of originality. Frieda Murray
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Tor Fantasy (November 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765349094
• ISBN-13: 978-0765349095
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #787,159 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I only want you to marry a *certain* sort of dragon..., December 13, 2003

By	David Roy (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Tooth and Claw (Hardcover)

Some fantasy novels are epic, with rich plot lines, multiple characters on a quest to save the world from some hidden magic or powerful being. These books can be a lot of fun and very interesting, though often the plot overshadows the characters. Other fantasy novels are light and fluffy comedies where nothing much happens but they make you laugh your tail off.

Finally, there are those fantasy novels that really defy description. Tooth and Claw, by Jo Walton. As the dust jacket says, this is a novel that is based on the Victorian novels of Anthony Trollope. Walton takes the Victorian setting, and gives it huge twist: all of the characters are dragons. Yes, that's right. Fire-breathing (though not all of them do) lizards that can fly (though not all of them can). And, most importantly, proper fire-breathing dragons who have formed a society based on class structure, money (especially gold and treasure) and arranged marriage. Walton takes this concept and writes an intriguing story of family honour and love. It's a real treat to read.

The plot description doesn't sound very interesting. I think that's because this sort of plot usually does nothing for me. It does sound rather dull, doesn't it? I would not have read this book if I hadn't both received this as a review copy and been a big fan of Jo Walton. However, I'm glad I did, because I think it transcends the genre and becomes a nifty little (256 pages) novel in its own right. When I say "transcends the genre," I'm speaking as somebody who has not read any Victorian fiction, so Walton may be way off in her homage. However, Walton is good enough that I trust she hit it pretty good.

The conceit that dragons are living in a Victorian-style society is simply a wonderful concept that Walton does a lot with. She adds the proper-sounding customs and traditions (dowries, arranged marriages, family honour and the like), and then mixes that with touches of her own (the eating of the dead to make the rest of the family stronger, the binding of servants' wings so that they can't fly away and the ritual binding of the wings for religious figures) that simply add to the fantasy element but still blends favourably with the Victorian style. Every once in a while, you forget that you're reading a book about dragons, and then Walton will mention something about wings, flying, or the size of the dragons and you'll remember that she's talking about beasts that can reach up to 40 feet long.

Walton tells the tale with the gentleness and humour that, I imagine, most Victorian novels have. Her prose is again wonderful, making the genre conventions her own and putting her own spin on them. At times, the narrator of the piece intercedes to speak directly to the reader (something else that may be a genre technique, though I don't know), bringing a humour aside or clarifying a point that the reader may have missed. I thought this would be distracting, but it doesn't turn out to be. I would call the whole style of the book "pleasant." There are a couple of deaths, but only one through violence and even that is not vividly described. Thus, it is not a page-turner, and you have to lose yourself in the writing or already be a fan of this type of story in order to make it through. If this style bores you and you find you're not entranced by Walton's evocative writing, then even 256 pages will seem too long.

I haven't said anything about the characters yet, and that's mostly because there isn't a whole lot to say. They fit what I imagine are the genre character roles they are supposed to fit: women who are either looking for their place in society or who have already married and found their place, men who are either conceited in their status or just trying to make their way in the world as well as find a suitable woman to marry and have a clutch of dragonets with, servants who try not to be noticed (or, in the case of Daverak's servants, eaten), and local religious figures who are either soft and noble (Penn) or pushy and arrogant (Blessed Frelt). Walton does a great job with all of these characters, making us care about them and letting them stretch the bonds of their Victorian roles without losing the basics of them.

There is nothing deep or meaningful about Tooth and Claw, and nothing earth-shattering in its presentation. Instead, we get a delightful story that reminds us of old times, washing over us with a feeling of nostalgia and a quieter time. If you're a fan of Victorian novels, you'll probably like this one despite the fact it's about dragons. However, I don't think the reverse is true. I don't feel myself drawn to any other stories like this, and it's Walton's ability to bring me into the fold that makes this book a standout.

David Roy

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sick of fantasy? Rekindle the love..., April 25, 2005

By	Molly's 20-Word Reviews "short & sweet" (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

Scheming clergymen. Heartfelt do-gooders. Social-climbing petty nobility. And they're all scaly, semi-bipedal, twenty-plus-foot-long dragons.

I ordinarily despise fantasy tropes such as dragons, the Good/Wee/Seelie folk and the like. I'm not even sure what led me to pick up this book in the first place--maybe the fact that Ms. Walton won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, maybe the Jane Yolen blurb on the back. But good heavens, I'm certainly glad I did.

Walton's spot-on narrative style captures the things I love best about comedies of manners, whether penned by Jane Austen or Lois McMaster Bujold. Without once becoming mired in exposition, she deftly portrays a society at once wholly alien and wholly familiar. The customs may be different, the players reptilian, but the drives and conflicts and personalities ring wonderfully true. The plot is deliciously complex, every strand woven skilfully into a lip-smackingly satisfying denouement.

Thank you, Ms. Walton, for this incredibly enjoyable read! And thank you for not ending on a cliffhanger and signaling the beginning of an interminable series... though I would, very much, like to read some more about the dragons of Agornin and their friends and foes someday. Please?

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Austen, Trollope, and dragons..., March 12, 2004

By	Kelly Link (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Tooth and Claw (Hardcover)

This book was a delight. I love Austen, Trollope, and Heyer, and I also love good fantasy novels. I've never read Walton before, but will now hunt up everything of hers that I can find -- On a basic level, Tooth and Claw works much the same way that Watership Down worked. It doesn't matter that the characters are dragons, not humans. They are perfectly believable. Walton's writing is sharp, funny, and addictive. The Austen-like mores & social politics make a perfect kind of sense for the dragons in Walton's book. Social rituals and courtesies are crucial in a society where larger dragons might otherwise eat smaller, weaker dragons. This is definitely one of the strangest books that I've read this year, but it's also one of my favorites. Highly recommended for anyone who loved the books of Austen, or Heyer (or Laurie Colwin's more contemporary novels, for that matter), and wishes that someone was still writing social comedies that were just as sharp and just as pleasurable.