Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls (1994)

The first half of this book is kind of genius, then it falls apart into a roiling mass of cliche, as if Lindskold got bored with the story she was telling and just rushed to get the whole thing over with. It's a shame, because the premise is smart--dystopian future, first person narrator who can only speak out loud in found text but can speak to/hear inanimate objects. I'm actually mad about the lost opportunity of this book. ( )

I had pretty much no expectations after [b:Thirteen Orphans|3356979|Thirteen Orphans (Breaking the Wall, #1)|Jane Lindskold|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1312058010s/3356979.jpg|3396128], and this met them. Ugh. Also, reading this 1st person supposedly crazy narrator made me appreciate [b:Marcelo in the Real World|3700085|Marcelo in the Real World|Francisco X. Stork|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328838330s/3700085.jpg|3743599] all the more, even with its imperfection. Oh well.

In her asylum, Sarah is different than the rest. She only speaks in memorized verse--especially Shakespeare and Blake--and always has her vinyl two-headed dragon close by. However, she's not really autistic. When budget cuts force her onto the streets, she falls into a street gang that guards her with fierce protectiveness. Sarah soon realizes something strange: she can hear the voices of more objects than her dragons. Walls speak their security codes, and paintings tell their history. And when a doctor from the asylum that raised her begins a frantic search for Sarah, she'll need all the wiles of her street friends and her own gifts if she'll make it out alive.

I love the premise here. Sarah is an amazing character, and first person narration works perfectly here because she can think like other people, but she doesn't speak or listen like others. The beginning of the book is filled with vibrant characters from the street; on some levels those interactions worked, though some sexual elements felt forced and didn't fit with the rest of the book. Her friend Abalone shines. In the latter half, that feeling isn't there. Sarah is on the run and the cast is limited, and some of the best characters from the beginning fall into stereotypes. It makes the book feel unbalanced. One of the big plot twists at the end was easy to see coming, too. It's not a bad read--it's good for a study of technique alone--but I don't feel it's worth keeping. ( )

What this reminded me of, more than anything, was 'Dark Angel', although it actually precedes it (no one ever accused 'Dark Angel' of any degree of originality): waifish young woman living in an asylum is chucked out onto the streets, finds refuge with a street gang that models itself on 'The Jungle Book' (er, as you would), gradually, with help from her friends, uncovers the Dark Secret of her, as it turns out, bioengineered past. Ever-so-slightly bizarre. ( )

...With her attention mostly on main her character, Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls is not the most balanced novel by Lindskold I have read. The setting and plot are not memorable end of the novel is rather predictable. Still, her unusual main character and the first person narrative, I admit to having a weakness for books written in that style, make up for the novel's flaws. I thought Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls a very good and quite unusual read. Lindskold took on a risky project for her first published novel, but as far as I am concerned the risk paid off. I'm surprised this book didn't receive more attention.

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