Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls

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.

My confession: I chose this book purely on its title and cover art.
My punishment: I couldn’t finish it.
My lesson: Never judge a book ….. (you get the idea)

I love the protagonist in Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls. She’s an autistic girl named Sarah who can only speak in literary quotes, communicates with inanimate objects, and carries around a two-headed pet dragon named Betwixt and Between. Sarah is a very intriguing character. I wanted to know more about her and her special talents. I kept waiting for the author to develop Sarah, kept hoping for her to rise above the flat characters surrounding her, kept searching for a definition as to what made Sarah so special. Instead, I got the Jungle and Head Wolf.

I hated the Jungle show more Book element. I found nothing enticing about the Jungle, found it’s leader, Head Wolf, to be an uninspired character and his miscreants even less deserving of Sarah.

I read to where everyone started having sex with everyone and then moved onward. My TBR list is just too long to wait for the author to get to Sarah’s story. I’m not certain she ever would have.

Review first published on Many A Quaint & Curious Volume show less

This was absolutely lovely. The premise is somewhat whimsical, with a heroine who can hear objects speak, but who can only speak in quotes herself. It starts out simple enough, with getting to know her, and when she is adopted by the free people (a pack of street people with a society based on the jungle book), getting to know them and their ways. Before long, the story gets more involved, with finding out who is after Sarah and why, and so do the heists the pack pulls. This was the only thing that jarred me a bit sometimes: at first I had the impression that the street people were young, no older than teenagers. I must have picked up the wrong clues, though, because later it seems that they must be adults at least. The skills and show more technology that they have are certainly advanced. I really do feel that they evolved throughout the book, but perhaps the situation around Sarah helped speed along this development.
Anyway, I could live with the small incongruities easily enough, and I loved the concept of this book, the talking to objects. Sarah is a lovely heroine, in some ways very innocent and sweet, but ultimately not afraid to stand up for herself. And she has friends. She makes friends, which is one of her strengths. The Pack is lovely, and it shows a loyalty that is very attractive, even if they can be harsh as well. I always love it when my books show loyalty and teamwork in its protagonists.

This book was really lovely, and I wonder if it would not do very well if it were released again, riding on the current dystopian YA wave, perhaps with a new cover... show less

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 show more 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. show less

I really enjoyed it. It does have some moments that don't flow as well as other parts, chiefly the Jungle and Head Wolf. But I do see where they were needed to set up other parts of the story. Yes, it is dark, but unfortunately true to how our society deals with the mentally ill and elderly. How often do we see/think how they percieve "us", the sane ones. Still, I'd like to read some more of Sarah's adventures.

#34, 2005

This was an excellent book - not what I was expecting (not having bothered to read what Midwinter wrote at the top of this book's page :D). Judging just by the title, I thought it would be high fantasy, but once I got used to the idea that it wasn't, I loved it. The premise is really interesting - a woman has been "bred" in such a way as to promote magical thinking to the point where she can hear the thoughts of inanimate objects - and I cared about the characters (which, for me, is an important factor in my enjoyment of a book).

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.