Dimity Iverwold may not be a dragon, but she is just as fierce, accomplished, and intelligent as any of the great dragons who watch over Abberline society. As such, when her twin brother announces that he is off to the countryside in the midst of Dragon Season, she is aghast. She will, after all, have to go with Chambrey to protect him from all those awful fortune hunters — and, it turns out, dragon hunters! Fortunately, Dimity can call upon the assistance of old family friend Mr. Rackham and several redoubtable dragons as she schemes to keep her brother free of the shackles of matrimony … though her own heart may be lost in the process ….

Tansy Rayner Roberts is one of my favorite fantasy authors. As such, I was thrilled when I learned that she had written a Regency fantasy modeled after Pride and Prejudice. And The Season of Dragons did not disappoint.

This is a witty, frothy, fast-paced tale filled with sympathetic characters, delicious teas, cunning dragons, conniving villains, heartfelt friendships, and (of course) happy endings. As Roberts notes, The Season of Dragons is dedicated to the original Caroline Bingley, a character who is generally looked upon as a villain in Pride and Prejudice. Here, she gets her own deserved happy ending.

Additionally, I love the society that Roberts has created. As Dimity says near the beginning, “Summer is for hunting and autumn is for hoarding. Winter is for the long rest […] Spring is the season of dragons.” Dragons sleep during the winter, and their awakening in the spring, when they rejoin the human families they watch over, is a time of celebration. There are balls and teas to attend, and art and fashion to admire, and so much gossip to share! Even the buildings accommodate this mixed human-dragon society, with most public venues and larger homes including rooms just for dragons; even separate “cottages.” And when a young dragon begins to show their colors and collect their first hoard, it is a sign of honor if the dragon … um … borrows an item to start that collection.

Just as dragons are valued by high society, so dragon hunters are looked down upon; even reviled. Hunters generally hide their occupation if they hope to be accepted in polite society. Unfortunately, as Dimity discovers, such is not the case in the more isolated villages of the countryside. There, she makes acquaintance with the Bellamy family, whose daughters have the temerity to wear jewelry made from dragon parts to a ball! Awful!

And, finally, can I just say how much I love the adorable relationship between young Tatiana Rackham and the just-got-her-colors dragon Quartz? I would love to see a sequel with these two having an adventure of their own.

The Season of Dragons is a terrific Regency fantasy, and a wonderful homage to Austen’s original novel. Highly recommended to fans of the genre, as well as fans of The Harwood Spellbook series and the Regency Dragons series by Stephanie Burgis; The Lady Jewel Diviner series by Rosalie Oaks; Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons by Quenby Olson; the Regency Mage series by Joyce Harmon; and The Dragons of Mayfair series by EB Wheeler.