Dan Trefethen's Reviews > The Naturalist Society

In a sense this is a female empowerment story like so many others in the genre these days, especially those dealing with the power of witches. But it's so much more.

It's late in the 19th century, and our focus is The Naturalist Society which builds on the legacy of Carl Linnaeus who developed the basic taxonomies for the natural world. However, in this world we have Arcane Taxonomists who gain their power from the names of the creatures they observe.

Gaining power from names in a well known fantasy trope, but here it is done fresh by marrying it to the paternalism and oppression of women of the 19th century. It is thought that only men can work Arcane spells, but of course there are powerful women, including our protagonist Beth Stanley, who can do it too, but are disregarded or suborned by the men.

Beth has been the power behind her husband Harry until he suddenly dies, leaving her without a method to pursue and publish her work. She meets up with two of Harry's friends, one an Arcane practitioner and the other a rugged explorer, who make a formidable team. It becomes clear they are more than just a team.

One thing that's impressive about this novel is the sexual politics. It sort of goes the way you expect, and then it expands outwards in unexpected ways. These three characters are extremely well drawn and memorable. The way they navigate their way through society while hiding secrets is nicely developed and strong. The way it goes horribly wrong for Beth is stunning, but true to life; women who did not fit into society's preconceptions were sometimes removed from society and sequestered away.

Finally, I want to say something about Carrie Vaughn's work.

She is best known for a series about Kitty, a werewolf who runs a late night radio call-in show. That premise never appealed to me. So I didn't discover Vaughn's work until a read her collection 'Amaryllis and Other Stories'. I moved on to read her novel 'Bannerless' (which won the Philip K. Dick Award for best original paperback publication of the year) and the follow-up, 'The Wild Dead'. The 'Bannerless' world felt as if it was something Le Guin could have written. Her Tor.com story 'That Game We Played During the War' dealt with the telepath vs. non-telepath situation as good as (if not better than) Bester's 'The Demolished Man'.

What I'm saying is, when Vaughn picks up a theme and style that suits her, she nails it. This book is no different. It is largely about birds (Beth is an excellent birder and observer), and deals with 19th century questions of evolution and whether a species can die out due to humans, as well as the female empowerment vs. repression issues. And then there's the manifestation of powers through invoking nature's creatures – very creative.

What I'm saying is, Vaughn is a reliably engaging and thoughtful writer regardless of story.

Sigh. I may have to go back and read the werewolf books after all.