Tooth and Claw does what a great fantasy novel ought to do: it draws the reader into its world. The world here appears to be one much like ours, except where the dragons live is called Tiamath. The story appears to be about the Agornin family, a group of five siblings (two male, three female) that have gathered at their father's home to mourn his passing. If I may quote from the back cover of the novel:
"A family deals with the death of their father. A son goes to court for his inheritance. Another son agonizes over his father's deathbed confession. One daughter becomes involved in the abolition movement, while another sacrifices herself for her husband".This would lead one to believe that the story revolves around these events. It's not precisely accurate. Jo Walton uses a deliberate pace and tight control of language to draw us into this world and explores the various ways the members of the Agornin family relate to those around them and to the society that the dragons have created in general. Thus, it is a novel about interrelation more than the story elements that I've quoted above. In fact, most of those elements are either handled very late in the novel. The conclusion is satisfactory, but it seems a bit rushed from the chapter titled "The Second Hearing" onward. Another minor nitpick is the lack of explanation of the dragons' titles. The order isn't quite clear from context.
Still, I think the novel is a success. It is engaging and well-written. I look forward to re-reading it at a later date, as I think familiarity with the contents will lend something to it that I did not have during my first read. I also look forward to reading more of Walton's work and talking about it here.
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