Mini Review: Another enjoyable installment in the Temeraire series.

Very interesting and appealing to my idealist sensibilities. He gradually began to see the plight of dragons in Europe through Temeraire's eyes and is evolving more and more into the world's first human activist for dragon rights. The colorful and prickly Sultan and his court, the addition of dragon eggs to be protected and cared for, a vengeful Celestial bent not on killing Temeraire, but on stripping him of everything in his life he values were compelling story elements and very exciting to read about.Īlso, Lawrence's evolution of mind was the most interesting aspect of the book. That being said, there was much about this book I loved. The endless descriptions of troop movements and the crushing weight of poor conditions and lack of food on the troops were given too much attention and slowed down the pace of the book. The second part of the book, the Prussian campaign, dragged considerably. I'm sorry to say I think the author fell prey to her own fascination with the military history of the time and lost sight of what the reader's personal interests might be.

If she can, she will destroy everything and everyone Temeraire loves.This was another foray into the foreign culture and politics of the Napoleonic era, this time exploring first Istanbul and the Turkish people and then moving north to the crushing military defeat suffered by the Prussians at Napoleon's hands. Holding Temeraire responsible for the death of her princely companion, Lien has absconded from China consumed by vengeance.

Naomi Novik's stunning series of novels follow the adventures of Cpt Laurence and his dragon Temeraire as they travel from the shores of Britain to China and Africa.īefore Captain Will Laurence can prepare his crew for the slow voyage home from China, new orders arrive for him and his dragon, Temeraire: they must fly home immediately, stopping only in Istanbul to collect three priceless dragon eggs, purchased by the British government from the Ottoman Empire.īut the cross-continental journey is fraught with danger not only will they have to scale mountains and traverse vast hostile deserts, but a Machiavellian herald precedes them, spreading political menace in her wake.

Black Powder War by Naomi Novik