Reviews

Crucible of Gold by Naomi Novik

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alliegator1015's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

hegoodrich's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

iam's review against another edition

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4.5

Book 7 makes Temeraire and Laurence give up on an idyllic retirement/life sentence in Australia and brings them to South America and the Incan Empire, where things -of course- do not go according to plan.

Content warnings include: shipwreck, character death, amputation, plague, arranged marriage, homophobia, violence and war, graphic injury, lots of people get drunk which leads to extremely ill adviced decisions with horrible consequences, characters are taken prisoner, slavery, hostage situation, dragon attacking humans; mentions of sexual harassment, threat of committing suicide.

Aside from their time spent in the Incan Empire, the journeys to and from are not negligible. A lot of things happen, and while some of them are comical to the reader (if not to the characters), many are horrible.
So much waste of life :(

Overall I like this installment of the series. There are some new reveals to well-known characters and a lot of character development in general, as well as the reappearance of some familiar faces from the earlier books. As usual there is a lot of political machinations going on, many of which are intricate, and often connected back to the war.

sydthewitch's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Obviously I'm a fan as I've made it to book 7. Even so, I continue to be impressed and enchanted by Novik's multicultural world-building.

I was also struck again in this installment by how tactfully and subtly Novik invites and encourages the reader to consider various value systems and principles, including their own, and illustrates how and why those may or may not change over time. The character growth across the cast feels so sincere and earned. A master at the height of her craft!