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wizardcantrips's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Sexism, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Gore, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Sexual harassment
beaundarrows's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I decided to pick this series back up after quite a few years break. I'd entirely forgotten how dense the dialogue is. Not something one might usually say about the dialogue, but jesus.
Infuriatingly proper. Like, painfully. Certainly not something my early-morning brain can easily deal with. I have to read some lines more than once to parse it.
It's not only the dialogue, of course. Almost the entire book is written in this overly careful way. I know it's done this way to be evocative of the time period, and it's very effective in that. It just makes for heavy, slow reading sometimes. I found I couldn't read this one during my morning commute very often. This was more for the trip home.
At about 93%, however, there was a section that seemed to read entirely differently. As they began quietly taking over the transport ships, the writing shifted somehow. It's still excellently descriptive, not overly flowery. It reads a hell of a lot more easily than almost all the rest of the book. The language was a lot less dense. I don't know if this was deliberate on Novik's part. Did she realise it was different? Who knows. Either way, it was a nice little respite from that very specific style of English.
I don't know if Hammond is meant to be a likable character. I can't decide if I do or not. He's a pompous windbag most of the time, always thinking he knows better. But he's literally just doing his job. So, I did find it at the same time very strange, but also heartwarming that the Incan dragon Churki really decided she wanted him. She's willing to go back to England with him. Weird.
He seems like he hates the idea, and wants to dissuade her. But the other dragons don't see why she shouldn't go with them.
I didn't get it either. Getting a dragon is a privilege, an honour. Why was he saying no? Not to mention he's pretty much been disgraced as an ambassador and negotiator. Things did <i>not</i> go quite the way he'd hoped and expected.
Really, not a huge amount of exciting things happen in this book. They're travelling, for the most part, getting waylaid, finding a way back to where they were headed, getting waylaid again. It got a little monotonous in parts - a bit like a ship caught in the doldrums (which in the early chapters was exactly what was going on).
The second half is where the more interesting things happen. Meeting new and vastly different types of dragons was really cool. I love the idea of feathered dragons. Very much like I enjoy the idea of feathered dinosaurs. Diversity is interesting.
One of the things I enjoy most is Laurence's use of loving-names for Temeraire. He often calls him "my dear," and that's just darling. He genuinely loves his dragon. This isn't just something thrust upon him by duty to country. And Temeraire's love for Laurence is obvious. But upon reflection, you begin to wonder how much of that is simply due to the imprinting that happens when they hatch.
It's clear now that not all dragons do that. Churki being a plain example. Hers is a more community-driven attachment. That's been her family for generations. Now she's made a choice; and Hammond is it, for whatever reason. I do like the idea that a dragon isn't just driven by that imprint-instinct. They are a living, breathing creature who can make decisions for their own future.
So, I'm giving this a 3 out of 5 stars.
I definitely liked it; I enjoyed myself, for the most part. The language boggs you down sometimes, but you push on through.
Infuriatingly proper. Like, painfully. Certainly not something my early-morning brain can easily deal with. I have to read some lines more than once to parse it.
It's not only the dialogue, of course. Almost the entire book is written in this overly careful way. I know it's done this way to be evocative of the time period, and it's very effective in that. It just makes for heavy, slow reading sometimes. I found I couldn't read this one during my morning commute very often. This was more for the trip home.
At about 93%, however, there was a section that seemed to read entirely differently. As they began quietly taking over the transport ships, the writing shifted somehow. It's still excellently descriptive, not overly flowery. It reads a hell of a lot more easily than almost all the rest of the book. The language was a lot less dense. I don't know if this was deliberate on Novik's part. Did she realise it was different? Who knows. Either way, it was a nice little respite from that very specific style of English.
I don't know if Hammond is meant to be a likable character. I can't decide if I do or not. He's a pompous windbag most of the time, always thinking he knows better. But he's literally just doing his job. So, I did find it at the same time very strange, but also heartwarming that the Incan dragon Churki really decided she wanted him. She's willing to go back to England with him. Weird.
He seems like he hates the idea, and wants to dissuade her. But the other dragons don't see why she shouldn't go with them.
I didn't get it either. Getting a dragon is a privilege, an honour. Why was he saying no? Not to mention he's pretty much been disgraced as an ambassador and negotiator. Things did <i>not</i> go quite the way he'd hoped and expected.
Really, not a huge amount of exciting things happen in this book. They're travelling, for the most part, getting waylaid, finding a way back to where they were headed, getting waylaid again. It got a little monotonous in parts - a bit like a ship caught in the doldrums (which in the early chapters was exactly what was going on).
The second half is where the more interesting things happen. Meeting new and vastly different types of dragons was really cool. I love the idea of feathered dragons. Very much like I enjoy the idea of feathered dinosaurs. Diversity is interesting.
One of the things I enjoy most is Laurence's use of loving-names for Temeraire. He often calls him "my dear," and that's just darling. He genuinely loves his dragon. This isn't just something thrust upon him by duty to country. And Temeraire's love for Laurence is obvious. But upon reflection, you begin to wonder how much of that is simply due to the imprinting that happens when they hatch.
It's clear now that not all dragons do that. Churki being a plain example. Hers is a more community-driven attachment. That's been her family for generations. Now she's made a choice; and Hammond is it, for whatever reason. I do like the idea that a dragon isn't just driven by that imprint-instinct. They are a living, breathing creature who can make decisions for their own future.
So, I'm giving this a 3 out of 5 stars.
I definitely liked it; I enjoyed myself, for the most part. The language boggs you down sometimes, but you push on through.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Slavery
apersonfromflorida's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Slavery
Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, and Sexism
directorpurry's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racism
deckofdragons's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Slavery
Minor: Homophobia
szuum's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexism
rini's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Colonisation
ailsaod's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Well this book is a roller-coaster! There are a couple sections that are quite slow paced but this never lasts long and much of the book flies past at breakneck speed. Often the events that signal an acceleration of the pace are quite jarring (one in particular made me almost think I had accidentally skipped a page) but the characters find these events equally jarring so I do not necessarily think this is a bad thing!
This book breaks from the pov traditions previously present in the series (first only Laurence and then Laurence and Temeraire from book 5 onwards) and gives us a delightful prologue from Hammond's pov which is hilarious for many many reasons I don't want to spoil.
Laurence and Temeraire take a bit of a back seat in this book although are still the main characters and the spotlight is on Granby and Iskierska as well as somewhat on Hammond. As a result I want someone to hit Hammond soooooo badly now.
Also can I just say that I am so glad Novik is keeping O'Dea around as every time he gloomily tells people his tidings of woe I have to laugh. How is this man so dramatic??
This book does deal with some heavier topics such as colonialism, nationalism, slavery and associated racism - which are not unusual for the series - but there is also an appearance of period typical homophobia that I personally found somewhat upsetting. Laurence may be pretty woke for the era but he's not woke enough for this. While this isn't in any way unexpected and I wouldn't have expected otherwise it was sad to see.
Also if you are a fan of Tharkay then I'm afraid you are straight out of luck as he is nowhere to be seen! A truly heartbreaking occurrence!!!
This book breaks from the pov traditions previously present in the series (first only Laurence and then Laurence and Temeraire from book 5 onwards) and gives us a delightful prologue from Hammond's pov which is hilarious for many many reasons I don't want to spoil.
Laurence and Temeraire take a bit of a back seat in this book although are still the main characters and the spotlight is on Granby and Iskierska as well as somewhat on Hammond. As a result I want someone to hit Hammond soooooo badly now.
Also can I just say that I am so glad Novik is keeping O'Dea around as every time he gloomily tells people his tidings of woe I have to laugh. How is this man so dramatic??
This book does deal with some heavier topics such as colonialism, nationalism, slavery and associated racism - which are not unusual for the series - but there is also an appearance of period typical homophobia that I personally found somewhat upsetting. Laurence may be pretty woke for the era but he's not woke enough for this. While this isn't in any way unexpected and I wouldn't have expected otherwise it was sad to see.
Also if you are a fan of Tharkay then I'm afraid you are straight out of luck as he is nowhere to be seen! A truly heartbreaking occurrence!!!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, and Slavery
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