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annathepiperAfter the densely packed prose of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, it was rather a relief to tear through Empire of Ivory, the fourth installment of ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
naominovik's Temeraire series--which roared along at quite a satisfying pace and as always, latched onto my attention and refused to let it go until I was done.
This time around we have Captain Laurence and Temeraire up against the challenge of a plague that threatens to kill off the entire dragon population of Britain. The search for a cure builds nicely upon earlier details from Books Two and Three, following up on not only Temeraire's own earlier illness, but also his efforts to enlighten his fellow dragons to the virtues of liberty and self-determination, Laurence's ongoing relationship with Jane Roland and the status of her daughter Emily, and the bringing of the twenty feral dragons from Book Three to England. Iskierka, now grown, is absolutely delightful ("you didn't say it had to be a French ship", hee hee). The plot's taking the reader to Africa gives us another opportunity to see the parallels between human slavery and dragon servitude; the further developing of the characters of Jane and Catherine Harcourt gives us more opportunity to see how women officers in the aerial corps still have quite the ongoing battle of their own to win in British society.
And oh my, the ending. I won't say anything about it except this: AUGH! And that Ms. Novik now has me on tenterhooks awaiting Book Five! Four stars.
naominovik's Temeraire series--which roared along at quite a satisfying pace and as always, latched onto my attention and refused to let it go until I was done.This time around we have Captain Laurence and Temeraire up against the challenge of a plague that threatens to kill off the entire dragon population of Britain. The search for a cure builds nicely upon earlier details from Books Two and Three, following up on not only Temeraire's own earlier illness, but also his efforts to enlighten his fellow dragons to the virtues of liberty and self-determination, Laurence's ongoing relationship with Jane Roland and the status of her daughter Emily, and the bringing of the twenty feral dragons from Book Three to England. Iskierka, now grown, is absolutely delightful ("you didn't say it had to be a French ship", hee hee). The plot's taking the reader to Africa gives us another opportunity to see the parallels between human slavery and dragon servitude; the further developing of the characters of Jane and Catherine Harcourt gives us more opportunity to see how women officers in the aerial corps still have quite the ongoing battle of their own to win in British society.
And oh my, the ending. I won't say anything about it except this: AUGH! And that Ms. Novik now has me on tenterhooks awaiting Book Five! Four stars.
