Reading List Update: # 33 - 37
Jun. 22nd, 2008 04:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jedibuttercupFive more books, all more or less "historical fantasy": one fairy tale adapted to Victorian England and four dragon novels set during the Napoleonic era.
33. The Gates of Sleep by Mercedes Lackey. Paperback, 446pp. 2nd of the Elemental Masters series. I found this one much like the last: amazingly textured world-building and character presentation, a well-set-up plot, and an inspired reworking of the original fairy-tale concept. Unfortunately, it feels like she ran out of steam right before the resolution, and a few elements of it (the romance, particularly) are missing enough setup that they feel rushed and unconvincing. I liked it enough to keep and continue with the series, but I've read better from her.
34. His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik. Paperback, 384pp. 1st of the Temeraire series. One of the reviews for this story compares it to Patrick O'Brian with dragons: and as I am a fan of both the Aubrey-Maturin series and dragon stories, I've had it in my "to read" stack for awhile. I'm glad I started reading it on a Friday, because I couldn't put it down until I'd gone through all four books (so far) in the series. Very much as advertised: a British Naval captain accidentally acquires a dragon egg about to hatch, and ends up switching services to work with the Aviators. This one's mostly set-up: dragon and rider getting to know each other and their new life, complete with a well-detailed world, struggles both personal and larger-scale, and concludes with a victory.
35. Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik. Paperback, 432pp. 2nd of the Temeraire series. The plot thickens: Temeraire has turned out to be of a particularly rare, intelligent Chinese breed that is reserved for the Imperial family and never trained for war, and there is much political to-do over the fact that he ended up in Britain as a fighting-dragon with a companion of lower status. Instead of being of use in the war, he and his Captain, Will Laurence, must go with a political envoy to China in an attempt to patch up British/Chinese relations and hopefully find a way for them to stay together without prompting the Chinese to back the French in the war. In the process, they survive several assassination attempts and acquire many radical ideas about the treatment of dragons (which parallel the abolition theme also present in the books, and which are a persistent thread through the series so far). Still loving the worldbuilding.
36. Black Powder War by Naomi Novik. Paperback, 400pp. 3rd of the Temeraire series. Temeraire and Laurence managed to resolve the Chinese situation in a favorable way, but made a deadly enemy in the process: Lien, another Celestial dragon. As they travel back to Britain with orders to pick up a set of dearly-bought dragon eggs along the way, they run into several complications, and then get caught up in the war: Lien stopped in the Ottoman Empire just long enough to spoke their wheels, then joined up with Bonaparte and revolutionized the way the French fight with dragons, giving the French a serious advantage in the war. Some of the minor characters really shone in this one; I particularly liked the half-British guide, the feral dragons he coaxed to join them, and the baby Turkish fire-breathing dragon, Iskierka. Unfortunately, the book ends with a retreat, not a victory, as the British never show up to give assistance to their allies, and Temeraire and Laurence finally head home, unsure what they're facing.
37. Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik. Paperback, 404pp. 4th of the Temeraire series. Dragon and Captain are back in Britain now-- where they discover that all of Britain's dragons are ill and dying of a consumption-like disease. Much political brouhaha at the beginning, before they realize that Temeraire's cold in Book 2 was the same disease. So as soon as Iskierka and the ferals are ready to take up the defense of Britain, Temeraire and the rest of their old formation are sent to Africa to see if they can figure out which of the many things he ate there cured him. They encounter a very interesting African culture there with a unique relationship to their dragons-- one that unfortunately will not be reconciled to their presence, and is intent on exterminating the slave trade. Luckily, Temeraire's party finds the cure first and escapes; unluckily, the PTBs back in Britain use it to do something unthinkable as soon as their own dragons have recovered. The book ends with a cliff-hanger as Temeraire and Laurence react.
Overall verdict on Temeraire: Not quite Jim Butcher-level awesomeness, but I'm definitely a fan. I'll be buying Book 5 when it comes out July 8th.
Next book: Um. I'll be away on vacation June 25 to July 7, so I can't say for sure; you'll just have to see what I post when I get back.
~
33. The Gates of Sleep by Mercedes Lackey. Paperback, 446pp. 2nd of the Elemental Masters series. I found this one much like the last: amazingly textured world-building and character presentation, a well-set-up plot, and an inspired reworking of the original fairy-tale concept. Unfortunately, it feels like she ran out of steam right before the resolution, and a few elements of it (the romance, particularly) are missing enough setup that they feel rushed and unconvincing. I liked it enough to keep and continue with the series, but I've read better from her.
34. His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik. Paperback, 384pp. 1st of the Temeraire series. One of the reviews for this story compares it to Patrick O'Brian with dragons: and as I am a fan of both the Aubrey-Maturin series and dragon stories, I've had it in my "to read" stack for awhile. I'm glad I started reading it on a Friday, because I couldn't put it down until I'd gone through all four books (so far) in the series. Very much as advertised: a British Naval captain accidentally acquires a dragon egg about to hatch, and ends up switching services to work with the Aviators. This one's mostly set-up: dragon and rider getting to know each other and their new life, complete with a well-detailed world, struggles both personal and larger-scale, and concludes with a victory.
35. Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik. Paperback, 432pp. 2nd of the Temeraire series. The plot thickens: Temeraire has turned out to be of a particularly rare, intelligent Chinese breed that is reserved for the Imperial family and never trained for war, and there is much political to-do over the fact that he ended up in Britain as a fighting-dragon with a companion of lower status. Instead of being of use in the war, he and his Captain, Will Laurence, must go with a political envoy to China in an attempt to patch up British/Chinese relations and hopefully find a way for them to stay together without prompting the Chinese to back the French in the war. In the process, they survive several assassination attempts and acquire many radical ideas about the treatment of dragons (which parallel the abolition theme also present in the books, and which are a persistent thread through the series so far). Still loving the worldbuilding.
36. Black Powder War by Naomi Novik. Paperback, 400pp. 3rd of the Temeraire series. Temeraire and Laurence managed to resolve the Chinese situation in a favorable way, but made a deadly enemy in the process: Lien, another Celestial dragon. As they travel back to Britain with orders to pick up a set of dearly-bought dragon eggs along the way, they run into several complications, and then get caught up in the war: Lien stopped in the Ottoman Empire just long enough to spoke their wheels, then joined up with Bonaparte and revolutionized the way the French fight with dragons, giving the French a serious advantage in the war. Some of the minor characters really shone in this one; I particularly liked the half-British guide, the feral dragons he coaxed to join them, and the baby Turkish fire-breathing dragon, Iskierka. Unfortunately, the book ends with a retreat, not a victory, as the British never show up to give assistance to their allies, and Temeraire and Laurence finally head home, unsure what they're facing.
37. Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik. Paperback, 404pp. 4th of the Temeraire series. Dragon and Captain are back in Britain now-- where they discover that all of Britain's dragons are ill and dying of a consumption-like disease. Much political brouhaha at the beginning, before they realize that Temeraire's cold in Book 2 was the same disease. So as soon as Iskierka and the ferals are ready to take up the defense of Britain, Temeraire and the rest of their old formation are sent to Africa to see if they can figure out which of the many things he ate there cured him. They encounter a very interesting African culture there with a unique relationship to their dragons-- one that unfortunately will not be reconciled to their presence, and is intent on exterminating the slave trade. Luckily, Temeraire's party finds the cure first and escapes; unluckily, the PTBs back in Britain use it to do something unthinkable as soon as their own dragons have recovered. The book ends with a cliff-hanger as Temeraire and Laurence react.
Overall verdict on Temeraire: Not quite Jim Butcher-level awesomeness, but I'm definitely a fan. I'll be buying Book 5 when it comes out July 8th.
Next book: Um. I'll be away on vacation June 25 to July 7, so I can't say for sure; you'll just have to see what I post when I get back.
~
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-06-23 01:09 am (UTC)I haven't read book 4 yet, because I want to re-read the first three first, and I know I'll have to set aside a big slice of time for that, and I haven't yet. Now it sounds like I should wait until Book 5 is out...
no subject
Date: 2008-06-24 02:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-25 05:38 am (UTC)