50 in '11: #7
Feb. 14th, 2011 08:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sakon76Title: Tongues of Serpents
Author: Naomi Novik
Length: 274 pages
This would be book six of the Temeraire books, out of a planned nine (or at least so I assume since in the dedication the author mentions two friends who helped her plan out the final three novels of the series). So far the series has covered Europe, Asia, Africa, and with this volume hits Australia. Given the geography-hopping and a couple of tertiary characters in the book, I'm going to assume that South and North America are next, then probably finishing the series back in England. Given that exploration of Antarctica didn't start until several decades after the point when the series is set, I'll assume Novik is going to skip the southernmost continent. :)
So we have Laurence and Temeraire, and Granby and Iskierka in Australia, waiting and exploring and guarding three dragon eggs, until one is stolen, prompting a cross-continental chase trying to recover it. The book seems lighter than its predecessors; I wonder if it was due to lack of research done by, or available to, the author? In any case, I end up convinced more than ever that Australia is not the continent for me. Though I did enjoy the inclusion of the bunyips. Hooray for cryptids being intelligent and resourceful yet at the same time incredibly alien and dangerous! The section with the trading colony was also well-done, a good use of Laurence's legal status as adopted son of the Chinese Emperor, and then there were the unexpected means of conveyance of both mail and traded goods, which were awesome. It feels like watching the sand slip away from under the feet of the British Empire's trade monopoly. While I can sympathize with Laurence's view on the matter, I identify much more with Temeraire's. But then it helps to think that this happens only forty years after America told the British to shove off and made themselves into a new country; politically and philosophically, the world was going through massive changes then, draconic AU or no. And in the end, Laurence finally getting sick of political manipulations was understandable. I mean, really, I'd've cracked three books ago in his position; it's admirable that it took him so long.
Verdict: Not the strongest book in the series, but worth the read. Recommended.
Author: Naomi Novik
Length: 274 pages
This would be book six of the Temeraire books, out of a planned nine (or at least so I assume since in the dedication the author mentions two friends who helped her plan out the final three novels of the series). So far the series has covered Europe, Asia, Africa, and with this volume hits Australia. Given the geography-hopping and a couple of tertiary characters in the book, I'm going to assume that South and North America are next, then probably finishing the series back in England. Given that exploration of Antarctica didn't start until several decades after the point when the series is set, I'll assume Novik is going to skip the southernmost continent. :)
So we have Laurence and Temeraire, and Granby and Iskierka in Australia, waiting and exploring and guarding three dragon eggs, until one is stolen, prompting a cross-continental chase trying to recover it. The book seems lighter than its predecessors; I wonder if it was due to lack of research done by, or available to, the author? In any case, I end up convinced more than ever that Australia is not the continent for me. Though I did enjoy the inclusion of the bunyips. Hooray for cryptids being intelligent and resourceful yet at the same time incredibly alien and dangerous! The section with the trading colony was also well-done, a good use of Laurence's legal status as adopted son of the Chinese Emperor, and then there were the unexpected means of conveyance of both mail and traded goods, which were awesome. It feels like watching the sand slip away from under the feet of the British Empire's trade monopoly. While I can sympathize with Laurence's view on the matter, I identify much more with Temeraire's. But then it helps to think that this happens only forty years after America told the British to shove off and made themselves into a new country; politically and philosophically, the world was going through massive changes then, draconic AU or no. And in the end, Laurence finally getting sick of political manipulations was understandable. I mean, really, I'd've cracked three books ago in his position; it's admirable that it took him so long.
Verdict: Not the strongest book in the series, but worth the read. Recommended.
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Date: 2011-02-15 05:17 am (UTC)