Onward with Temeraire, this time into the depths of the African continent! Today I’m writing four reviews, covering Books 4-7, so it’s all a little overlap-y, but one of the wonderful thing about what Naomi Novik is doing with this series is that she’s truly writing stand-alone books that also happen to build on each other. So, this one, Empire of Ivory, which is Book 4 of currently 8 in the series, takes our heroes, Will Laurence the human and Temeraire the wonderful dragon on […]
Never get involved in a land war in Asia
I will admit, I thought I might be out-smarting these books, with the formula all figured out, but this one, the third in the “Temeraire” series, totally took me on a ride. Delightful, surprising, and exciting. Well played, Novik. Black Powder War bothers with barely any passage of time after Throne of Jade. The company is still in China, preparing for travel back to England, when natural disaster and politics coincide and intervene, causing Laurence and Temeraire to take their scrappy crew of aviators overland […]
Temeraire Meets the Far East
Just in case there was any doubt, dragons are still my JAM. I should clarify that it’s specifically the dragons in Naomi Novik’s world that I am adoring. I’ve never encountered such interesting characters inhabiting and giving personality to such mythic bodies. Sure, lots of great stories have dragons, or dinosaurs, or talking frogs, or whatever. But these dragons are the heart and soul of this corner of the multiverse and I am ON BOARD. Throne of Jade picks up just a few weeks after […]
I’m not crying on the subway; you’re crying on the subway.
I want a dragon. I want a dragon. I want a dragon. No, but seriously, I want a dragon. His Majesty’s Dragon is a really unique and exciting first book in a series with which I’ll definitely continue. I walked into it with no background, other than a friend’s recommendation, and it actually took me by surprise, with quite a bit of delight. So, some background here: Will Laurence is a seasoned captain for the British Navy during the Napoleanic Wars. His crew captures a […]
Lord, show me how to say no to this
I don’t even know where to start with this book. I loved it. I absolutely loved it. I even read some negative reviews of the book and, while they were well-reasoned and I could absolutely see where they were coming from…I don’t care. This book was everything I loved about A Darker Shade of Magic but, unlike that one, this one did hit me right in the feels like, if I can be a total douchebag and quote myself, AN AXE TO THE HEART. I […]
Wherein I disagree with every single other Cannonballer who has reviewed this book
I did not love this book. The more I think about it, I’m not sure I even liked it. Was some of the writing very pretty? Yes. Was the main character likeable? Sure. But that’s about it for positives for this book, in my opinion. Obviously I’m in the minority on this, so please don’t let my…ambivalence about this book stop you from reading it. A brief summary of the plot. Agnieszka is born in a village protected by the Dragon, who is a 150 […]