Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
The story seems to turn harsher, and humans once again play a major part. There seems to be little enough actual action, which makes this book appear to be more like book one of part two of the series than book four of the series, but the supposed cliffhanger at the end most likely is no cliffhanger at all. Truth be told, I finished it quite some time ago and I barely remember anything about the first half of it, so it's a very important part of the overall story and reveals even more about the characters, but the action is not so memorable in itself.
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Started it, realized it was going to be more of the same stuff I didn’t enjoy in the previous three books, dropped.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I gave this four stars at first, because Novik is fantastic at sweeping me up and whisking me very briskly away along with her story. Things on the way might make me go "hey, wait, what-" but the pace is fast and her writing is convincing and full of character, and it takes a little while until the whole thing sinks in and I realize the remaining impression of a book isn't as great as I found it right after reading. By which I mean to say: the writing is great and the forward momentum, the ever heightening sense of urgency and pressure on the characters is genuinely suspenseful, but ultimately a few things that happened left me not as into this one as the three previous books.
All the death bummed me out. Crew members are dying a lot, and I suppose it's to illustrate how dangerous the situations they're all in are? But it happens often enough and with so little effect on the survivors from a narrative standpoint that it just ends up feeling kind of gratuitous. The one death that did have something of an impact was so unnecessary and disappointing, too. I really didn't like it, and I'm not someone who dislikes bad things happening as a rule, it just felt... so wasteful. There aren't enough characters of color in these books that one of them dying isn't going to be felt. I also wasn't a fan of Riley coming back to be into slavery and treating black women badly. I genuinely am not sure if I'm supposed to be okay with his side story with Catherine and how it resolved at the end? After the way he treats Mrs. Erasmus mid-novel and the way he's our resident pro-chattel slavery character, how am I supposed to feel anything but extreme dislike about this? But the whole thing is presented in good humor and he's written as "so honorable, except for all the racism" and I don't understand why anyone should forgive him for all the fighting and tension previously, least of all me. I hated it.
I don't like the way Novik writes the female characters in these books much in general, and I might as well say something about it in the review to this one. It's not so much the characterization - it's fine, they're amazing and I love them - but that they're consistently written off the page and given little to no character development. They don't matter. It's not that I automatically dislike a book having a male focus, it's not what I prefer generally but I don't dislike it. It's that they're introduced to be cool and then written out again in such unsatisfying way, it makes them seem like alibis. Catherine's entire subplot in this book is so aggravating.
Not everything is terrible of course, I enjoy my time with series even when I don't like what it does. The dragon plague plot is suspenseful, and where it ultimately ends up is a fantastic moment of character development for both Temeraire and Laurence, one that's sure to keep taking them to interesting places both internally and externally in books to come. As always I doubt the portrayal of the Tswana is the most accurate or sensitive, but as always I'd rather read see this series acknowledging and contending with slavery,and writing African peoples as playing a role in world politics, than not do that. Demane and Sipho are great and wonderful additions to the recurring cast, and Temeraire and Laurence are delightful, as always. I'm notably less into this than the other books in the series so far, but I still liked it.
All the death bummed me out. Crew members are dying a lot, and I suppose it's to illustrate how dangerous the situations they're all in are? But it happens often enough and with so little effect on the survivors from a narrative standpoint that it just ends up feeling kind of gratuitous. The one death that did have something of an impact was so unnecessary and disappointing, too. I really didn't like it, and I'm not someone who dislikes bad things happening as a rule, it just felt... so wasteful. There aren't enough characters of color in these books that one of them dying isn't going to be felt. I also wasn't a fan of Riley coming back to be into slavery and treating black women badly. I genuinely am not sure if I'm supposed to be okay with his side story with Catherine and how it resolved at the end? After the way he treats Mrs. Erasmus mid-novel and the way he's our resident pro-chattel slavery character, how am I supposed to feel anything but extreme dislike about this? But the whole thing is presented in good humor and he's written as "so honorable, except for all the racism" and I don't understand why anyone should forgive him for all the fighting and tension previously, least of all me. I hated it.
I don't like the way Novik writes the female characters in these books much in general, and I might as well say something about it in the review to this one. It's not so much the characterization - it's fine, they're amazing and I love them - but that they're consistently written off the page and given little to no character development. They don't matter. It's not that I automatically dislike a book having a male focus, it's not what I prefer generally but I don't dislike it. It's that they're introduced to be cool and then written out again in such unsatisfying way, it makes them seem like alibis. Catherine's entire subplot in this book is so aggravating.
Not everything is terrible of course, I enjoy my time with series even when I don't like what it does. The dragon plague plot is suspenseful, and where it ultimately ends up is a fantastic moment of character development for both Temeraire and Laurence, one that's sure to keep taking them to interesting places both internally and externally in books to come. As always I doubt the portrayal of the Tswana is the most accurate or sensitive, but as always I'd rather read see this series acknowledging and contending with slavery,and writing African peoples as playing a role in world politics, than not do that. Demane and Sipho are great and wonderful additions to the recurring cast, and Temeraire and Laurence are delightful, as always. I'm notably less into this than the other books in the series so far, but I still liked it.
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-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:
Complicated
adventurous
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
adventurous
mysterious
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
Empire of Ivory was a step up from the past couple Temeraire books. This had more of the feel of the original and was much more interesting.