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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
It starts with tragic event:. As Captain Lawrence and Temeraire return to England with the rescued Prussian soldiers they discover that tragedy has struck the dragons of the country. An unknown illness, first thought to be a cold has been introduced by a Native American dragon and has turned deadly. Temeraire however, does not contract the illness and in fact is discovered to have had the cold and been cured during his previous trip to China.
Lawrence and Temeraire set off with the ill members of their formation on a journey to Africa to try and find the mushroom that the Imperial chefs made into a tasty stew while they were in Cape Town that might have been a cure for the mystery illness. They are accompanied by a former slave turned missionary and his family who are bound for Africa to try and bring the Christian faith to the people in their former homeland. However, when they get to Cape Town, they find that the mushroom they are seeking is considered bad as it makes the cattle ill and is destroyed by both European settlers and the cattle raising tribes in the area. Their search takes them further into the interior, where they are captured by members of an African tribe that has ancestor ties to the dragons of the land. Worse, the mushrooms that they found are considered property of the King of the tribe.
Will Laurence and Temeraire be able to get back to England with the medicine they require? or will their African captors do them harm before they can trade for the medicines.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I found it captivating. As well I enjoyed the fact that it delved into the issues of slavery and slave trade both for humans as well as dragons. This book also allows for another break from the War being fought by Napoleon (although the end brings us back to the conflict), and allows the reader to explore another part of the world. Africa at the time was being divided up between the Dutch, Portuguese, British and French without any thought for the people already living there. In modern times there are still repercussions to colonization. I enjoyed seeing this alternate look at what might happen if 1. there were dragons to help protect these people and 2. what would happen is they decided enough was enough.
Lawrence and Temeraire set off with the ill members of their formation on a journey to Africa to try and find the mushroom that the Imperial chefs made into a tasty stew while they were in Cape Town that might have been a cure for the mystery illness. They are accompanied by a former slave turned missionary and his family who are bound for Africa to try and bring the Christian faith to the people in their former homeland. However, when they get to Cape Town, they find that the mushroom they are seeking is considered bad as it makes the cattle ill and is destroyed by both European settlers and the cattle raising tribes in the area. Their search takes them further into the interior, where they are captured by members of an African tribe that has ancestor ties to the dragons of the land. Worse, the mushrooms that they found are considered property of the King of the tribe.
Will Laurence and Temeraire be able to get back to England with the medicine they require? or will their African captors do them harm before they can trade for the medicines.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I found it captivating. As well I enjoyed the fact that it delved into the issues of slavery and slave trade both for humans as well as dragons. This book also allows for another break from the War being fought by Napoleon (although the end brings us back to the conflict), and allows the reader to explore another part of the world. Africa at the time was being divided up between the Dutch, Portuguese, British and French without any thought for the people already living there. In modern times there are still repercussions to colonization. I enjoyed seeing this alternate look at what might happen if 1. there were dragons to help protect these people and 2. what would happen is they decided enough was enough.
I forgot how much I enjoy this world. It really was great to get back here and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series over the course of the rest of the summer
I have no idea how I feel about this book. Despite only being a little longer than the other books in the series so much happen. Which leads into my first complaint about this book is that a lot happen but it all was done in the slowest way possible. The story was dragged down by the tedious day to day tasks that were often repeated to show the passage of time and with the addition of annoying subplots that only slowed down the story more
That all being said I think this book added a lot of interesting things that will make the rest of the book in the series better and it left on one hell of a cliffhanger. So I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series. Also, Laurence and Temeraire's relationship is so pure and always makes these book enjoyable.
Spoiler
The fight with Riley, I get why it happened, especially since they spent most of the book in Africa and would be confronting the slave trade up close and personal. But seeing how as all it did was add pages of being told that they were still not talking it didn't add anything to the story. Also, Harcourt’s pregnancy was really unnecessary. I mean I got what she was going for, to show that the Aviators are very different from mainstream society, but it was unnecessary she established that with Jane in the first book.That all being said I think this book added a lot of interesting things that will make the rest of the book in the series better and it left on one hell of a cliffhanger
Spoiler
Laurence and Temeraire heading back to England to be hanged for treason for preventing the genocide of French dragons
adventurous
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Laurence and Temeraire return to England with Prussian refugees and discover that the entire Corps has been infected with a terrible tuberculosis-like disease; several dragons have died already, and there is no known cure. In desperation, Laurence is dispatched with several dragons of their formation to South Africa, in hopes that if nothing else, the climate will effect an easing of the symptoms.
Once in Africa, they start looking for anything that might possibly cure the dragons and discover a (to humans, at least) smelly mushroom that somehow miraculously eradicates the dragons' symptoms. In their search for more of these mushrooms, Laurence and his fellow captains and crew fall into the hands of a native tribe who cultivate the mushrooms and who, naturally, look upon white men as enemies.
I enjoyed this book, though I do think it's possibly the weakest of the series so far. In writing the above synopsis, I found myself thinking, "Mushrooms to cure TB in dragons... um, well, OK." The mechanism by which the mushrooms cure the dragons isn't ever explained. Perhaps that's in keeping with what would have been early 19th-century technology and science, but it still hits a jarring note, at least in retrospect. Fortunately, the characters and the plot do tend to keep the reader from thinking too deeply about that aspect while reading.
The ending is a real cliff-hanger, though, I must say that much without giving anything else away.
Once in Africa, they start looking for anything that might possibly cure the dragons and discover a (to humans, at least) smelly mushroom that somehow miraculously eradicates the dragons' symptoms. In their search for more of these mushrooms, Laurence and his fellow captains and crew fall into the hands of a native tribe who cultivate the mushrooms and who, naturally, look upon white men as enemies.
I enjoyed this book, though I do think it's possibly the weakest of the series so far. In writing the above synopsis, I found myself thinking, "Mushrooms to cure TB in dragons... um, well, OK." The mechanism by which the mushrooms cure the dragons isn't ever explained. Perhaps that's in keeping with what would have been early 19th-century technology and science, but it still hits a jarring note, at least in retrospect. Fortunately, the characters and the plot do tend to keep the reader from thinking too deeply about that aspect while reading.
The ending is a real cliff-hanger, though, I must say that much without giving anything else away.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Am I really getting tired of this series? I absolutely LOVED the first book (I even read it twice; once in Swedish, then in English), but since then I feel like with every book my interest has decreased. It's not that I don't find it interesting, but... I don't know. Something is lacking for me.
I think this is the best in the series since the first one. The plot of this one was much more involving--more personal and less political, you could say.
I loved the dragons in Africa. I want to know more about them.
Also, the ending had a really great cliffhanger. I thought what Laurence did was completely in character, and it sets up an interesting conflict for the next volume.
I loved the dragons in Africa. I want to know more about them.
Also, the ending had a really great cliffhanger. I thought what Laurence did was completely in character, and it sets up an interesting conflict for the next volume.
Oh yeah.... it's really picking up now. The third book was a little slow, but this book was exciting the whole way through. I love how much of the world we've gotten to see through these books, and here we went back to Cape Town to see more of Africa. The way the different societies deal with their dragons is super fascinating. We're also really starting to diverge from the canon of history here. I'm interested to see where Novik takes us as she's going to have to make predictions about what would have happened, had history gone in a different direction. There must have been a ton of research that went into these books, it's really impressive.
I was glad to have a return of some familiar and beloved characters here-- Jane, Catherine, Lily and Maximus-- we'd been without them for too long. Not must of Iskierka here; we must hold out hope that she will feature more prominently in the next book. And the ending of course was tremendous and so in character for everyone involved. I can't believe it ended where it did, the next one is sure to be full of excitement. I think we're also getting increasingly closer to our dragon's rights battle in Parliament, which hasn't happened yet but can't be far off, given the events at the end of this book.
I was glad to have a return of some familiar and beloved characters here-- Jane, Catherine, Lily and Maximus-- we'd been without them for too long. Not must of Iskierka here; we must hold out hope that she will feature more prominently in the next book. And the ending of course was tremendous and so in character for everyone involved. I can't believe it ended where it did, the next one is sure to be full of excitement. I think we're also getting increasingly closer to our dragon's rights battle in Parliament, which hasn't happened yet but can't be far off, given the events at the end of this book.
Junto con el primero de la saga, son mis favoritos hasta el momento. La historia volvió a ser interesante y diferente, ademas de tener un buen final y que te deja con ganas de empezar el próximo libro lo antes posible.
Por otra parte, siento que estos libros tienen muy buenos personajes secundarios a los que no se les saca el provecho que merecen, espero que se vuelvan mas protagonicos en los próximos.
Por otra parte, siento que estos libros tienen muy buenos personajes secundarios a los que no se les saca el provecho que merecen, espero que se vuelvan mas protagonicos en los próximos.