Reviews with content warning for Slavery - Het ivoren rijk

The fourth book in the Temeraire series opens with Laurence and Temerarie setting out to find a cure for the sickness that has taken hold of all the dragons in England. It reads, again, as one of those side quest episodes that happen when the main storyline needs to catch back up with itself, but the whole thing is a rush from start to finish.

A lot of things happen, and it happens quickly, but as I've mentioned in previous reviews for these books, sometimes the descriptions of things are a little lacking. At one point, a man goes down under a bayonet to save another, and I assumed, for all that has happened, that the first man was dead. No, a few chapters later, it is revealed that he in fact survived the fatal bayonet blow and recovered very well. Every single description regarding this man up until this point let me believe that he was dead. It was very unclear.

Laurence's life continues to fall apart in this book,

and by the end of it, he is marching towards England from France, being returned to them as a traitor, though Napoleon himself begged Laurence to stay and not return.

Every time I finish a book, I'm left with the feeling of "Well, where do they go from here?" and the next book brings something even worse for the reader.

I've got a bit of a wait before the next in the series is available, so we'll see what happens when I get there.

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sayhar13's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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? No

4.0

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readingfourme's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad 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? No

5.0

An absolute triumph. This is the most difficult of the Temeraire books so far, which make the lightheartedness in the reunion that much more important. Novik is brave with her characters.

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woozy_woozle's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-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

3.5

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theinkwyrm's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I think this has been my favorite in the series so far since the first one. I loved how we got to learn more about the dragons and how they exist in different environments and circumstances. The only thing is I’m not sure where the whole story arc with Moshueshue and the African dragons is going and how it will interact with the war already going on. Also, I’m a little worried about the cliffhanger at the end of this book, since I have a couple of ideas about how it could play out in the next book.

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apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

4.0

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readingelli's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

4.75

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