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o_romeo's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, War, Violence, Gun violence, Death, and Slavery
Moderate: Xenophobia, Child death, Misogyny, Sexism, Racial slurs, Racism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, and Colonisation
Minor: Vomit and Alcohol
roxfoxreads89's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-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
3.5
I continue to enjoy this series and the characters. This book dragged on a bit for me so I didn’t like it quite as well as the first. I’ll definitely continue on with the series.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, War, Slavery, Violence, and Misogyny
cowardlyteaman's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
I really liked this book! I must say that I really like Novik's writing style.
Although it wasn't a big topic in the book, the way the colonial slavery is treated concerning Laurence and Temeraire's opinion on it, I think is handled well considering that the main theme of this book isn't slavery in Africa. Laurence is disgusted by the concept, obviously, as we wouldn't want to read about a hero who supports such a thing. Temeraire asks questions about it, and is quite honestly appalled by the idea; and I enjoy the way the duo later reflects around the difference between their role in the army and what slavery is, and how they can't compare themselves to that.
We're not really given much depth into the Chinese main characters, though, which I suppose could be something to mention. However, the way Laurence slowly starts to learn more about Chinese culture concerning dragons and women, too, and starts questioning the ways of his own nation, I really like! The character development he goes through about women and dragons is honestly so interesting to read.
This series had a good balance between some light humour and serious themes. I don't feel like the humour is inappropriate set in this world. There are fittingly placed action scenes when things start to feel slow, and they *most of the time* have something to do with the story.
Very good read. :)
Although it wasn't a big topic in the book, the way the colonial slavery is treated concerning Laurence and Temeraire's opinion on it, I think is handled well considering that the main theme of this book isn't slavery in Africa. Laurence is disgusted by the concept, obviously, as we wouldn't want to read about a hero who supports such a thing. Temeraire asks questions about it, and is quite honestly appalled by the idea; and I enjoy the way the duo later reflects around the difference between their role in the army and what slavery is, and how they can't compare themselves to that.
We're not really given much depth into the Chinese main characters, though, which I suppose could be something to mention. However, the way Laurence slowly starts to learn more about Chinese culture concerning dragons and women, too, and starts questioning the ways of his own nation, I really like! The character development he goes through about women and dragons is honestly so interesting to read.
This series had a good balance between some light humour and serious themes. I don't feel like the humour is inappropriate set in this world. There are fittingly placed action scenes when things start to feel slow, and they *most of the time* have something to do with the story.
Very good read. :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Slavery, War, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny
bluejayreads's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed *His Majesty's Dragon* more than I expected to. I am not much for historical fiction, especially military historical fiction, even if it does have dragons, and I was delighted by how much I enjoyed the relationship between proper gentleman William Lawrence and smart but young dragon Temeraire. I had pretty high hopes for the second book.
*Throne of Jade*, though, was ... rough.
I love the ideas at play. It's fascinating to see how dragons - the massive variety, large enough to be ridden by a whole crew of men - fit into society in the early 1800s. But *Throne of Jade* is weirdly plotted and weirdly paced. Admittedly, much of the story is spent on a long sea voyage and there are only so many ways to make a long sea voyage interesting. But someone keeps trying to assassinate Lawrence, and besides a little conjecture, nobody really bothers to try and figure out who or why. There is someone powerful trying to kill him, there are four different attempts (several of which result in injury), and it's just kinda ... ignored? And then that whole attempted assassination plot thread is resolved too easily and entirely by accident - the culprit is revealed unintentionally while the characters are working on something else entirely.
The pacing here is so weird that I did not recognize the climax was even the climax. Part of that could be because there isn't really one overarching plot in this book. There's a bunch of smaller plots that overlap in parts, but nothing that could be called The Plot, and so no main thing to be finally resolved in a climactic scene. Because of that, it also seems much shorter than it is. There are a lot of words, but it says little and not much happens.
This book overall had less of what I really loved about the first one. There was less action (actually next to no action), and less of the Lawrence/Temeraire dynamic that I loved so much. There was less Temeraire in general, actually, and less of him being awesome and exceptional. (China was a really cool setting, but it took away much of Temeraire's awesomeness since Celestial dragons are rare but not unknown in China.) This book was more about Lawrence - his fears, insecurities, and jealousies. It made for an okay story, but it set him and Temeraire at odds sometimes when I really loved seeing them work as a team.
I am really not sure what *Throne of Jade* is supposed to be, and it feels like the book itself isn't sure either. It seems like in the next book things will be pretty much back to normal, so I'm not even sure what the point of this was - unless the events at the end of this will come back and be important later in the series. Overall, I'm going to chalk this up to growing pains. The Temeraire series are Naomi's first books, and sequels are hard. I'm going to keep reading and I expect book three will be better.
*Throne of Jade*, though, was ... rough.
I love the ideas at play. It's fascinating to see how dragons - the massive variety, large enough to be ridden by a whole crew of men - fit into society in the early 1800s. But *Throne of Jade* is weirdly plotted and weirdly paced. Admittedly, much of the story is spent on a long sea voyage and there are only so many ways to make a long sea voyage interesting. But someone keeps trying to assassinate Lawrence, and besides a little conjecture, nobody really bothers to try and figure out who or why. There is someone powerful trying to kill him, there are four different attempts (several of which result in injury), and it's just kinda ... ignored? And then that whole attempted assassination plot thread is resolved too easily and entirely by accident - the culprit is revealed unintentionally while the characters are working on something else entirely.
The pacing here is so weird that I did not recognize the climax was even the climax. Part of that could be because there isn't really one overarching plot in this book. There's a bunch of smaller plots that overlap in parts, but nothing that could be called The Plot, and so no main thing to be finally resolved in a climactic scene. Because of that, it also seems much shorter than it is. There are a lot of words, but it says little and not much happens.
This book overall had less of what I really loved about the first one. There was less action (actually next to no action), and less of the Lawrence/Temeraire dynamic that I loved so much. There was less Temeraire in general, actually, and less of him being awesome and exceptional. (China was a really cool setting, but it took away much of Temeraire's awesomeness since Celestial dragons are rare but not unknown in China.) This book was more about Lawrence - his fears, insecurities, and jealousies. It made for an okay story, but it set him and Temeraire at odds sometimes when I really loved seeing them work as a team.
I am really not sure what *Throne of Jade* is supposed to be, and it feels like the book itself isn't sure either. It seems like in the next book things will be pretty much back to normal, so I'm not even sure what the point of this was - unless the events at the end of this will come back and be important later in the series. Overall, I'm going to chalk this up to growing pains. The Temeraire series are Naomi's first books, and sequels are hard. I'm going to keep reading and I expect book three will be better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Blood
Moderate: War, Animal death, and Xenophobia
Minor: Sexism and Misogyny
Animal injuryapersonfromflorida's review
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Gun violence and Animal death
Minor: Slavery, Animal cruelty, and Misogyny
szuum's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Death, and Racism
Moderate: Slavery, Misogyny, and Sexism
readandfindout's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
4.0
Style/writing: 4 stars
Themes: 4 stars
Characters: 4.5 stars
Plot: 3.5 stars
Worldbuilding: 4 stars
Themes: 4 stars
Characters: 4.5 stars
Plot: 3.5 stars
Worldbuilding: 4 stars
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Slavery, and Animal death
Minor: Death, Misogyny, and Racism
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