A review by karastotle
Black Powder War by Naomi Novik

4.0

After a detour to China in book 2, Throne of Jade, this book slowly gets us back on track for the initial premise of the series: the Napoleonic Wars, but with dragons! Dragons make everything better, especially if that dragon is Temeraire. This book has more of a military angle, and we get more battles. The political focus also broadens to include countries other than China, and the complex diplomatic relationships between the various nations become increasingly important. Spacing the books out contributes a lot to my reading enjoyment, I expect. Reading 10 books back-to-back with such a slow-moving plot would probably frustrate me, but since I'm only reading one Temeraire a book month (roughly) the pace doesn't annoy as much as it might have otherwise. To me, reading the Temeraire series is like drinking a cup of your favorite tea: Just because you know exactly what you're going to get doesn't mean it isn't enjoyable. Indeed, I find the Temeraire books a soothing break from the other reads on my TBR, despite the battles and general undercurrent of danger.