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nodressrehearsals 's review for:
Empire of Ivory
by Naomi Novik
This book ends on a cliffhanger which is something I really hate. On the plus side, the series is complete so I don't have to wait an eternity for the next book, but still.
I strongly dislike Laurence. I enjoyed him in the first book, but he's soooooo boring. Temeraire is interesting, the other dragons are interesting, the other aviators are interesting, the whole "Dragons in the Napolean wars" idea is interesting. This book though is mostly Laurence travelling and being a boring robotic "patriot".
The African dragons were interesting but as soon as you begin to think (even a touch) about it, the whole plotline falls apart. So, I'm not going to delve into it because if you don't see the giant holes already, why ruin it for you? Because once you start noticing the holes the wholeblanket plot falls apart.
The pacing of this book is SO BAD. There are multiple great plot (ideas) going on(going to get the cure, getting kidnapped, African dragons taking over, sharing the cure with France) but they're all executed quickly and on a surface-level. Most of the book is taken up with the execution of regular everyday tasks and travel... "they were hungry. they ate. they talked. Laurence made the kids study. Laurence and Temeraire have a variation of the same conversation." Over and over.
Also the inclusion of random side plots that are never developed, occur suddenly, and don't aid in the development of character or plot or anything. For example, Harcourt'spregnancy. We're just randomly informed she's pregnant because she's been sleeping with Riley. Then they get married. Then .. .??? Nothing. What purpose did this serve? We didn't get to know any of the characters, her pregnancy didn't make her unable to do anything (she just had to vomit here and there), it didn't advance any of the major plotlines, we never actually saw her interact with the father (if memory serves, even at the wedding she's separate from him). Why was this here? Why were these pages not used to better serve the actual story (I'd have loved for more depth to the kidnapping segment, or the ending, or really any of the major plot ideas).
The more I think about this book, the more flaws I find with it, and the less I like it. I'm really unsure about what the rest of this series (because there's FIVE more books) is going to be like...
I strongly dislike Laurence. I enjoyed him in the first book, but he's soooooo boring. Temeraire is interesting, the other dragons are interesting, the other aviators are interesting, the whole "Dragons in the Napolean wars" idea is interesting. This book though is mostly Laurence travelling and being a boring robotic "patriot".
The African dragons were interesting but as soon as you begin to think (even a touch) about it, the whole plotline falls apart. So, I'm not going to delve into it because if you don't see the giant holes already, why ruin it for you? Because once you start noticing the holes the whole
The pacing of this book is SO BAD. There are multiple great plot (ideas) going on
Also the inclusion of random side plots that are never developed, occur suddenly, and don't aid in the development of character or plot or anything. For example, Harcourt's
The more I think about this book, the more flaws I find with it, and the less I like it. I'm really unsure about what the rest of this series (because there's FIVE more books) is going to be like...