_micah_ 's review for:

Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik

4.0

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My buddy Todd and I have been loosely reading them together (though I think he's already burst through and read all of them while I've been dragging my feet.) I struggled with the first half of this one, it felt slower to me than the others. As such, it took me a couple of months to meander through. The last half was excellent though - there's a bit white-savioring to prove what a Good White Man Captain Lawrence is (I had to roll my eyes at a little, I don't think there's any universe where someone who thinks of himself as an upright 19th century gentleman would be so aggressive about abolition), but once past that Novik throws her characters right back into the messy (un)ethical consideration of slave labor and personhood.