Empire of Ivory

Empire of Ivory is the fourth in the "Temeraire" series of fantasy books by Naomi Novik. This series explores an alternate Earth during the Napoleonic era where dragons exist and, indeed, fight in the war, serving as mounts for soldiers sort of like an Air Force. This is a vastly intriguing concept for me and I have had such high hopes for this series that I bought all five books (so far) at one time. But it is telling that while I read the first three books in short order, it has been nearly two years since that time and my deciding to give book 4 a try.

I enjoyed the first book quite a bit but, unfortunately, each one since then has gone downhill. Perhaps it is because the concept was new and interesting in the beginning with a lot to explore, most especially the relationships between humans and dragons. But in subsequent novels the dragons have become characters so anthropomorphic that their dragon nature becomes somewhat secondary. We are left with an historical novel in the Napoleonic era that is much less fantastical and much more historical and so therefore must rise to that paradigm. The author seems more concerned with examining the plight of dragon's rights (think "human rights" for dragons) than in the more fantasy elements that this series is crying out for.

I must say that the historical aspects of these novels are obviously very well researched. The books are also well written in that they read like something Jane Austin would have written. In this volume, a deadly disease of some kind is wiping out the dragons and so Temeraire and Lawrence travel to South Africa to find a cure. Having recently been to South Africa I found these parts intriguing and I think Ms Novik captured the ambience there very well. But for me, my measure of interest in any novel can be measured by how much I'm glued to the page vs. how much time I catch my mind wandering off thinking about other things. My mind wandered off a lot during this one. So much so that if it were not for the cliffhanger ending I doubt I would ever pick up the fifth book. Even so, that might be difficult for me.

Fans of literary fantasy or fans of Napoleonic history may do better with this series than I have. Just don't expect a Patrick O'Brian meets "Dragonriders of Pern" novel.

Nelson

I've completed the latest in my morning reading program. It seems now that I don't have to drop my son off at school on the way in to work, I have an extra 15 minutes or so each day so my morning reading productivity has picked up a notch. Nelson, the Man and the Legend by Terry Coleman is the latest and it is a biography of Lord Horatio Nelson, legendary, almost godlike British admiral of the Napoleonic era. As usual I tried to do some research on this book and author prior to discussing it here but this time it was very odd because I could not find it listed anywhere. I did find another book entitled, The Nelson Touch, The Life and Legend of Horatio Nelson, also by Terry Coleman and then the light dawned on me. I had purchased this book while in London two years ago. No doubt the name had been changed for publication in the US. At least that is a plausible explanation because the Amazon description seemed perfectly suited to the book I had just read.

Anyway, this is one of my "travel" books. That is to say it's not one I meant to read while traveling nor is it some sort of travelogue. Rather, every time I travel (and I do that fairly often) I buy a book to add to my library, usually nonfiction and if possible, relevant to the place I am visiting. This time it was London and during the city tour I kept hearing about Lord Nelson, saw the monuments, statues, etc. and realized I really knew very little about the man. It certainly seemed like Londoners revere him like people in my country revere George Washington. So I purchased this book. It also helped that I was reading (and have now completed) all 11 Horatio Hornblower books, about a fictional character with more than a passing resemblance to Nelson. My interest was high.

Mr Coleman goes out of his way to demystify Lord Nelson in this book; indeed even to go far toward the other side of his legend and present him as a much more human character, suffering from a large ego and power hungry for more and faster self promotions than most people believe. The very first chapter calls out predecessor biographers as falling for the propoganda that was put out at the time of Nelson's death at Trafalgar and producing haphazard facts based on sloppy research. Mr Coleman, who has a journalistic background,I understand, claims to use all available documents including letters in and among senior British Navy personnel, personal letters between Nelson's relatives including between he and his wife, etc. And to give him credit, he includes a lengthy bibliography to support his depiction for those that may want to check his sources.

But Coleman doesn't "trash" Nelson. He takes pains to also point out instances where Nelson backed underlings despite risking his own reputation and he is shown several times taking care of his crew and foregoing standard punishments for his men such as flogging or hanging. That's not to say that he never did that but rather he seems to have taken into account all angles of a situation before issuing orders. There is no doubt that Nelson had one of the largest impacts on the history of sea warfare that we know. And there is no doubt that he achieved some remarkable successes. This book however spends less time on the military engagements and more on the motivation of the man himself. After all, a sea captain/admiral who gave up eyesight in one eye, lost one arm, incurred a possible skull fracture, and ultimately gave his life in the name of doing his duty, is certainly to be admired. Surely his bravery is beyond question. Nor does Coleman question it other than to suggest his bravery was unnecessarily foolhardy. His death at Trafalgar, for example, seems as if it could easily have been avoided. I've read biographies of other great military men and it seems that trait is a common thread whether we are talking about Nelson, or Custer, or Crazy Horse.

I learned a lot, as expected, about Lord Nelson in this book and now feel I have a much greater understanding of him, his life, his loves, his very essence. I'm sure Nelson enthusiasts would prefer I read other works to get other opinions on his life but this is probably enough for me. I plan to read a couple of non-biographies next during my mornings before returning to more great lives.

Black Powder War

During my lunch break today, I finished up Black Powder War, the third in Naomi Novik's "Temeraire" series. This is a solid entry in the series and, fortunately, a bit more balanced than the previous book. This novel takes the main characters from China to Turkey where they have orders to obtain 3 dragon eggs and transport them back to England. These aren't just any eggs, but a particular breed of fire breathing dragons which would ultimately give England a strategic leg up on Napolean's forces. Of course nothing is ever that easy and sure enough, multiple adventures ensue. They end up in German lands in time for the battle of Jena.

It is nice to see this series incorporating real historical events in an authentic way. Ms Novik continues to excel at building an extremely believable fantasy landscape. This is the real historical record, with the added addition of dragons. Normally, that would be pretty difficult to pull off but her dragons are so well thought out that they seemlessly interface with the "normal" society. More importantly, the story continues to excel with compelling, sympathetic characters. She shows the brutal reality of war with corresponding loss of life (and yes, some characters we know from the past do not survive this battle) and yet the novel is not at all a "war" novel. The characters, especially Lawrence and Temeraire continue to grow and mature in their thinking, and themes that began in the last book continue here. For example, the nature of how dragons are treated by different cultures, whether they should be servants or equals, is examined further.

These first three books of the series, according to Ms Novik's own blog, were held by the publisher until all were ready for publication as a way of launching the series. Consequently, many people believed them to be a trilogy. This third novel though, does little to wrap up anything but does spur interest in the next book. I am thankful for that as these books should be coming out at around one per year for quite a while to come. Already there are a total of 5 published volumes with more planned.

Throne of Jade

I used the weekend to complete the second book in Naomi Novik's dragon series. Throne of Jade was a good read although since the concept wasn't as fresh and new as the first book, it suffered a tad because of that. A large part of the novel takes place during a boat trip from England all the way to China and I think the pacing that results from such a course slowed a little too much in some places. Let's face it, when you're stuck on a ship in the middle of the ocean with a huge dragon, we all get a little restless and yearn for the trip to reach it's conclusion.

On the other hand, such a trip does leave ample room for characterization and this novel went far to build up the main characters' motivations and points of view. It struck me, near the end of the novel, that the author has really developed some multi-dimensional characters here. They really stay true to their natures as they interact with each other and with their environment, especially when they reach China and find themselves with a mystery to solve. It was there that the question of how dragons are treated by different cultures really comes into play, a definite comparison to the slavery issue. Watching how different characters react to this was very realistic. In fact this series is probably the most realistic portrayl of dragons in a human society that I've ever read. The third book of the series is coming up soon, sometime in February no doubt.

Next up: Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson.

The New Year 2009

I'm a little late getting started with my journal this year. I wanted to start the year with a sure-fire hit and so I chose Wilbur Smith's River God. I had read a couple of his other books in past years: Birds of Prey and Monsoon so I knew it would at least be a fun book to read. I wasn't disappointed! It was a great read, a real page turner. This one is the best Wilbur Smith novel I have read yet. It is also the first of his ancient Egypt series so I look forward to others.

From there I went to my fantasy pile. By far the largest genre in my "to-be-read" pile is fantasy so I tend to read more fantasy than any other genre in an effort to catch up. I chose the first book in Naomi Novik's series about dragons fighting in the Napolenonic era, His Majesty's Dragon. I have looked forward to this for over a year; it gets a lot of good press in the forums I visit. I was also a bit worried because it comes close to what my own novel is to be like, at least the concept of dragons fighting alongside humans in a military setting. But after completing Ms Novik's novel I feel comfortable that mine will be sufficiently different. But I did enjoy reading the novel. Good character development and a very interesting plot and setting. I believe the first three novels of her series were all published at the same time so I am wondering if they were originally one novel and the publisher chose to publish them seperately. I know that sort of thing happens. However, this first book was well paced with a definite climax and ending so perhaps that is not the case at all.

I always have other books going as well, reading them over a much longer time period (several weeks or even a month or two). My morning reading (what I read before going to work each day) is All My Best by George Bush. This is a collection of letters by my country's 41st President that covers his life. I received this as a gift about 7 or 8 years ago and it just never seemed to fit what I like to read. But I am enjoying it more than I suspected I would and it fits well into my morning reading time slot when I can only devote 20 minutes or so to reading. This morning's reading saw George end his tenure as chairman of the RNC during the Watergate era and become the US liaison to China.

I also read "while otherwise engaged", also known as WOE reading. I hate to waste time doing anything and so I choose to read while doing my business in the ol' water closet. I tend to read classics this way (because I might not ever get to them otherwise) and in the past have read such greats as The Jungle, The House of Seven Gables, The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes, The Complete Works of O. Henry, The Phantom of the Opera, Catch-22, and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. This isn't really a testament to how much time I spend on the john but to my age (mid 40's). But I do read non classical stuff WOE and currently my WOE reading consists of Joy Hakim's American History set, The History of US, aimed at young adults. We had our home schooled children read these so I felt I ought to as well. I normally read one volume a year WOE and I am up the Civil War volume (6 or 7 I believe).

That all brings me to my current main title selection, a science fiction entry in the Babylon 5 universe. But this post is quite long enough already so I will put that in the next post. Besides, it's lunch time and I'm getting hungry!