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.

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.