Novik - Book Reviews

*** - Excellent
- Good
* - Okay
** - Bad
* - Terrible
+ - Half-star

His Majesty's Dragon
(Temeraire series, Book 1)
Naomi Novik
Del Rey
Fiction, Fantasy
****

DESCRIPTION: During the wars against Napoleon, the HMS Reliant catches a French vessel with a most grand prize aboard: a dragon's egg, no doubt bound for France's booming aerial corps, whose breeders have outpaced their English counterparts for years. Captain Will Laurence of the Reliant couldn't be more pleased, even if he personally doesn't think too much of dragons and their riders, the aviators, despite their tremendous assistance in the war effort; aviators are crude and brutish sorts, isolated from the rest of society as they cannot leave their dragons to raise families or pursue other interests, practically above the law as a dragon will not fly without their chosen captain and they're simply too dear to lose to legal trivialities. During the long voyage back to England, the worst happens. The egg hatches out on board the ship, and of all the crewmen it singles out Laurence as its new master and future aviator Forced to leave the Navy because of the unintentional bonding, he and the young Temeraire must travel to the dragon training grounds in Scotland to learn in a few months what most aviators learn since childhood, for in these desperate times even an inexperieced former Navy captain and his dragon of unknown origins and breeding may find themselves on the front lines of battle.

REVIEW: Alternate history books can be a bit iffy, in my experience. Some people can hybridize fantasy (or sci-fi) and history and some people just can't. Novik seems to be in the former category, presenting an excellently realized world of yesteryear with the convincing addition of dragons. Her dragons aren't simply animals, either; part of their appeal here is that they can speak, think, and form opinions, which makes their inclusion in a war not of their making all the more interesting and, occasionally, tragic. In truth, her dragons almost could have composed an entirely separate universe without any ties whatsoever to our own, but she managed to integrate them well enough. The appendix, in which she outlines the origins and specifics of several dragon breeds mentioned in the book, seemed a bit dry, and the illustrations were inaccurate by her own words (aside from anatomical issues, she makes a point of five-fingered dragons being an anomoly, yet all the dragons in the diagrams have five fingers.) I would've rather had a better diagram of a dragon's full war harness, which supports several crewmembers and essentially turns the dragon into a flying fortress complete with artillery; it was hard to visualise the crew placements during the action in the book, and the diagram at the end unhelpfully fails to show where everyone manages to fit on a full-loaded war dragon. I still look forward to reading the next books in this series.

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Dragons in the Stars and Dragon Rigger (Jeffrey A. Carver, Fiction - A "rigger," capable of navigating interstellar ships through lucid dreaming, befriends the embattled dragons who live in hyperspace)
Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher (Bruce Coville, YA Fiction - A boy buys a dragon's egg in a magic shop, never expecting it to actually hatch out a live dragonling)
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Song in the Silence (Elizabeth Kerner, YA? Fiction - A girl longs to find the legendary True Dragons of her world... and one True Dragon dreams of finding a human girl)
The Dragonling series (Jackie French Koller, YA Fiction - A boy discovers a newborn dragonling in its slain mother's pouch)
Bitterwood (James Maxey, Fiction - In a world where dragons have enslaved humanity, one dragonslayer's bloodthirsty quest for vengeance only makes things worse)
The Dragonriders of Pern series (Anne McCaffrey, Fiction - On the world of Pern, dragons and their telepathically-bonded riders fight a deadly organic substance known as Thread)
Airborn and Skybreaker (Kenneth Oppel, YA Fiction - In a world dominated by "hydrium" airships, a brave boy and a headstrong girl have larger-than-life adventures in the stratosphere)
Eragon (Christopher Paolini, YA? Fiction - A farmer's boy finds a dragon's egg, changing his life and his nation's future forever)
Dragonheart (Charles Edward Pogue, Fiction - An embittered dragonslayer must team up with the last living dragon to defeat an evil king)
Leviathan (Scott Westerfield, YA Fiction - World War 1 in an alternate-history Earth involves great walking "Clanker" machinery and "Darwinist" fabricated animals)
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Patricia Wrede, YA Fiction - Sick of being the proper princess in a fairy-tale world, a headstrong girl runs away to live with dragons)
The Pit Dragon Chronicles (Jane Yolen, YA Fiction - On Austar IV, a slave boy steals a hatchling dragon from his master)
The Dragonback Adventures (Timothy Zahn, YA Fiction - A boy thief, on the run from an interstellar megacorporation, becomes the reluctant ally of a dragonlike alien whose people are being systematically slaughtered)

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Throne of Jade
(Temeraire series, Book 2)
Naomi Novik
Del Rey
Fiction, Fantasy
*****

DESCRIPTION: Novice aviator Will Laurence, formal Naval captain, and his dragon Temeraire proved themselves worthy of king and country in the heat of battle... but not, unfortunately, to the Chinese, who originally intended the egg to go to the self-titled Emperor Napoleon. After all, Temeraire is a rare Celestial dragon, traditional companion to kings and emperors, and seeing such a divine creature in war harness on the battle lines - under a commoner captain, no less - is almost an act of war as far as the Chinese are concerned. An envoy, headed by a Chinese prince, has arrived to retrieve their wayward dragon and part him forever from the "common-born" Englishman he loves. The English diplomats have jumped on the conflict as a chance to establish peaceable relations, perhaps even a true alliance, with the nation of notoriously gifted dragon breeders, but neither Will nor Temeraire want any part in such maneuverings. After much political wrangling and close calls with prison and/or execution, they find themselves on a long, perilous voyage from England to the Far East, where the Emperor himself will decide the fate of man and dragon.

REVIEW: The second Temeraire novel brings back several favorite characters and introduces some new ones, while expanding and exploring Novik's alternate history beyond the European theater of war to include the people and dragons of the rest of the world. This, truly, is where Novik steps up her series to become something other than just a retelling of the Napoleonic wars with dragons. The ethical and political questions of involving sentient dragons in a human war are further probed, with some interesting twists as Laurence and Temeraire learn more of their own bond and interspecies relationships across the globe. I actually enjoyed this book more, as it wasn't as war-centered as the first volume. I eagerly look forward to the third book in this fascinating series.

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Black Powder War
(Temeraire series, Book 3)
Naomi Novik
Del Rey
Fiction, Fantasy
*****

DESCRIPTION: On the heels of their mission to China, a strange missive reaches Temeraire and his captain Will Laurence, still in the Far East. They are ordered to head immediately for Istanbul to transport three dearly-bought Turkish dragon eggs to England's Aerial Corps. For this, they must forego another several-month sea voyage back around India and Africa and cut straight overland, through unforgiving mountains and vast deserts. As perilous as the crossing is, they may find the worst is yet to come, for Turkey is in the sights of the increasingly vast French Army... assisted now by a vengeful acquaintance who will turn the world upside-down in her quest to avenge her master's destruction and see Laurence and Temeraire suffer as she herself has suffered: the albino Chinese Celestial dragon Lien.

REVIEW: Novik continues to deliver a compelling, fast-moving tale in a wonderfully realized alternate history. Temeraire and Laurence, both changed by their experiences in China, find a new perspective on the war and its meaning for dragon and human combatants alike. As before, I found myself skimming a few of the battle sequences, and the afterword read somewhat dry and wordy after the faster, more interesting pace of the rest of the novel. Still, I highly enjoy the world and characters Novik has established. The ending sets up what promises to be a tense and dramatic fourth book.

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Empire of Ivory
(Temeraire series, Book 4)
Naomi Novik
Del Rey
Fiction, Fantasy
****

DESCRIPTION: Back in England after a narrow escape from Napoleon's forces, Temeraire and Captain Will Laurence - now in the company of a dozen or so enterprising feral dragons, intent on trading service to the Aerial Corps for food - find the local dragons in the grip of a mysterious and deadly illness. It spreads like wildfire through the ranks. Now, only a scant handful of dragons are even flightworthy, leaving the Channel wide open for invasion should the French learn of the disease. Only Temeraire seems immune, though he has been exposed during his trip to China by the courier dragon Volly. Retracing their steps, they determine it likely that they accidentally found a cure during their stay in Capetown. Thus begins a desperate race against time with the dragons of his old formation. Their search will lead them far from the colonies and coastline of Africa, into the deep and mysterious heart of a continent devastated by European invaders and rampant slave raids, a continent that has some surprising secrets in store.

REVIEW: Another exciting visit with Temeraire and his alternate-history world, marred mainly by Novik's comma- and semicolon-heavy writing style (which made some sentences hard to follow) and the fact that it felt like a setup for future books. The relations between man and dragon are further explored, as the tribes of inner Africa have come to almost worship the great creatures who have helped them build a fascinating, exotic way of life. Also further explored are the devastating politics of slavery - Laurence being an outspoken abolitionist in a government catering to slave traders - and the atrocities committed in the name of martial victory. The ending is another cliffhanger; Novik offers a preview of the next book, due out in 2008, via e-mail, and it's only a matter of time before I break down.

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Victory of Eagles
(Temeraire series, Book 5)
Naomi Novik
Ace
Fiction, Fantasy
*****

DESCRIPTION: After finding the cure for a deadly plague sweeping through Britain's dragon ranks, Temeraire and his captain Wil Laurence returned to Britain in triumph... only to discover that the admiralty planned to indiscriminately infect the whole of Europe - and thence, likely, the rest of the world - with the disease in order to decimate Napoleon's aerial forces. Temeraire refused to accept the wholesale slaughter of his species, and for their actions he and Laurence are branded traitors, the latter confined to prison pending hanging and the former stripped of his crew and sent to the Welsh breeding grounds. Once the pride of the British Aerial Corps, now they find themselves despised, outcast by family and many former friends. Meanwhile, Napoleon's army is at greater strength than ever, so great that he finally has attained a toehold on British soil - and more than a few blame Laurence's generosity.
Still abristle about the utter lack of rights and comforts of his kind in Britain, especially compared to China and, more recently under his enemy Lien's influence, France, Temeraire wastes no time before preaching his cause to any dragon within earshot. All too soon, he discovers that there is a world of difference between seeing injustice and rectifying it, especially when no other dragons seem to care about their rights, or even about England. So long as they have food and mates, it hardly matters to them whose flag the humans fly overhead. Especially in the breeding grounds, without even military training or captains or crews about to stimulate their interest, they settle all too easily into a lethargic complacency that Temeraire finds intolerable, especially with enemies practically on their doorstep. For the first time in his life, the Celestial dragon must learn to make decisions and face consequences without his captain's help.
Barely escaping a ship that was meant to be his prison but instead turned into a deathtrap by Napoleon's invading forces, Laurence finds himself temporarily pardoned and used as he long dreaded he would be: a dishonorable assurance of Temeraire's compliance. Sent to retrieve the Celestial and convince him to fight, he finds instead an empty covert... and is quickly swept up in the tangle of events unleashed by the invasion and Temeraire's self-proclaimed leadership of the breeding ground's unharnessed and feral dragons. But even they are no match for Napoleon's steadily worsening occupation of Britain. Defeat is on the horizon... and this time, Temeraire and Laurence may not be able to stop it.

REVIEW: Another excellent outing by Novik, this one starts on an entirely different note, crawling for the first time inside Temeraire's idealistic mind. It goes without saying that, at some point, dragon and captain are reunited, but both learn much from their time apart, and Temeraire especially must understand the harm caused by his rash actions, however well intentioned. It also goes without saying that Laurence isn't hanged, at least not in this book; word is she has at least two more lined up, so I expect he's safe until the last one. Some nice twists and turns keep the plot unpredictable, and characters new and old, historic and invented, bring life to her alternate Napoleonic- age Europe. Once more, I'll be waiting eagerly for the next installment.

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Tongues of Serpents
(Temeraire series, Book 6)
Naomi Novik
Del Rey
Fiction, Fantasy
****

DESCRIPTION: Will Laurence, former captain of the English Navy, and Temeraire, the Chinese Celestial dragon whose hatching whisked Laurence from the seas to the skies as an aviator, were once the pride and talk of England, heroes in the ongoing war against Napoleon. After a journey to China opened their eyes to what a nation can become when it befriends instead of enslaves its dragons, and after Will helped Temeraire stop England's planned genocide of the French dragons, the two were deemed agitators and branded traitors. Now shipped off to the New South Wales prison colony of Australia, on the pretense of helping start a dragon covert in the lawless land with three surplus eggs as foundation stock, it is hoped that they will avoid causing further trouble.
Trouble, unfortunately, finds them even before they arrive in the harbor. The colony governor Bligh - late of the HMS Bounty - has been deposed by his own army, and demands justice, or rather retribution. Since Laurence is no longer technically a captain, the Aerial Corps has sent a commissioned officer to take one of the hatchlings as the official commander of the fledgling covert: none other than Captain Rankin, an abusive aristocrat who already let one dragon die through gross negligence. There's also talk of smugglers using the colony as an outlet for goods circumventing the British monopoly on Oriental trade. Then one of the precious dragon eggs, on the verge of hatching, is stolen.
Temeraire and Will find themselves embarking on a new, dangerous adventure, one that will take them through the heart of an unexplored continent, along the razor's edge between honor and patriotism, and into dangers both political and corporeal.

REVIEW: Once again, Novik serves up an alternate-history adventure filled with action, intrigue, and insights into the complicated social, political, and moral fabric of society during the Napoleonic War era. Removed from England and all contact with their old covert-mates and friends (save for letters, for the most part), Temeraire gets to explore the bizarre and deadly world of colonial Australia, a land that hardly needs fantastication to boggle the imagination. It seems a world apart from the European conflict... but, of course, even in Australia, global troubles cannot be escaped forever, as Laurence and Temeraire discover to their dismay. My main complaint is that, at under 300 pages in length, the story felt short. Removing them from the immediate conflicts reshaping Europe (and Africa, and the Americas as we learn) makes for a marked change of pace, but it also makes the story seem more like a sidetrack or interlude than a tangible progression of the first five novels. Some of the characters and situations felt like setups that never quite panned out, and at times I had the vague impression that Novik was filling pages rather than plot. I know there's at least one, possibly two more Temeraire books planned, but I still thought a little more could've been done here. On the whole, though, I enjoyed this book, and fully intend to keep reading so long as Novik wants to keep writing.

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Novik - Book Reviews

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