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Empire of Ivory | Rating | |
| B | |||
| Naomi Novik | |||
| Series | Related Books | ||
| Temeraire | His Majesty's Dragon, Throne of Jade, Black Powder War, Empire of Ivory | ||
The dragon Temeraire and his rider, Captain Will Lwrence, have made it back to England at last. But dragons defending the isles from the depredations of Napoleon are in bad shape, for a disease has decimated their ranks. Many of them are still sick, and nobody has any ideas about a cure. Except, perhaps, Temeraire. For he, too, grew sick on their way to China, only he got better after injesting a number of dishes spiced with African herbs. Could it be that one of them is the answer? To find out, the pair are sent out once more in a desperate attempt to track them all down. But Lawrence and Temeraire are going to find that sailing by Africa and stopping in the occasional port is a far different experience than actually staying there. And the natives are defintely not friendly.
As I began reading this book, I quickly grew a bit worried. The story focused on the conditions of dragons in England. How they are perceived and treated is the emphasis of a good portion of the book, in fact. This makes for a good subplot, as it did in Throne of Jade, but for Novik to bring it so much to the fore made the series take a definitely political turn that I did not like. It's one thing to make a point, but this hammers it into the reader with no pretense for subtlety.
It improved a ways in, however, once they get sent to Africa. Thankfully, the journey isn't described in detail — a repeat of the second book was not forthcoming. The author described some of the trip's highlights, but not many or for long. But working on the cure wasn't exactly exciting, either. It was almost tedious, in fact, as they tried various foods and folk remedies. There was some time pressure, but no real conflict.
It is really well over halfway through the book, nearly two-thirds, that the story finally coalescens. Sudden;y Lawrence and his men are in grave peril, far from support, and greatly outmatched. To fight is simple suicide, but theirwords find a much less receptive audience than there was even in China, and for good reason.
This is an interesting world that Novik has built, and every volume in the Temeraire series unveils another aspect. This time it is Africa, and the fate of the European colonies there. It is fascinating to see history translated to fit this alternate Earth that includs dragons. But the lack of tension or immediate conflict for most of the book renders a good portion of the story slow. For the first half of the book I kept hoping something even a little dramatic would occur. While still a good book, it seems more a placeholder, if a necessary one, than a tale on par with the others.
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