Monday, July 22, 2013

Temeraire, Book 8!

Blood of Tyrants (Temeraire, #8)Blood of Tyrants by Naomi Novik
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was entirely up and down about how I felt about this book almost the whole way through. Its starting point had me confused and adrift, much the same as our main (human) character, Lawrence. He is shipwrecked (by himself) on Japan, with no memory of ever being an aviator or anything else that happened during his years with Temeraire. And that was my major issue with the first part of the book--I hated that he couldn't remember Temeraire. It was convenient for the story's sake, and allowed us to revisit the Lawrence of the earlier books, where he is coming to terms with a clashing of duties and values, but dagnabit, it was annoying! I just wanted him to hurry up and remember. And stop freaking out Temeraire so much.

But it got better after Japan--we return to China, and from there to Russia. Which, if you know your European history, marks the beginning of the end for Napoleon. That does make it a little harder to get interested in the battle scenes, since I know the ultimate outcome, but the Russian way of handling dragons is rather fascinating (and scary!). It makes for an interesting dynamic to add to the fight.

For most of the book I was unsure why we'd even bothered visiting Japan, unless it was just for Lawrence to say that was another place he'd been to, but I think the set-up for the final book becomes more clear at the end of this one. It's a long and early setup, but I'm hoping it turns out to be fairly important.

All in all, I did enjoy this book. It was a return to some of the things people love best about Temeraire--Lawrence struggling with his new duty, battles, conflicting morals, and sidestepping politicians. Lawrence and Temeraire are back in the center of things, and the set-up is for them to see the war right to its end.

This digital copy of Blood of Tyrants was given to me by NetGalley & Random House Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

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