Reading roundup: League of Dragons, + Deadpool
43. Naomi Novik, League of Dragons (Temeraire #9 and last) -- non-spoilerly: I enjoyed it a lot, though to a large part, I think due to my expectations being VASTLY lowered by Blood of Tyrants, a book that disappointed me quite strongly (and my feelings actually became more negative as time went on -- it was actually my answer to the most disappointing book of 2013). I find it fairly unsatisfying as a conclusion, but that actually doesn't feel unfitting, and it was actually quite a fun book for all that. I've held off on gifting or recommending Blood of Tyrants while it was the last book out, and actually have held off on getting people into Temeraire as a whole, but now that LoD has capped it off, I feel OK about the series again. Actually, the whole trajectory of the series is rather wavelike for me -- what an awesome beginning! - wobbly - pretty fun - wobbly - WOW! - wobbly - wobbly but fun - MEH - not bad after all! But it's not a bad note to end on, and more than I had expected. Spoilers from here!
First things first: the stuff that bugged me about Russia-with-dragons in BoT, which was the main reason I was so disappointed (even more than the pointless amnesia plot) is still there. But I think it's less prominent, and mostly I think it's that I've become inured to it, not just because of BoT but, oddly enough, because of Uprooted. It's become pretty clear, at this point, that it's not that Novik couldn't be bothered to do Russia-with-dragons decently, it's that she hates Russia -- they felt like the designated bad guys in Uprooted, too, although they aren't even present, despite the presence of murderous tree-spirits and people like Prince Marek and Solya. There is no elegance or nuance or subtlety to Temeraire-verse!Russia because Novik isn't interested in putting any in, which, fair enough. I wish that weren't the case, and since it is the case, I wish she'd write about something where she IS interested in elegance and nuance, but I find that I actually mind it a lot less as a personal grudge than as failure of worldbuilding. This way I can just think of it as a Evil country that has nothing to do with actual Russia and not expect anything but Evil from it. (But, seriously, Napoleon and Lien are Worthy Opponents, and even Rankin, as loathsome as he is, is competent and snarky, but the best Russian characters are largely ineffective, like the Tsar, and the worst, like Dobrozhnov, have no redeeming or positive qualities whatsoever, and are lying deceitful cowards out to ruin young women. *sigh*) And of course it's the Russians who come up with the poison-the-ferals plan, which is so evil that Laurence is willing to go over to Napoleon's side to help stop it. But at least the bits of Russian in the book were not WRONG WRONG WRONG anymore, so at least there's that, though I'm not sure if it's because Novik got an actual Russian beta or because Google Translate has gotten better in the past three years. Although I do wonder what number "Jevionty" is supposed to be?
In retrospect, the amnesia plot in book 8 makes even less sense, because nothing at all has come from it, or really Japan -- the only contribution of the stop in Japan at all is that Junihiro had seen the egg up close and could report about it to Napoleon. This book also has some pointless detours -- what was the point of the duel? Just that she'd gotten to the last book and no-one had fought a duel yet? I mean, I *liked* the duel and Laurence's convalescence and having to keep it secret from Temeraire that the guy who shot him is still alive, and Temeraire's indignation with the whole thing and especially with Hammond, who'd been acting as Laurence's second (and then there's the thing I'd talked about where the Russian character is a villain through-and-through, and the man who conducts himself decently on his side, his second, is presumably not Russian/not really Russian, with a name like Von Karlow), but mostly Temeraire's monologue: "You must give me your word, Laurence, taht if anyone ever should insult you again, they must be told at once that I will insist on being your second myself. [...] in future, if anyone likes to prove they are not a coward by insulting you, they may fight me, and then they cannot complain of not having had satisfaction: I am sure everyone will agree they were brave, once they are dead." And I kept expecting the Lithuanian peasant girl involved in the whole Ferris-Dobrozhnov-Dyhern love quadrangle to actually be relevant in some way, and she never was, or did anything. So, WHY? What was that all about? *mystified shrug* Although I confess it was nice to see Laurence losing his temper (in a way that I think we've only seen with Rankin over Levitas before) when he sees Dobrozhnov restraining the girl: "Laurence pushed himself up and said, 'You damned blackguard, let that girl go, or I will have my men horse-whip you in the yard.'"
But, OK, there were definitely things I enjoyed, more than things I didn't enjoy. It was a delight to see my favorite characters again, Perscitia and Jane. I enjoyed Perscitia's lectures on the advantages of democracy over tyranny, and the inexorable march of progress, but was surprised to learn that she apparently can't read? I find that hard to believe, since I'm pretty sure she needs to understand symbols for other things she's doing, so why not letters? *shrug* Jane and Laurence's reunion I actually found both touching and hot -- her pragmatism in everything from military advice to "you may as well stay the night, if you like", "He had not touched her since [his treason]. Nor any other woman. Not from loyalty -- loyalty a word he had no right to use with her -- but a deadening of some inward vital part, necessary to desire", Laurence being overwrought -- stoic characters coming apart is a thing that I hugely like, OK -- "He could not remember to be careful" and Jane saying "You will have us in the cinders: back your wings a moment" and "I don't leave for Spain until tomorrow afternoon. You can make me a better showing in the morning." and how much it meant to him, and the way Temeraire sees him looking brighter the next morning and thinks it's because he's been made Admiral, but it's because he finally believes that Jane has forgiven him. I would've loved to see them spend more time together, but it wasn't practical, so I was happy for what I got. Jane asking him about Emily, too, was great, and reporting back on Demane for Emily. I was happy for the brief glance of Wellington, too, and the way Jane talked about him ("I put my foot down and insisted they legitimize [Emily], when they put the titles on me: if Wellesley can hand his coronet on to his brats when he spent all of ten minutes begetting them, damned if Emily was not getting mine."
Temeraire fussing about his crew, taking Churki's lessons to heart, was amusing throughout, especially the bit where he finally got a clean-cut lieutenant, but she ended up being claimed by an Incan dragon, just as the dragon had threatened, just after Ferris got a Prussian dragon. Also amusing was Temeraire using his prize-won gold plate to bribe the other dragons, and the calculation of prize shares. Also, dragon banking with Rothschild, hee! because they realize what a source of interest that would be over the dragons' long lifetimes. I liked the subplot with the sabotaging captains, too, and the (pointedly named) Fidelitas being torn between duty to country and his bond with Roger Poole -- I thought that subplot was nicely played out, including Granby's comments about how he could not complain about anybody's dragons going rogue (and also Granby's comments about how "That [that the British ships won't recognize us] don't worry me. It would be wonderful indeed if any captain who has been in the Channel since the year seven didn't remember Iskierka, and curse to see her coming to snatch a prize out from under his teeth. They would be heartily delighted to see her drown, but I suppose they shan't turn us away if we appear on their doorstep, as it were."; Granby was a fine source of amusement in this book). And Iskierka has bellowed out to be still fun but not a bit irritating, and I was amused by her postscriptum: "PS: The Spanish fire-breathers are much smaller than I am." Oh, and the Dyhern and Eroica reunion was quite wonderful: "Laurence heard Dyhern make a short, sharp inhalation, audible even across the farmyard, and then he was running, his arms open wide as a boy as he pelted downhill, shouting. [...] Dyhern could not manage any language but German, and his speech was so choked with tears that it could not have been comprehensible if he had been speaking the most fluent English. [...] Eroica, too, was beyond words, attempting as well as any dragon of twenty-three tons and armored in bone plates might to make himself a lap-dog, nearly knocking Dyhern over with attempts at caressing." And Temeraire entrusting Eroica to watch over Laurence, who is too weak to travel after the egg but determine to not let Temeraire go alone. Also, seeing Requiescat again; I'm just sorry we didn't get to see Volly, too. And while none of the ferals have really felt much like individual characters to me, I did enjoy Ricarlee's lecture about why they feel entitled to eat the sheep and cows -- because human farming drives away wild game, which they otherwise could freely hunt. Oh, and O'Dea and his poetically dark pronouncements continue to be really funny to me, and I was really happy to see Keynes the dragon surgeon again. Oh, and the tidbit that thanks to Lady Allendale's advice led to a dozen girls applying to the Corps thanks to dinners/politicking.
And I continue to like Laurence himself a lot, more than most protagonists, his determination to see things as his fault (like not realizing Dobrozhnov was drunk before he engaged long enough to be insulted by Dobrozhnov, after which he had to strike him, after which he had to allow himself to be challenged, and then regretting that, being a military man where Dobrozhnov is not, "he disliked having so much advantage, where he could not be conciliatory." Aww, Laurence, you Stark, you. Also, I'm amused that Laurence and Temeraire have such (believably, since Temeraire was socialized mostly by Laurence) blindspots about other people's underhanded dealings -- Temeraire cannot graps that the captains are ordering their dragons to undermine Laurence's tactics, Laurence doesn't realize, until Granby throws the accusation, the the threat to the Temeraire/Iskierka egg was a plant and a trap, along with letting the Prussian dragons escape (although it seems like a silly sort of gamble on Napoleon's part, but, fine).
I hadn't expected the Temeraire/Iskierka offspring to actually be a player in this book -- I thought the egg would hatch only at the end, as part of the Happily Ever After. But I was actually greatly amused by Ning, Slytherin through-and-through (I guess she takes after Great-Aunt Lien :P), which is kind of remarkable, considering how much of a Gryffindor Iskierka is and Temeraire the Ravenclaw. I liked her being determined to end up in charge of the world, but hedging her bets as to whom to stake her claim to as the best option to get there. (You know who'd she be happy being companion to? Vetinari. :D) And I was amused that after the lengths to which Temeraire and Iskierka were willing to go to protect their egg, once Ning hatches, they're clearly willing to let her fend for herself, and are in fact put out that she's not taking part in the fighting. It makes sense with the dragons hatching essentially ready for battle, just small, and generally feels rightly reptilian, too.
I don't really buy the League of Dragons concept being accepted so quickly, even by a Parliament and a couple of kings scared of Napoleon's 4000 dragon eggs. Maybe if we'd gotten to see that side of it, the lobbying, the arguments... but, really, that was my big problem with the ending -- everything conveniently happens offscreen, which feels like Novik had just written "cool stuff goes here" in an earlier draft and then didn't bother to fill it in. It's entirely possible that the ending is unsatisfying for a reason, to echo the way *Laurence* feels unsatisfied by the too-sudden victory through a ruse (though not the way he originally interprets it), but even if so, I'm not sure that's a very good call. The dragon rights bill being accepted not only happens offscreen, we don't even get to see Laurence learn about it, just have him report it back to Temeraire, though that WAS a nice tense moment from Temeraire's point of view. The capture of Napoleon happens offscreen. Was there even a confrontation with Lien? I was convinced that the final book would feature Temeraire and Lien squaring off, after she'd whooped him when he was younger, but apparently not? This is such a weird choice... did she feel she'd done it before? that Temeraire couldn't actually beat Lien? that physical confrontation wasn't the point at this juncture and would just distract from the Incan dragons' desertion? It's not event hat I feel cheated, because I don't really read these books for dragon battles per se, although I do enjoy them, as just that I feel baffled. Surely after Temeraire and Lien being set up as color-coded antagonists for nine books there had to be an actual confrontation? This is some Maggie-Stiefvater-level anti-Chekov's-gun stuff...
Other than that, Mrs Lincoln I do actually kind like the ending. Napoleon in defeat, bonding with Laurence. Lots of Napoleon and Laurence in this book in general, which made me realize that Napoleon/Laurence is a thing I would read (it is not, apparently, a thing that exists yet, per AO3 tags. Come on, fandom!). Laurence writing in to claim his favor for Tharkay's life, Napoleon embracing him and greeting him with kisses (in the Gallic fashion, but, you know :P) and parading him about, Napoleon offering his condolences on Laurence's father's death and ribbing Granby about stealing the Inca empress from him, Napoleon describing Laurence to one of his underlings in a letter as "il a bien plus de valeur que les perles, a phrase which Laurence, half-amused despite every will to be otherwise, recognized as the escription of the virtuous woman" XD, Laurence and the others rescuing Napoleon's son, and of course talking about the battle afterwards, and Laurence feeling sad for him and indignant on his behalf, to be brought low by betrayal (as he thinks at the time), defeated Napoleon asking after Laurence's health and correcting himself hastily to address him as "Admiral" and patting his cheek (XD). Also: "the Emperor could hardly expect to seduce him now. Or so Laurence hoped, unhappily conscious that he might have given encouragement to such thoughts". And "Laurence had never admired him so well in victory as in defeat: the Emperor's resolution in the face of disaster, and his generosity to the man most directly responsible for his captivity, had true grace in it." I'm pretty sure Novik is doing this on purpose, but I don't care, I'm too amused. Anyway, I was happy with the Napoleon ending because I was expecting something much worse to befall him (I mean, St Helena is no picnic, but at least he's alive, and his ambitions live on in his son on the throne of France). And I do like the final revelation that the Empress's betrayal was that "she had offered only to let Napoleon fall into their hands, if he had already been defeated in battle -- and thus to end a war swiftly that had almost certainly been lost, but which his gifts and determination could have long prolonged" because "it was my husband's duty to hazard everything for victory -- mine, to rescue our empire from defeat." Basically, I want fic of Laurence coming to visit Napoleon on St Helena. Surely that's not too much to ask?
I'm OK with the Laurence and Temeraire ending, too. Apparently fandom is unhappy that the endgame wasn't Laurence/Tharkay? But Laurence retiring to Tharkay's estates to support Temeraire in his political career was actually very sweet, I thought, and open-ended enough to run with to that interpretation if one is inclined. I did wonder briefly, while Laurence was mourning the fact that Tharkay had gone away and he had no-one to huddle with for warmth, and later when they were staking out the egg-nappers in that pass, just the two of them and Temeraire, if may the book WAS going that way, but I wasn't really expecting it. (I'd totally guessed they'd snared Iskierka in that scene, btw, before it was revealed.) I was glad that he had a chance to reconnect with his family, too, and to talk to Edith again. It's not a happily ever after for him, a Frodo sort of ending, but it does feel fitting. And I was also glad to see that Temeraire himsel is not unscathed, and suffers some PTSD after being trapped in the burning barn.
I was surprised that we didn't get to visit North America, after checking off all the other continents except Antarctica and several major islands. It actually makes me wonder if maybe Novik is planning on setting another series there (or at least one of the short stories she's writing, or maybe the graphic novel) and saving North America for that.
Quotes:
"[Lord Allendale, Laurence's father] could more easily have brooked his son's public execution, on a charge he knew to be false, than to see his son laureled with gold and praised in every corner, and known him to be a traitor" <-- this reminded me a whole lot of Aral's honor vs reputation quote, so much that I wonder if it's an intentional homage.
Temeraire's thoughts on honor: "honor was a word which seemed associated with every worst disaster in his life: a hollowness for which Laurence had before now been willing to die in the most unnecessary fashion."
Laurence, bemoaning his golden cage: "He could not easily put aside the dinner laid before him and demand to be fed on gruel and water, or housed in a damp cell, without rudeness and absurdity united; and even if he had, an acquiescence to his wishes would have been a worse, as being a greater, favor: the power to direct his own arrangements."
Granby on Iskierka's behavior improving: "I was beginning to feel I did not have to blush every time I caught Admiral Roland's eye: do you know, after Salamanca, even Wellington sent us a bullock from his own pocket and a note I dare say I treasure better than a knighthood: I congratulate you on the disciplined performance of your beast and crew, and it was even more than half-deserved. Iskierka snorted over it, and wanted me to write back that she congratulated him, that not so many of his men had run away from the battle as usual, but I assure you she has been listening better than I had ever hoped to see. She has even, from time to time, condescended to give a little thought to her actions beforehand."
Moshueshue: "All maps are fiction when the world is seen from the sky. But if ten thousand dragons choose to believe in this one, I think you will find it nearer truth than otherwise."
Jane: The Tsar wants you: how did you manage that? I have never known you to ingratiate yourself with anyone whose influence would be really useful to your career, when you could make yourself as inconvenient to them as possible instead.
Laurence: I cannot claim any personal success in the matter. I appeared on his borders with an army of dragons when he was in imminent danger of defeat; I suppose it must have produced a degree of warm feeling.
Jane: Well, we won't hold it against your record.
Iskierka, on her prize money: "now pray check it for me, Granby, and show me all your work," which entailed a quarter of an hour's hard-fought calculations for him, with one mistake along the way, which Iskierka pointed out severely before he had quite finished writing it down."
"Only look how the Russians had beaten Napoleon last winter, all by running away in a particularly clever manner."
"It was all shrugs, and 'I don't know anything, I'm sure,' except for O'Dea, who would make dark hints of some mysterious terrible event which was certain to occur, and then say, 'Ah, but I don't know anything, I'm sure,' which was not to be preferred."
Jane: Perhaps his wife will have him poisoned, and save us the excitement [of Napoleon escaping], though.
Laurence: I dare say your hopes may be answered.
Jane: Very good. That was almost uncharitable: we will make a cynic out of you yet.
Interview with Novik from before the publication, about Temeraire and Uprooted. Looks like she's still working on the short story anthology inspired by the Temeraire fanart and sounds like there's a GN in the works, too. And the other interesting-to-me tidbit is that the capital in Uprooted is inspired by Krakow. Maybe I should reread that bit now that I've visited...
Also, apropos of nothing, I spent a good chunk of my Saturday reading astolat's Steve/Sam MCU fanfic, and that was good, too.
*
And then the rodents and I finally watched Deadpool. I'm glad I didn't cave to O's nagging to go watch it in the theater, because that was definitely a movie better watched at home, in the company of kids anyway. But it was great fun! O loved it, predictable, and L liked it more than she'd expected, and I liked it a lot, too, and laughed a whole lot. Although sometime O would give me this weird look and say, "THAT'S what you're laughing at?" Well, sorry! Shouldn't have asked to watch the film with me if you can't handle me laughing at dick jokes XD Slight spoilers
The gore was not too bad, though I could've done with less. I looked away while he was sawing his arm off, and wish I'd looked away for the cigarette lighter, too. I had been prepared for a lot of swearing, but there was even more than I'd expected, although a lot of it was entertainingly creative. The meta/fourth wall breaking was great -- I especially liked the jokes about actors ("Did you think Ryan Reynolds got this far on acting ability?" and Deadpool asking "Stewart or MacAvoy" when he's being dragged to the Xavier school). Oh, and the credits were funny, too. The rodents laughed the hardest, I think, at the cab driver pep talk, and kept stage-whispering "I'm so proud of you" and "Kill him" to me afterwards. The origin of his superhero name was pretty neat, too.
I liked Vanessa (though it took me an embarrassingly long time to place Morena Baccarin) and Wade's relationship with her, from the montage in which her hair gets longer and longer, to when they resume their fucked up life one-upmanship once she's slapped him a few (well-deserved) times. I also liked that her being an escort/exotic dancer/whatever is both very clear and neither something she needs to be rescued from nor something that feels played up for grittiness. I thought Negasonic would have a bigger role, thanks to Tumblr embracing her, but I did like Colossus, which was a surprise, because it's not often that CGI characters work for me. And Wade and Francis the bad guy had some nice fight scenes together.
Anyway, fun movie, to the point that I don't have a whole lot to say about it -- it knew exactly what it was doing, and I enjoyed watching it do that, and I don't really have anything to complain about (I mean, juvenile, tasteless jokes, but that was a given, right, and if not 100% of them were funny, I can't really complain, because enough were.)
First things first: the stuff that bugged me about Russia-with-dragons in BoT, which was the main reason I was so disappointed (even more than the pointless amnesia plot) is still there. But I think it's less prominent, and mostly I think it's that I've become inured to it, not just because of BoT but, oddly enough, because of Uprooted. It's become pretty clear, at this point, that it's not that Novik couldn't be bothered to do Russia-with-dragons decently, it's that she hates Russia -- they felt like the designated bad guys in Uprooted, too, although they aren't even present, despite the presence of murderous tree-spirits and people like Prince Marek and Solya. There is no elegance or nuance or subtlety to Temeraire-verse!Russia because Novik isn't interested in putting any in, which, fair enough. I wish that weren't the case, and since it is the case, I wish she'd write about something where she IS interested in elegance and nuance, but I find that I actually mind it a lot less as a personal grudge than as failure of worldbuilding. This way I can just think of it as a Evil country that has nothing to do with actual Russia and not expect anything but Evil from it. (But, seriously, Napoleon and Lien are Worthy Opponents, and even Rankin, as loathsome as he is, is competent and snarky, but the best Russian characters are largely ineffective, like the Tsar, and the worst, like Dobrozhnov, have no redeeming or positive qualities whatsoever, and are lying deceitful cowards out to ruin young women. *sigh*) And of course it's the Russians who come up with the poison-the-ferals plan, which is so evil that Laurence is willing to go over to Napoleon's side to help stop it. But at least the bits of Russian in the book were not WRONG WRONG WRONG anymore, so at least there's that, though I'm not sure if it's because Novik got an actual Russian beta or because Google Translate has gotten better in the past three years. Although I do wonder what number "Jevionty" is supposed to be?
In retrospect, the amnesia plot in book 8 makes even less sense, because nothing at all has come from it, or really Japan -- the only contribution of the stop in Japan at all is that Junihiro had seen the egg up close and could report about it to Napoleon. This book also has some pointless detours -- what was the point of the duel? Just that she'd gotten to the last book and no-one had fought a duel yet? I mean, I *liked* the duel and Laurence's convalescence and having to keep it secret from Temeraire that the guy who shot him is still alive, and Temeraire's indignation with the whole thing and especially with Hammond, who'd been acting as Laurence's second (and then there's the thing I'd talked about where the Russian character is a villain through-and-through, and the man who conducts himself decently on his side, his second, is presumably not Russian/not really Russian, with a name like Von Karlow), but mostly Temeraire's monologue: "You must give me your word, Laurence, taht if anyone ever should insult you again, they must be told at once that I will insist on being your second myself. [...] in future, if anyone likes to prove they are not a coward by insulting you, they may fight me, and then they cannot complain of not having had satisfaction: I am sure everyone will agree they were brave, once they are dead." And I kept expecting the Lithuanian peasant girl involved in the whole Ferris-Dobrozhnov-Dyhern love quadrangle to actually be relevant in some way, and she never was, or did anything. So, WHY? What was that all about? *mystified shrug* Although I confess it was nice to see Laurence losing his temper (in a way that I think we've only seen with Rankin over Levitas before) when he sees Dobrozhnov restraining the girl: "Laurence pushed himself up and said, 'You damned blackguard, let that girl go, or I will have my men horse-whip you in the yard.'"
But, OK, there were definitely things I enjoyed, more than things I didn't enjoy. It was a delight to see my favorite characters again, Perscitia and Jane. I enjoyed Perscitia's lectures on the advantages of democracy over tyranny, and the inexorable march of progress, but was surprised to learn that she apparently can't read? I find that hard to believe, since I'm pretty sure she needs to understand symbols for other things she's doing, so why not letters? *shrug* Jane and Laurence's reunion I actually found both touching and hot -- her pragmatism in everything from military advice to "you may as well stay the night, if you like", "He had not touched her since [his treason]. Nor any other woman. Not from loyalty -- loyalty a word he had no right to use with her -- but a deadening of some inward vital part, necessary to desire", Laurence being overwrought -- stoic characters coming apart is a thing that I hugely like, OK -- "He could not remember to be careful" and Jane saying "You will have us in the cinders: back your wings a moment" and "I don't leave for Spain until tomorrow afternoon. You can make me a better showing in the morning." and how much it meant to him, and the way Temeraire sees him looking brighter the next morning and thinks it's because he's been made Admiral, but it's because he finally believes that Jane has forgiven him. I would've loved to see them spend more time together, but it wasn't practical, so I was happy for what I got. Jane asking him about Emily, too, was great, and reporting back on Demane for Emily. I was happy for the brief glance of Wellington, too, and the way Jane talked about him ("I put my foot down and insisted they legitimize [Emily], when they put the titles on me: if Wellesley can hand his coronet on to his brats when he spent all of ten minutes begetting them, damned if Emily was not getting mine."
Temeraire fussing about his crew, taking Churki's lessons to heart, was amusing throughout, especially the bit where he finally got a clean-cut lieutenant, but she ended up being claimed by an Incan dragon, just as the dragon had threatened, just after Ferris got a Prussian dragon. Also amusing was Temeraire using his prize-won gold plate to bribe the other dragons, and the calculation of prize shares. Also, dragon banking with Rothschild, hee! because they realize what a source of interest that would be over the dragons' long lifetimes. I liked the subplot with the sabotaging captains, too, and the (pointedly named) Fidelitas being torn between duty to country and his bond with Roger Poole -- I thought that subplot was nicely played out, including Granby's comments about how he could not complain about anybody's dragons going rogue (and also Granby's comments about how "That [that the British ships won't recognize us] don't worry me. It would be wonderful indeed if any captain who has been in the Channel since the year seven didn't remember Iskierka, and curse to see her coming to snatch a prize out from under his teeth. They would be heartily delighted to see her drown, but I suppose they shan't turn us away if we appear on their doorstep, as it were."; Granby was a fine source of amusement in this book). And Iskierka has bellowed out to be still fun but not a bit irritating, and I was amused by her postscriptum: "PS: The Spanish fire-breathers are much smaller than I am." Oh, and the Dyhern and Eroica reunion was quite wonderful: "Laurence heard Dyhern make a short, sharp inhalation, audible even across the farmyard, and then he was running, his arms open wide as a boy as he pelted downhill, shouting. [...] Dyhern could not manage any language but German, and his speech was so choked with tears that it could not have been comprehensible if he had been speaking the most fluent English. [...] Eroica, too, was beyond words, attempting as well as any dragon of twenty-three tons and armored in bone plates might to make himself a lap-dog, nearly knocking Dyhern over with attempts at caressing." And Temeraire entrusting Eroica to watch over Laurence, who is too weak to travel after the egg but determine to not let Temeraire go alone. Also, seeing Requiescat again; I'm just sorry we didn't get to see Volly, too. And while none of the ferals have really felt much like individual characters to me, I did enjoy Ricarlee's lecture about why they feel entitled to eat the sheep and cows -- because human farming drives away wild game, which they otherwise could freely hunt. Oh, and O'Dea and his poetically dark pronouncements continue to be really funny to me, and I was really happy to see Keynes the dragon surgeon again. Oh, and the tidbit that thanks to Lady Allendale's advice led to a dozen girls applying to the Corps thanks to dinners/politicking.
And I continue to like Laurence himself a lot, more than most protagonists, his determination to see things as his fault (like not realizing Dobrozhnov was drunk before he engaged long enough to be insulted by Dobrozhnov, after which he had to strike him, after which he had to allow himself to be challenged, and then regretting that, being a military man where Dobrozhnov is not, "he disliked having so much advantage, where he could not be conciliatory." Aww, Laurence, you Stark, you. Also, I'm amused that Laurence and Temeraire have such (believably, since Temeraire was socialized mostly by Laurence) blindspots about other people's underhanded dealings -- Temeraire cannot graps that the captains are ordering their dragons to undermine Laurence's tactics, Laurence doesn't realize, until Granby throws the accusation, the the threat to the Temeraire/Iskierka egg was a plant and a trap, along with letting the Prussian dragons escape (although it seems like a silly sort of gamble on Napoleon's part, but, fine).
I hadn't expected the Temeraire/Iskierka offspring to actually be a player in this book -- I thought the egg would hatch only at the end, as part of the Happily Ever After. But I was actually greatly amused by Ning, Slytherin through-and-through (I guess she takes after Great-Aunt Lien :P), which is kind of remarkable, considering how much of a Gryffindor Iskierka is and Temeraire the Ravenclaw. I liked her being determined to end up in charge of the world, but hedging her bets as to whom to stake her claim to as the best option to get there. (You know who'd she be happy being companion to? Vetinari. :D) And I was amused that after the lengths to which Temeraire and Iskierka were willing to go to protect their egg, once Ning hatches, they're clearly willing to let her fend for herself, and are in fact put out that she's not taking part in the fighting. It makes sense with the dragons hatching essentially ready for battle, just small, and generally feels rightly reptilian, too.
I don't really buy the League of Dragons concept being accepted so quickly, even by a Parliament and a couple of kings scared of Napoleon's 4000 dragon eggs. Maybe if we'd gotten to see that side of it, the lobbying, the arguments... but, really, that was my big problem with the ending -- everything conveniently happens offscreen, which feels like Novik had just written "cool stuff goes here" in an earlier draft and then didn't bother to fill it in. It's entirely possible that the ending is unsatisfying for a reason, to echo the way *Laurence* feels unsatisfied by the too-sudden victory through a ruse (though not the way he originally interprets it), but even if so, I'm not sure that's a very good call. The dragon rights bill being accepted not only happens offscreen, we don't even get to see Laurence learn about it, just have him report it back to Temeraire, though that WAS a nice tense moment from Temeraire's point of view. The capture of Napoleon happens offscreen. Was there even a confrontation with Lien? I was convinced that the final book would feature Temeraire and Lien squaring off, after she'd whooped him when he was younger, but apparently not? This is such a weird choice... did she feel she'd done it before? that Temeraire couldn't actually beat Lien? that physical confrontation wasn't the point at this juncture and would just distract from the Incan dragons' desertion? It's not event hat I feel cheated, because I don't really read these books for dragon battles per se, although I do enjoy them, as just that I feel baffled. Surely after Temeraire and Lien being set up as color-coded antagonists for nine books there had to be an actual confrontation? This is some Maggie-Stiefvater-level anti-Chekov's-gun stuff...
Other than that, Mrs Lincoln I do actually kind like the ending. Napoleon in defeat, bonding with Laurence. Lots of Napoleon and Laurence in this book in general, which made me realize that Napoleon/Laurence is a thing I would read (it is not, apparently, a thing that exists yet, per AO3 tags. Come on, fandom!). Laurence writing in to claim his favor for Tharkay's life, Napoleon embracing him and greeting him with kisses (in the Gallic fashion, but, you know :P) and parading him about, Napoleon offering his condolences on Laurence's father's death and ribbing Granby about stealing the Inca empress from him, Napoleon describing Laurence to one of his underlings in a letter as "il a bien plus de valeur que les perles, a phrase which Laurence, half-amused despite every will to be otherwise, recognized as the escription of the virtuous woman" XD, Laurence and the others rescuing Napoleon's son, and of course talking about the battle afterwards, and Laurence feeling sad for him and indignant on his behalf, to be brought low by betrayal (as he thinks at the time), defeated Napoleon asking after Laurence's health and correcting himself hastily to address him as "Admiral" and patting his cheek (XD). Also: "the Emperor could hardly expect to seduce him now. Or so Laurence hoped, unhappily conscious that he might have given encouragement to such thoughts". And "Laurence had never admired him so well in victory as in defeat: the Emperor's resolution in the face of disaster, and his generosity to the man most directly responsible for his captivity, had true grace in it." I'm pretty sure Novik is doing this on purpose, but I don't care, I'm too amused. Anyway, I was happy with the Napoleon ending because I was expecting something much worse to befall him (I mean, St Helena is no picnic, but at least he's alive, and his ambitions live on in his son on the throne of France). And I do like the final revelation that the Empress's betrayal was that "she had offered only to let Napoleon fall into their hands, if he had already been defeated in battle -- and thus to end a war swiftly that had almost certainly been lost, but which his gifts and determination could have long prolonged" because "it was my husband's duty to hazard everything for victory -- mine, to rescue our empire from defeat." Basically, I want fic of Laurence coming to visit Napoleon on St Helena. Surely that's not too much to ask?
I'm OK with the Laurence and Temeraire ending, too. Apparently fandom is unhappy that the endgame wasn't Laurence/Tharkay? But Laurence retiring to Tharkay's estates to support Temeraire in his political career was actually very sweet, I thought, and open-ended enough to run with to that interpretation if one is inclined. I did wonder briefly, while Laurence was mourning the fact that Tharkay had gone away and he had no-one to huddle with for warmth, and later when they were staking out the egg-nappers in that pass, just the two of them and Temeraire, if may the book WAS going that way, but I wasn't really expecting it. (I'd totally guessed they'd snared Iskierka in that scene, btw, before it was revealed.) I was glad that he had a chance to reconnect with his family, too, and to talk to Edith again. It's not a happily ever after for him, a Frodo sort of ending, but it does feel fitting. And I was also glad to see that Temeraire himsel is not unscathed, and suffers some PTSD after being trapped in the burning barn.
I was surprised that we didn't get to visit North America, after checking off all the other continents except Antarctica and several major islands. It actually makes me wonder if maybe Novik is planning on setting another series there (or at least one of the short stories she's writing, or maybe the graphic novel) and saving North America for that.
Quotes:
"[Lord Allendale, Laurence's father] could more easily have brooked his son's public execution, on a charge he knew to be false, than to see his son laureled with gold and praised in every corner, and known him to be a traitor" <-- this reminded me a whole lot of Aral's honor vs reputation quote, so much that I wonder if it's an intentional homage.
Temeraire's thoughts on honor: "honor was a word which seemed associated with every worst disaster in his life: a hollowness for which Laurence had before now been willing to die in the most unnecessary fashion."
Laurence, bemoaning his golden cage: "He could not easily put aside the dinner laid before him and demand to be fed on gruel and water, or housed in a damp cell, without rudeness and absurdity united; and even if he had, an acquiescence to his wishes would have been a worse, as being a greater, favor: the power to direct his own arrangements."
Granby on Iskierka's behavior improving: "I was beginning to feel I did not have to blush every time I caught Admiral Roland's eye: do you know, after Salamanca, even Wellington sent us a bullock from his own pocket and a note I dare say I treasure better than a knighthood: I congratulate you on the disciplined performance of your beast and crew, and it was even more than half-deserved. Iskierka snorted over it, and wanted me to write back that she congratulated him, that not so many of his men had run away from the battle as usual, but I assure you she has been listening better than I had ever hoped to see. She has even, from time to time, condescended to give a little thought to her actions beforehand."
Moshueshue: "All maps are fiction when the world is seen from the sky. But if ten thousand dragons choose to believe in this one, I think you will find it nearer truth than otherwise."
Jane: The Tsar wants you: how did you manage that? I have never known you to ingratiate yourself with anyone whose influence would be really useful to your career, when you could make yourself as inconvenient to them as possible instead.
Laurence: I cannot claim any personal success in the matter. I appeared on his borders with an army of dragons when he was in imminent danger of defeat; I suppose it must have produced a degree of warm feeling.
Jane: Well, we won't hold it against your record.
Iskierka, on her prize money: "now pray check it for me, Granby, and show me all your work," which entailed a quarter of an hour's hard-fought calculations for him, with one mistake along the way, which Iskierka pointed out severely before he had quite finished writing it down."
"Only look how the Russians had beaten Napoleon last winter, all by running away in a particularly clever manner."
"It was all shrugs, and 'I don't know anything, I'm sure,' except for O'Dea, who would make dark hints of some mysterious terrible event which was certain to occur, and then say, 'Ah, but I don't know anything, I'm sure,' which was not to be preferred."
Jane: Perhaps his wife will have him poisoned, and save us the excitement [of Napoleon escaping], though.
Laurence: I dare say your hopes may be answered.
Jane: Very good. That was almost uncharitable: we will make a cynic out of you yet.
Interview with Novik from before the publication, about Temeraire and Uprooted. Looks like she's still working on the short story anthology inspired by the Temeraire fanart and sounds like there's a GN in the works, too. And the other interesting-to-me tidbit is that the capital in Uprooted is inspired by Krakow. Maybe I should reread that bit now that I've visited...
Also, apropos of nothing, I spent a good chunk of my Saturday reading astolat's Steve/Sam MCU fanfic, and that was good, too.
*
And then the rodents and I finally watched Deadpool. I'm glad I didn't cave to O's nagging to go watch it in the theater, because that was definitely a movie better watched at home, in the company of kids anyway. But it was great fun! O loved it, predictable, and L liked it more than she'd expected, and I liked it a lot, too, and laughed a whole lot. Although sometime O would give me this weird look and say, "THAT'S what you're laughing at?" Well, sorry! Shouldn't have asked to watch the film with me if you can't handle me laughing at dick jokes XD Slight spoilers
The gore was not too bad, though I could've done with less. I looked away while he was sawing his arm off, and wish I'd looked away for the cigarette lighter, too. I had been prepared for a lot of swearing, but there was even more than I'd expected, although a lot of it was entertainingly creative. The meta/fourth wall breaking was great -- I especially liked the jokes about actors ("Did you think Ryan Reynolds got this far on acting ability?" and Deadpool asking "Stewart or MacAvoy" when he's being dragged to the Xavier school). Oh, and the credits were funny, too. The rodents laughed the hardest, I think, at the cab driver pep talk, and kept stage-whispering "I'm so proud of you" and "Kill him" to me afterwards. The origin of his superhero name was pretty neat, too.
I liked Vanessa (though it took me an embarrassingly long time to place Morena Baccarin) and Wade's relationship with her, from the montage in which her hair gets longer and longer, to when they resume their fucked up life one-upmanship once she's slapped him a few (well-deserved) times. I also liked that her being an escort/exotic dancer/whatever is both very clear and neither something she needs to be rescued from nor something that feels played up for grittiness. I thought Negasonic would have a bigger role, thanks to Tumblr embracing her, but I did like Colossus, which was a surprise, because it's not often that CGI characters work for me. And Wade and Francis the bad guy had some nice fight scenes together.
Anyway, fun movie, to the point that I don't have a whole lot to say about it -- it knew exactly what it was doing, and I enjoyed watching it do that, and I don't really have anything to complain about (I mean, juvenile, tasteless jokes, but that was a given, right, and if not 100% of them were funny, I can't really complain, because enough were.)