[Iskierka fanart search]

[arysani]

Just finished reading "Black Powder War". And I have to know, does there exist somewhere art of Iskierka passed out in Granby's arms the day she hatched? The way Novik describes the scene I have this mental image of Granby with his arms full of comatose dragonet on her back, tongue poking out, her forelegs curled in and her distended tummy rising

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[arysani]

My first thought was: shit, this Napoleonic Wars stuff isn't a forgone conclusion - who knew dragons were the answer? Because here I was going "yeah, yeah, war etc etc, Napoleon starves/freezes in Russia, is exiled to Elba, tries for another coup, blah blah blah more Laurence please...oh shit, no Russian fiasco...what the hell happens now?! DOES NAPOLEON WIN?!"

I thought Lien a perfect foil, bringing all her Chinese ideas straight to Napoleon. She's vicious and smart, downright sociopathic, and I kind of like it. (Course when she paired up with Bonaparte I had twin recollections/nostalgic flashbacks of Napoleon in "Bill & Ted" and of Goldie Hawn in "Foul Play" with her "there's a dwarf after me! And an albino!")

All of them move at such a clip, I don't know if I have specific feelings about it yet - and tho' I remain mostly unspoiled, I know Tharkay is a fan favorite, but I haven't warmed to him just yet. (Tho' there was a tidbit at the very beginning that endeared his witty retorts to me, but I can't find it just now to quote it back at you...)

[silverflight8]

My first thought was: shit, this Napoleonic Wars stuff isn't a forgone conclusion - who knew dragons were the answer? Because here I was going "yeah, yeah, war etc etc, Napoleon starves/freezes in Russia, is exiled to Elba, tries for another coup, blah blah blah more Laurence please...oh shit, no Russian fiasco...what the hell happens now?! DOES NAPOLEON WIN?!"

Oh. *flails* I read Black Powder War before I learned about the Napoleonic Wars, and I guess I never picked that up...oh no. Oh no. Then no exile...? Lien must have helped him greatly. (and Lien is almost sympathetic, really: losing a handler like that, especially when it's her only friend - Temeraire would be no different.)

there's a dwarf after me! And an albino!
Ahahaha, yes. :)

I actually am not very in fandom, really, apart from writing a fic and poking around a bit, but I do know Granby/Laurence is popular. Tharkay, though? Mm, I don't know. He doesn't appear enough for me to have formed an actual opinion about him (although I haven't gotten Serpents yet).

[swordznsorcery]

Tharkay is very popular. 90% of fandom nowadays seems to be slash-orientated, and 90% of that seems to be Laurence/Tharkay. It's pretty boring. He is a good character, though.

But hello arysani. :) "Black Powder Wars" is my favourite of the books so far. It's such a fun adventure, with action all the way, and getting Iskierka at the end of it was the crowning glory. She's such a great character! Mustn't say anything else, though. I don't want to spoil anything. :)

The alternate take on Napoleonic-era history has been very interesting so far, although I admit that I did get a bit cross over how things were changed for Admiral Nelson. It's one of those things that should be interesting to see unfold in the last few books in the series (always supposing that the story stays with the war in Europe, of course).

[arysani]

I don't mind the slash so long as its at least sort of canon - I have an excessive attachment to canon. If a character seems like their bread is buttered on that side (or both sides), go for it. But at this point in the story, I think there's still too much distrust between the two for anything like that to make any sort of sense for me.

I quite enjoyed it! The unexpected help from the banker's daughter and the attachment there with Tharkay actually is what piqued my interest in him and I loved that she was more than she appeared to be. I do love Iskierka though - she is just delightful with her "LET ME AT 'EM!" right out of the shell. It was kind of adorable.

See, I've read a few Patrick O'Brien books, but not all of them, and most of what I know was from those, because that time period in European history isn't covered in any depth in American schools. (But every year we spend half a year on WW2 - I think more rather than less is best, but what do I know?) So I know *of* Nelson, but clearly I'm going to have to brush up before I get as far as you point out...

[swordznsorcery]

No, I don't mind slash either. It's just that it seems to be all that the internet wants to talk about nowadays. [childish grumbling :)]

I've not read Patrick O'Brien, but I know that he's held in high regard in terms of historical accuracy. That's probably a good grounding. I did history at university, and the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were the main focus of that. Every so often one of the books will collide with a section of my degree course, and I'll remember lots of stuff I thought I'd forgotten. Then she changes things, and my poor little brain gets in a tangle. ;)

By the way, you mention below how quickly you're reading these books. If you've not read it yet, I recommend Susanna Clarke's "Jonathon Strange & Mr Norrell" to help pass the time until new!Temeraire. Same period in history, but with people using magic to fight the Napoleonic Wars, instead of dragons. Very good book.

[arysani]

Yeah, my history was medieval/Roman Britain and medieval Europe. Nothing so forward-thinking as Napoleonic Era.

I've actually read that! I kind of loved it, but didn't take much history from it. One of my favorite passages in all of fiction is one about the road that Jonathan Strange kept the French from marching on because they thought it was the road to Hell, which is right around the time he gives the French terrible nightmares about the menacing boiled egg and the roast leg of fowl, haha. Really wonderful prose in that one.

(Dammit I don't have a Jack icon anymore to serve back - Eleven has taken over my DW icons lol)

[arysani]

I am mildly sympathetic to Lien - because you're right, Tem would be the same. And from her POV, her prince was in the right. I can't hate her as much as I'd like to because of that. In addition to the regular concerns, her specific exile due to her unlucky coloration certainly exaserbated matters because she truly had no solace available to her when she was angry and hurt.

Yeah, I've seen the Granby/Laurence tags everywhere. I'm presuming that essentially any time two men are friendly slash must soon follow. As I said below, if it makes canon sense, it doesn't bother me. It's when people throw together pairings that make no goodly sense because it's completely out of character for either/both of them. But that's because I'm a canon whore with a strange affection for AUs (which, okay, so they're all in a band or MENSA together but they still keep to their canon characterization), haha.

Serpents was just released, yes? Do we know when the next one is due? I tend to prefer paperbacks, so I know I won't get Serpents til May, but I'm going through these awfully quickly...

[nova_myth]

Novik is expecting a baby girl in a few months, so I think it will be about a year before we hear of another release, but she is working on ideas and plans from what I've heard.

[swordznsorcery]

There's a title for book seven - "The Crucible Of Gold" - but no dates yet, no.

[malnpudl]

Baby was born... a couple of months ago? Something like that. :-)

I don't envy her, trying to write with an infant in the house. The sleep deprivation alone would be a killer. Oy. *g*

[angie_white]

Do we know for a fact that the baby has arrived? I've searched the internet for confirmation, but Novik's LJ hasn't been updated for ages and the same goes for the official temeraire website. I was kind of starting to worry:S

But, yeah, I expect she'll be wanting to take a break now and, as you say, writing with an infant in the house is probably impossible.

[malnpudl]

Yep, for sure. Baby girl. :-)

[angie_white]

:D
In that case I guess we'll have to forgive her if it takes a while before the next book is finished:P