Catching up on Temeraire
It's year-end for accountants in Australia, so I'm busy crunching numbers (crunch, crunch, crunch). I find that fantasy goes excellently with accounting. It pulls the mind away from spreadsheets and sends it off with dragons, so I've been making time to read at least a little bit every day.
Belatedly hearing that Granby was gay made me want to catch up on Temeraire, something I'd postponed indefinitely after not enjoying Tongues of Serpents very much. I'm now back on board and anticipating the final book next year. I've even reread Tongues of Serpents and enjoyed it more on my second attempt. Now I feel bad for ever distrusting Naomi Novik and not hurrying to read her new books immediately.
Crucible of Gold
Each country has its own take on the relationship between humans and dragons. It would be interesting to read a non-fiction style book on how things came to be as they are in each place.
I laughed when the little Incan dragon said that elegant Temeraire looked "black and shriveled, as though he had been burned up", but it's a good reminder that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or the culture.
The Granby revelation is nicely worked into the plot. Even though Laurence considers it unfortunate ("I am very sorry," he said, after a moment. "-very sorry, indeed," feeling the expression inadequate to the confession) it doesn't seem to change his feelings towards Granby at all.
Blood of Tyrants
Laurence has no memory and is separated from Temeraire for the first third, then is reunited with Temeraire but still has no memory in the second third.
I enjoyed the amnesia plotline, because it raises such an interesting question: how would you react to your nearest and dearest if you met them today with no memory of your shared history? It was great to see Laurence at first try his best to interact correctly with Temeraire out of a sense of duty, then come to prefer his society to anyone else's, and then for the real affection and "my dears" to be restored once his memory returned.
It was amusing how scandalised Laurence was, bereft of his eight years' experience of dragons, that Temeraire could be concerned about the state of his clothing in an emergency. I liked his attribution of Little's mild aversion to him to the wrong cause (Little of course had known of the treason which Laurence had committed, even when Laurence himself had not. Little had known the stain upon his character, and perhaps cared more than the other aviators; because Granby sympathised, and Harcourt, did not mean they all did so) when he's actually worried that Laurence might have him court-martialed for his relationship with Granby.
It's always fun to meet new dragons. The Japanese water-dragon and the American merchant dragon were welcome additions, as were the various classes of Chinese military dragons. Three paragraphs after I started wishing the Jade Dragons would be named and treated as individuals instead of always referred to collectively, one got a name!
I found the ill-treatment of the Russian dragons kept in breeding grounds excessive and not overly plausible, though. Just how did they put painful hobbles on enormous, powerful creatures? Maybe I missed something.
I'll be interested to see whether Mrs Pemberton plays a further role in the story, or remains incidental. And what's going to happen with the egg?
Every time I pick up a Temeraire book, I want to go back and reread the first one, which is still my clear favourite. The wonderful scenes of Temeraire's hatching! Temeraire's rescue of the sailor overboard and Laurence's realisation that until then he'd never said a word of approval to him! Granby getting off to such a bad start with Laurence and having to apologise! Jane Roland shocking Laurence with her aviator's ways but quickly becoming close to him! Laurence furiously telling his former shipmate not to speak negatively of Temeraire or of aviators, when Laurence is looking out at Temeraire with pride and Captain Bedford pities him: "You will not speak to me in such terms... I wonder that you could imagine such an address acceptable." Levitas! Hollin being overcome at the thought of his own dragon!
Belatedly hearing that Granby was gay made me want to catch up on Temeraire, something I'd postponed indefinitely after not enjoying Tongues of Serpents very much. I'm now back on board and anticipating the final book next year. I've even reread Tongues of Serpents and enjoyed it more on my second attempt. Now I feel bad for ever distrusting Naomi Novik and not hurrying to read her new books immediately.
Crucible of Gold
Each country has its own take on the relationship between humans and dragons. It would be interesting to read a non-fiction style book on how things came to be as they are in each place.
I laughed when the little Incan dragon said that elegant Temeraire looked "black and shriveled, as though he had been burned up", but it's a good reminder that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or the culture.
The Granby revelation is nicely worked into the plot. Even though Laurence considers it unfortunate ("I am very sorry," he said, after a moment. "-very sorry, indeed," feeling the expression inadequate to the confession) it doesn't seem to change his feelings towards Granby at all.
Blood of Tyrants
Laurence has no memory and is separated from Temeraire for the first third, then is reunited with Temeraire but still has no memory in the second third.
I enjoyed the amnesia plotline, because it raises such an interesting question: how would you react to your nearest and dearest if you met them today with no memory of your shared history? It was great to see Laurence at first try his best to interact correctly with Temeraire out of a sense of duty, then come to prefer his society to anyone else's, and then for the real affection and "my dears" to be restored once his memory returned.
It was amusing how scandalised Laurence was, bereft of his eight years' experience of dragons, that Temeraire could be concerned about the state of his clothing in an emergency. I liked his attribution of Little's mild aversion to him to the wrong cause (Little of course had known of the treason which Laurence had committed, even when Laurence himself had not. Little had known the stain upon his character, and perhaps cared more than the other aviators; because Granby sympathised, and Harcourt, did not mean they all did so) when he's actually worried that Laurence might have him court-martialed for his relationship with Granby.
It's always fun to meet new dragons. The Japanese water-dragon and the American merchant dragon were welcome additions, as were the various classes of Chinese military dragons. Three paragraphs after I started wishing the Jade Dragons would be named and treated as individuals instead of always referred to collectively, one got a name!
I found the ill-treatment of the Russian dragons kept in breeding grounds excessive and not overly plausible, though. Just how did they put painful hobbles on enormous, powerful creatures? Maybe I missed something.
I'll be interested to see whether Mrs Pemberton plays a further role in the story, or remains incidental. And what's going to happen with the egg?
Every time I pick up a Temeraire book, I want to go back and reread the first one, which is still my clear favourite. The wonderful scenes of Temeraire's hatching! Temeraire's rescue of the sailor overboard and Laurence's realisation that until then he'd never said a word of approval to him! Granby getting off to such a bad start with Laurence and having to apologise! Jane Roland shocking Laurence with her aviator's ways but quickly becoming close to him! Laurence furiously telling his former shipmate not to speak negatively of Temeraire or of aviators, when Laurence is looking out at Temeraire with pride and Captain Bedford pities him: "You will not speak to me in such terms... I wonder that you could imagine such an address acceptable." Levitas! Hollin being overcome at the thought of his own dragon!