5 posts tagged “naomi novik”
since i keep forgetting to write about these right after i finish, this is what i get: i have to jot all my thoughts down for all three books, in a row. which probably doesn't sound quite as challenging as it is, because after some time passes i really do begin to forget main plot points. so i'll try to remember what really happened in this one.
while i don't remember specifics, i do remember that temeraire is now a commander of some sort, which is cool--but there was wayy too much angst going on between laurence and temeraire in this book. i didn't understand what laurence's hangup was most of the time, which really separated me from him as a character--that was a weak point for me. i felt much for temeraire, but didn't trust laurence ultimately. it seemed like he was so out of it that he was a completely different character--and that's all well and good, but for most of the book? it gets exhausting. i know realistic character developments need to be, well, realistic.. but i started to lose interest when laurence acted like that. and what was all that crap about duty and whatnot? if he didn't feel guilty about having done it in the first place, why does what society think of him have anything to do with his duty?
the moment when he realizes his hangups was a bit abrupt to me too, though i'm not sure how well it carried over with other people because i haven't read other reviews. maybe it's just a lack of understanding on my part. i am excited now to see temeraire and laurence on a new continent, however--and wonder if any of the other characters will show up again. i particularly missed the antics of maximus and lily in this installment, and was kind of looking forward to a bit more of them in the next--but i guess that's not quite possible if they're leaving england. though i suppose that's giving too much away, but ehh, it's the journey that's most of the fun anyway. there's my main sentiment on this book then.
mostly though, i'm still intrigued about what else could come now that the whole napoleon thing's done with, as that i personally don't know anything about.. uhh.. anywhere else at that period in time. but hey, we'll see.
i believe my last complaint was that laurence should rely more on his morals than his duty, and that has been fixed so thoroughly in this book that i now have no more complaints. i think it a nice foreshadowing in the first book, the scene of choiseul's execution. and it's also a nice way for temeraire and laurence to come into agreement of their final act, where we know laurence is opposed to it, but he fully resigns himself to it for the principles--and i think that might just be the first time laurence does anything independent. i can't stress enough how i'm proud of how far his character has come.
since i've put down my immediate thoughts on finishing this book, i think a lot of the events involving the africans were a bit rushed. the whole deal involving mrs. erasmus--wasn't she bitter about her husband? i understand why she would've chosen to stay, but why didn't she try to be of more help to free the aviators when she could? she didn't even try to remain to prevent laurence's flogging, only left with some form of regret; laurence had out of courtesy done her more turns to at least warrant a returned favor of some kind. i only wish mrs. erasmus was a more well-rounded out character in this sense, because i felt she had the potential to be more, if the reader could see into her emotions. but i still can't wait for the next book, and now i'm glad i preordered it, even at the additional cost.
finally, i feel like this series is getting somewhere. the text isn't mostly taken up with worldbuilding or more dragon culture, but we finally have a continuing plot from where the last book left off, and i expect (or hope) that the next edition will be the same. or could it be due to that i read it mostly in one sitting? books are quite more enjoyable with less interruptions in between, and class has been thoroughly distracting lately. i plan to make a quick run to the library to pick up the next book though.
there is also certain distances made by the behavior of the characters themselves--i was glad granby was dealt a good hand in the end. temeraire and laurence both seemed to have breached the subject about temeraire's haste in his ideas about dragonkind, and laurence has also come to accept that there are faults in the system, although not to the point of accepting it as thoroughly as i would have liked--but that only sets the scene up for more development to come in the future. the summary for the next book sounds kind of lame when you think about it--but then so did this book, so i have no doubt that she will broach it with skill. i can hardly wait!
whew! that took forever to finish, between classes and all. i guess i'm glad that i did--it was somehow satisfactory, but.. not as good as the first book. several reasons why: first of all, the fact that laurence and temeraire grows apart? whereas the first book is entirely based on the fact that the affection they have for each other is on such solid ground that nothing can shake it; now we see temeraire straying because he is being bribed by conditions and now we know this relationship isn't infallible). although it makes sense that temeraire would like comfort over being injured in battle constantly, wasn't his affection for laurence deeper than that? so say, if there wasn't a crisis in britain, he would not return with laurence? even knowing laurence would never treat him as a beast?
i thought the entire ordeal with yongxin was extremely anticlimactic, also. it gets resolved within two pages--i felt the scene could have been stretched out to give it more depth, that there is something really going on there. did i mention ms. novik seems to have serious pacing problems? and maybe a very light plot. she seems to get so into developing her world it seems she forgets that a plot is necessary--she sticks one in at the very end, and probably goes back to insert clues that lead up to this afterward. as a result.. well.. i spent the entire book wondering what the hell i'm reading. which, if used to create suspense, is well and dandy, but to string a reader along on worldbuilding alone makes it a dull read more than often. the events on the journey to china itself were described so randomly that it felt more like a journal entry than any plot with any direction. one minute they're all dandy with each other, and the next with heavy tension, and then back and forth over and over again--is there really any point to these proceedings? the journey could definitely have been cut shorter--obviously, the scenes showing temeraire's growing interest in chinese culture are important, but stick those scenes in, the ones crucial to the central plot, and leave out all the randomness. then maybe something more elaborate could be tacked on in the third part of the book, like--conversations with the emperor when they finally meet him? a majestic showdown where everyone else in court obviously sees yongxin's betrayal to justify temeraire's temper tantrum? because no way were they standing down just because laurence, an englishmen, was hurt. or how about the crown prince mianning thanking laurence for saving him when it was crucial? and maybe a more heartfelt dialogue between temeraire and laurence as the closing? laurence at this point has shown extreme loyalty toward temeraire--i would like to see that returned, at least in dialogue. some mention of the resolution of the rift between them caused by temeraire's absence in a crucial moment? temeraire maybe saying again that nothing in china would compare to the loss of laurence? i'm hardly asking for a confession of undying love, just more demonstration of that affection she portrayed so deeply between these two characters in the first book that seems to be missing in action in this one.
however, i am willing to hold out for these, knowing there are now third and fourth books, and a fifth one coming out. maybe their affection for each other will build. temeraire was only willing to return to "reform" england to the chinese ways--maybe a willingness to bear burden and hurt in laurence's stead when laurence has suffered so much for temeraire would feel more fair. that is my final thought.
maybe i have a particular preference to red, since i decided to go for this immediately after the richelle mead novel instead of catherynne valente's, also readily in hand. ahh, the days winding down until i won't have time to read anymore. a little sad.
a lot of the interaction between laurence and temeraire were written very naturally, there was no sort of strain at any point in the book, which is to be lauded. a very good premise too, i must admit, though some of the historical details bugged me, and the way the humans so readily used dragons in combat for their own purposes goes against the written insistence that it is for a good cause. it is fully shown that that neither side are essentially "bad guys"--only that casualty in war is necessary, and sometimes good people have to die by it. i was saddened when choiseul had to be executed for treason; was there no way to spare his life if at the least in the end he gave critical information? i am sure this is a purely american view, but still, both the dragon and its master could be spared a great deal of pain; however, it was explained later that choiseul only did what he did not only to "save" his dragon, as he told them (or also probably claimed to himself in denial of shame) but also to be accepted in glory for napoleon. another instance that really brought me to tears was the death of levitas, who was loyal to the end to his abusive master, refusing even to die before having seen the one person he ever seeked acceptance from. these descriptions of the interactions between human and dragon are astonishingly real--it lends it some form of realism in a subject of fantasy.
there is also the point where it is obviously cut out to be a book in a series, however--most of the book was spent into worldbuilding, with only maybe the last third of the book used to probably set up a plot, and it wasn't much of one, mostly battle strategies and impending war. however, despite the lack of much of plot, really.. the characters introduced more than made up for the lack, i found. and there is actually character growth portrayed, which i cannot be more grateful for--i hate when novels set their protagonists down and try to claim some form of change by the end when there obviously wasn't one to be found. i did find, however, that i am glad i buy the american versions of this instead of the original uk versions, since even while the language was edited for easier understanding for us americans, some terms just made me crack up involuntarily altogether. "smashing" just made me think of family guy and rotten teeth--i just couldn't help it. in a scene meant to be serious, just the usage of that word twisted the mood into something else entirely, not what the author intended, i'm sure.
also, the reference to the french in such biased ways would make me wonder whether this book was ever translated and published in french? there were times in the book when mrs. novik seemed to want to put bias to the troops she was describing.. which just screwed up my initial impression somewhat. or would that be able to be passed off as laurence's bias instead? i wasn't sure, and didn't feel safe to judge. the description of the chinese being petty also made me bristle a little, although at points in history i am sure the empire as a whole, was--but, still, if dragon handlers were shown to be so caring for those in their charge that surely, the chinese wouldn't care of the news of temeraire's master? i'm impatiently waiting to read the second book, and will probably after writing this.. tomorrow maybe? the little section of edward barlowe's observations was cute. the mention of roger bacon in general even cuter. maybe more thoughts later.
