Tongues of Serpents

Temeraire #6

by Naomi Novik

Convicted of treason despite their heroic defense against Napoleon’s invasion of England, Temeraire and Capt. Will Laurence have been transported to a prison colony in distant Australia—and into a hornet’s nest of fresh complications.

The colony is in turmoil after the overthrow of military governor William Bligh—aka Captain Bligh, late of HMS Bounty. And when Bligh tries to enlist them in his bid to regain office, the dragon and his captain are caught in the middle of a political power struggle. Their only chance to escape the fray is accepting a mission to blaze a route through the forbidding Blue Mountains and into the interior of Australia.

But the theft of a precious dragon egg turns their expedition into a desperate recovery operation—leading to a shocking discovery and a dangerous new complication in the global war between Britain and Napoleon.

Genres: Fantasy, Dragons, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Alternate History, Historical, Audiobook

347 pages, Paperback

First published July 13, 2010

About the author

An avid reader of fantasy literature since age six, when she first made her way through The Lord of the Rings, Naomi Novik is also a history buff with a particular interest in the Napoleonic era and a fondness for the work of Patrick O’Brian and Jane Austen. She studied English literature at Brown University, and did graduate work in computer science at Columbia University before leaving to participate in the design and development of the computer game Neverwinter Nights: Shadow of Undrentide. Over the course of a brief winter sojourn spent working on the game in Edmonton, Canada (accompanied by a truly alarming coat that now lives brooding in the depths of her closet), she realized she preferred writing to programming, and on returning to New York, decided to try her hand at novels.

Naomi lives in New York City with her husband and six computers. Her website is at naominovik.com

Reviews

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t have much to say any more. It’s become a pissing contest on GR. I’ll add reviews if I feel like it for myself. Don’t much care any more.

I love Temeraire and Laurence but I’m not feeling it like I did the first books. I do want to finish the series though. Also, Simon Vance is everything!

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

[Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller · Rating 3 out of 5]

[3.5/5 stars] I’m not sure yet how I feel about the series as a whole, but I’ve found myself picking up these novels for a very specific Temeraire “fix,” if that makes sense. The books are all fairly similar but the highlight continues to be the dragons. This novel had them exploring the Australian Outback… basically on the periphery of the Napoleonic War (again), and even though not much happened, per se, I still enjoyed the interplay between the dragons and humans. I’m not getting a lot of substance from these later books, but I’m still glad I’m reading them and I think that’s because the dragon “fun-factor” is strong enough in each book to keep me coming back. It’s also exciting to find out each new tangent destination haha.

Via The Obsessive Bookseller at www.nikihawkes.com

[Bradley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have been a pretty good fan of this series, but unfortunately, I've grown tired of it by now.

This isn't dragons against Napoleon anymore. This isn't an intrigue in China. This is exile to Australia.

Long treks, dragon eggs, and filler await us. Maybe it's because I took almost a decade to return to the series or I burned out, but this didn't capture my imagination. Almost at all. No hope for glory, just establishing a colony? For dragons?

This is how the world ends. With a whimper, not a bang.

Not sure I'll continue with the last novels, but since Novik has proven herself pretty good with the mythology retellings, I will continue there. :)

[Kyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have said previously that Naomi Novik hasn't hit a sour note, nor made a wrong step throughout her Temeraire series. I guess this is what I get for speaking too soon. Naomi Novik is still an extremely consistent writer, and whenever I've picked up a Temeraire book I've had a remarkably accurate idea of what to expect from the novel.

Simply put, however, this one was the exception and it proved to be a bit of a disappointment. It's the smallest Temeraire book, yet it felt like it was the longest because I started waiting for it to get over. It is, by far, the weakest of the series.

Now... I'll make a confession. I have a sorta kinda [not so]secret crush on Naomi Novik. Is it the cute glass-wearing nerdy look she has going on, combined with her devotion to nerdy things like D&D? Sure, sure. Of course. Is it also those previous traits combined with an adorable interest in the Napoleonic era (which happens to be a favorite of mine too)? Yep! Absolutely! All are contributors to my fan-crush on her. BUT still the biggest draw to her is that she is a woman who isn't afraid to use my favorite punctuation mark: The Semicolon! I love semicolons. When an English professor tells you not to use a semicolon, they are wrong; they are dead wrong. You should tell them they are are wrong by using many semicolons; you can even write them a letter telling them how wrong they are. You could paint a mural on their office wall; of course, a mural should be covered with semicolons. A mural on an English professor's wall should always be covered with semicolons, for a very important reason; semicolons are sexy.

Which is why Naomi Novik painfully broke my heart with Tongues of Serpents; she abused my beloved semicolon. Gone was the fine-tuned sentence structure of The Black Powder War; gone was the easy flowing words of Victory of Eagles. Gone was sanity!

Instead: with Tongues of Serpents, we were subjected to crazy sentence structure; and willy-nilly punctuation. And my poor; poor semicolons were simply, abused; wasted; defiled I say! Their magic was juiced out: wrung out; and my tears wet the pages in sadness; forevermore.

Oh, I forgot to mention. It was also kinda boring. Does stuff happen? Kinda. There's an egg chase, which seems to not work out for anybody in the end. That's about it. Oh, and there's mealtime. Sometimes. :(

[John McDermott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tongues of Serpents sees the pace of the previous books slowed right down. Not much in the way of incident occurs in this volume as our protagonists travel across Australia. A fact that may put some readers off.
However , Naomi Noviks writing is still excellent with her ability to create a sense of place as strong as always. Equally, the characterisations and relationship between Laurence and Temeraire continues to be a highlight. The action when it comes is excellent although brief and is right at the very end.
So, despite being a slow burn, this was still enjoyable and on we go to the next book . 🐉 🐉 🐉

[Jamie Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is as well-written as the earlier books, with great dialogue, and I very much enjoyed the characters. But the story is a little dull, particularly in comparison with the previous book. Our heroes spend most of the time traipsing around in Australia in the middle of nowhere.

I didn't see much point to the plot, and the Aviators seemed disorganized and unprofessional; an impression I don't remember getting from the earlier books. It's also beginning to seem odd that Europe is the only place in the world where dragons are used only for warfare, and used inefficiently at that.

I read Patrick O'Brian's The Mauritius Command not long ago, and it was neat to see both the Néréide and the Otter show up here. I also enjoyed the depiction of Bligh. As Granby observes: "It seems to me after a fellow has been mutinied against three or four times, there is something to it besides bad luck."

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 and rounding up due to the last part of the book

I was quite pleased to be away from Napoleon and to have fewer battle scenes which get dreary after a while. A bit of this dragged, but it really picked up toward the end and I do want to read the next book. Laurence, Temeraire et al make it to Australia where we meet Captain Bligh (who has already undergone mutiny) and a few other figures. As the blurb states, they head off to find the smugglers' route and an egg is stolen, so they take off in pursuit of this. There are some brand new large monsters to contend with and some surprises in store. But the best part of this, book-wise, is that I want to read the next one soon to see what happens.

[Hailee · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

This will be quite a short review as I am honestly running out of things to say about this series. And at 6 books in I feel like people are either committed to reading the series till the end so my opinion will probably make little difference or they’ve already abandoned the series already and so are probably not even looking at reviews anyway.

Although I still enjoyed this book it felt a lot like a ‘filler’ in the series. I think the author decided that Temeraire and Laurence had to spend at least some time in exile before they were brought back into the war. So she had them go on a road trip across Australia to fill time while at the same time setting things up for what will happen in the next few books.

It was interesting enough read, but there is a limitation on how exciting you can make a book that is basically taken up by a couple of dragons searching the ground for thieves. As always Temeraire and Laurence and their relationship made worth reading all by themselves, but I am hoping the next books return to having action packed battles in them as well. I’m looking forward to the next one in the series.

[Silvana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dear Naomi Novik,

First of all, Java is located in Indonesia. Most importantly, there was no Indonesia yet during the Napoleonic Era. Using the name Dutch Indies would be more appropriate.

Secondly, is this just a filler between Victory of Eagles and the next book? It surely feels like it. *sigh*

Thirdly, could you please stop writing about long tedious journeys? Going through the Silk Road in book 3 and Africa road trip in book 4 were exhausting enough.

Fourthly, thank you for bringing fresh new characters in the form of quirky dragonets. They almost made me forget about Lily, Maximus, Nitidus, Perscitia and the gang.

Last but not least, I'd really love to see the next book based in another country/continent. You have given some hints and I can't wait to meet new dragon breeds.

Sincerely yours,
An avid Temeraire fan who wants to become an aviator

[Ana Santos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well... meh...
This book added absolutely nothing to Laurence and Temeraire's story. One whole book full of almost nothing.
Since I like Laurence and Temeraire so much, I'll give the series another chance. If the next book is any similar to this one, it will be my last one. Let's see.

[Marina · Rating 3 out of 5]

How can you possibly make a story about the first days of Australian colonization boring? Well, ToS is how... The beginning of Tongues of Serpents was dreadful: slow paced, political in the most uninteresting ways, and action that falls short of it's rich setting.

I mean, come on! This is the wild and untamed Australia!! And all the characters spend doing for half the book is chasing people across the vast landscape. Sure there are some killer earthworms, but even then, it was just so hard to care! Novik makes poor use of her magnificent setting, too, which was the greatest shame.

The latter part of the book does get better. It is still political, but in a good way. The most fascinating part of this series is how the existence of dragons effects colonialism and slave trade. Considering that while continent of Africa, and countries Brazil, Australia - and I guess the US colonies- may not be as technologically advanced, their dragons are superior. Mostly thanks to the fact that all of them actually respect their dragons and treat them with care and reverence, rather than convenient deadly animals, to be used and then discarded. Meaning, the African tribes band together to destroy the slave trade and even go as far as going after the Colonists to return their people.

But this got me curious about how the battle between the Colonies and Britain played out - since the series takes place post-Revolution. Especially considering that the dragons would make all the difference... what about Native Americans vs. Colonists... were there dragons in the US, I bet not since they wouldn't have let the Colonists spread that far. And by a few things and characters Novik said... it seems like Native Americans are more or less part of the US society and they're breeding dragons... so yeah.

But overall however, this book was such a step-down from the previous two. We go from major, epic battles, to... traveling. Once again, there's only one female character, and even then she's barely ever present. And there are so many other characters, it's hard to track any new ones, and some old favorites just kind of wink in and out. Like Tharkey, I kept forgetting he was with them because there'd be stretches of time where he'd just have no lines and seemed to disappear and then reappear again to say a few words and then disappear again. Also, considering that Laurance and he have been traveling for a couple of years now (nearly as long as with Granby), you'd think they'd be better friends now? But they all still have very professional relationships.

The last part of the book was definitely better than the first, but still, slightly disappointed, and I hope the next is better.

[Joy D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tongues of Serpents is the seventh book in in Naomi Novik's Temeraire Series. It picks up where the last book left off, with Celestial dragon Temeraire and Captain William Laurence sentenced to be transported to the penal colony in New South Wales, following their exile from Britain for treason. The book is a mix of historical fiction and fantasy. It is set during the Napoleonic Wars but contains a Dragon Aerial Corps and other mythical creatures, in this case sea serpents. The book differs from earlier entries in the series, with less emphasis on military action and more on exploration and survival. Australia is a land without dragons. In fact, the British send three eggs with the escort to try to establish an initial dragon colony, which does not quite go as planned.

The novel tackles colonialism as a running theme through its portrayal of the settlement at Sydney, interactions with Aboriginal peoples, and battles at sea to protect trading routes. Temeraire's outside perspective points out many flaws in colonial thinking and the damage done by claiming "empty" lands. The bulk of the narrative involves a journey to rescue a stolen dragon egg, which sets up the clash between colonial powers with indigenous people and foreign traders. Other themes relate to loyalty, displacement, and ethics. There is much more complexity here than simply an adventure story.

It is more character-driven than some of the previous books. Laurence's character arc centers on reconciling his ingrained sense of duty with his past actions and uncertain future. Temeraire experiences a growing disillusionment with human politics, though his loyalty to Laurence remains unwavering. There are several new dragons in this book, each with a separate and distinct personality. I am amazed at the author’s ability to provide such unique characterizations for each new dragon. I listened to the audiobook, brilliantly narrated by Simon Vance, who brings these characters to life. It is always delightful to spend time with Temeraire, Laurence, and company.

[Mogsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books are still a joy to read, though I've pretty much accepted that none of the sequels in this series are ever going to come close to being as good as the first book again. At least this one was better than the last, which sees Laurence and Temeraire back on an adventure again in a faraway exotic place.

This time, the crew finds themselves in Australia, with Laurence having been banished to the prison colony of New South Wales after being convicted of treason. The British Aerial Corps has nonetheless tasked him of taking care of three dragon eggs, in the hopes of establishing a new base in the area. Exile in Australia is proving much more difficult than expected, however, as Laurence and Temeraire are caught up in a political mess involving an overthrown governor and a band of rebels. To escape, they readily agree to take on a mission to seek out a passage through the Blue Mountains.

Rather than fighting flesh-and-blood adversaries, their main enemy this time is the harsh wilderness of the Australian outback. It's not as exciting as some of the past journeys Laurence and Temeraire have been on, but I love seeing them go to new places regardless. Australia is still an unknown factor to our characters at this time, and it's both suspenseful and awe-inspiring to read about their struggles with the land, which includes surviving thirst, poisonous creatures, brutal storms and savage wildfires.

The characters' purposes, however, could have been more interesting. The goal of trying to find a passage through the mountains is as dull as it sounds, though the book picked up when one of Laurence and Temeraire's precious eggs are stolen. But then they spend more than half the book trying to hunt the thieves and track it down, and that was just too much to devote to this side plot. There really was no climax to this tale either, and the book's ending was not anywhere near as satisfying as I'd hoped.

[Ashley Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rankin and Caesar were predictably insufferable, and it seems like Laurence and Temeraire are stuck in Australia for the foreseeable future. I very much liked seeing Demane take charge of Kulingile. And gosh but I missed Simon Vance's voice.

[laurel [the suspected bibliophile] · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was 90% filler, 8% talking and 2% action.

Laurence and Temeraire are exiled to Australia, along with three dragon eggs and I'm guessing the weird assumption that Temeraire won't somehow corrupt the eggs on the way with potential members of the aviation corps? I don't know. The reasoning behind it seemed really loose and more of an excuse to get them on another adventure to Australia.

As for Australia itself, I was looking forward to viewing something that was a whole lot different than the plethora of dinner parties and British stiff-upper-lipping that I listened to. Plus the parts that I found most interesting were either glossed over (Australian Aboriginals and the new history of North America) or talked to death (new dragons in China, Laurence's future prospects, dragon eggs, colonies, etc., etc., etc).

Maybe I would have liked this better if I had read it, since I really did not like how manly and gravelly and old Laurence sounded, but I think that if I had read it it would have been a DNF instead of a slog to which I half-listened.

It looks like the others in the series might be a bit more action-packed and interesting that this one, but I think that I might well and truly be done with this series, as fascinated though I am with how dragons have reshaped the early 1800s.

I'll stick to Novik's retellings, which are far more engaging.

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was probably my least favorite of the bunch even though it had aspects that I really liked, I just couldn't get past that it's 200 pages of wandering the Outback.

Temeraire and Laurence are sent to the penal colony in Australia after getting Laurences death sentence put aside but with both of them causing enough problems to England as to not be worth having around. Australia turns out to be a rough place.

The other books have been doing it as well but this one really really made England the bad guy. And it's so interesting to read a book with our heroes on a side where you are just like....that side sucks. Stop doing things for them. If you think England gets up to colonial shenanigans you would be right!

But anyways, they basically are just a search party in the desert for so long. And while I love some things like Iskierka and Demane's storyline, it just felt so slow. And because they don't really run into anyone it doesn't feel like a cultural analysis either like the other ones where they travel.

Interesting enough bits to want me to continue but kind of a slog.

[Siobhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reread Oct 19 - I enjoyed this a lot more second time round! Maybe it was because I listened to the audiobook.

I'd say 3.5 stars. It definitely picked up from about half way through. For the first 100 pages or so though nothing happened...

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow... boring. Pretty sure I could have skipped this one and not missed much at all. I still love Temeraire though.

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun easy read and a continuation of the story of Temeriare without too much happening. But getting us ready for the decisions to be made in the next book.

[Rachel (Kalanadi) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let's get this out of the way: I was disappointed in this book.

It's the sixth in a series that's been losing steam and going adrift since book three or four. And I hate to say that, but Tongues of Serpents was downright boring and this was more crushing than I expected because it could have been great.

The Temeraire series follows Laurence and his dragon Temeraire as they fight for England in the Napoleonic Wars. Previous adventures have taken them from England to China and Africa, and in Tongues of Serpents, to Australia. Yes, Australia! I was excited for this book, even though I was tepid about book five (Victory of Eagles), because seriously. Dragons. In Australia. In the outback!! Would we get to see a new type of dragon native to Australia? Or the challenges of bringing dragons to an inhospitable land that's sparsely populated? Would Laurence and Temeraire finally make headway with their relationship and Temeraire's agenda for dragon rights?

Well...

Not so much.

My first complaint is that basically NOTHING HAPPENS IN THIS BOOK. And the things that do happen - an excessively long and pointless trans-continental chase after a stolen egg - are not only boring, but are even more dull because you know more exciting things are happening somewhere else, and ALL of the humans and ALL of the dragons are pointlessly interchangeable or incredibly irritating. Yes, irritating. EVERY SINGLE LAST ONE OF THEM. Temeraire hasn't noticeably matured or developed as a character since maybe the second book, and he come across as a self-centered, mopey, and childish brat - and if he's annoying enough, Iskierka made me want to throw this book across the room multiple times. She's never been fun (for me - I know other readers have loved her), and if she wasn't a massive dragon, she would have been put in timeout like a tantrum-throwing toddler AGES ago. I don't know how Granby can put up with her. I'm sorry.

And then Rankin shows up - and he's one of the few true villains this series has. He's incredibly unlikable. No one likes him. And then he's paired up with a new dragon who is just as insufferable. And then there's ANOTHER dragon who's just sorta there and also kind of annoying, in that "oh dragons just want shiny objects and most of them don't care what the humans are up to as long as they have a pile of shiny stuff". Which I get that that's a trope, and it's been used for a lot of dragons in this series, but ugh.

The point is - this was dull. Nothing happens. Australia could have been exciting. The bunyips could have been exciting! But it felt like an adventure checklist:

1. Have my characters gotten lost yet? Let's make that happen...
2. Oh, wait, this is an inhospitable place, have my characters gotten caught in the elements yet? Let's make that happen...
3. Australia is known for its dangerous animals and plant life, gotta make that happen...

I know I'm pummeling this book, but I am even more disappointed now that I've had time to think about it.

The one good thing is that the writing was still excellent. Novik does a great imitation of Regency era style, even down to punctuation and the flow of dialogue. But the substance of this book, the plot, the action, and even the characters like Laurence who don't seem to behave like themselves anymore (or who seem interchangeable - I seriously can't tell the different between Granby and Riley!) dragged this book down.

And can we mention Laurence for a moment? Laurence doesn't have a strong personality. He has a dutiful, honorable personality strongly reined in by propriety and etiquette. He is most interesting when he's making the right choices and in a position of authority to get stuff done and make people do the right thing. But in this book he loses any ad hoc authoritative position and is, in fact, almost dialogue-less in many parts. Yes, there's a clear reason why this has happened, but it sucks the life out of his character, and all Laurence (and Temeraire) are left with is this mopey "we're just gonna lie down and take it now" attitude. It could be a lot better, but there is no progress made in this book on any front, on any subplot, as far as I can tell.

I'm hoping that book seven will be an uptick in quality as Novik enters the last third of her series.

[Jaime · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/5

What was the point of this book? I feel like it could be erased and wouldn't mean much to the story.

They're sent to Australia as an open prison for Lawrence's treason and later they'll let him go and take another journey from another route to show dragons lives in another region but that's it.

I swear if I wasn't listening to these on audiobook I would have DNF the series a couple of books back, cause the plot of this story was lost somewhere in the middle.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Earlier books in this series have left me feeling like I would follow the adventures of Laurence and Temeraire just about anywhere on the planet. Here comes the sixth book in the series to prove that there are limits to that belief. An exile to Australia did not have to be boring - indeed, it could have been inherently the opposite of boring. That's not how it works out, though.

The problem here is that this book is the series trying to go again to the same well it has gone before, only in not as interesting of a manner. Lots of the book being spent on a long journey just to get somewhere was done in books two and three. A journey over land for some vague expedition was done in the third book, and it was done better in that book because there was more interesting scenery. A journey into an ill-explored interior of a not civilized (as Western nations would deem it) land was done in the fourth book when they went into the heart of Africa - much more interesting than what happens in Australia, too.

Scattered hints in scraps of letters read here and there give the idea that there is a more interesting plot happening, oh, anywhere else in the world. Back in England, the independent dragons are creating new jobs for themselves by transporting things and people. Imagine how that's going to radically transform the society! We see none of that, nor do we see any of what has happened with Boney (Napoleon) having befriended the newly-liberated nation emerging from the African continent... then setting them on an invasion of Brazil to try to free captured slaves. Of course Napoleon is a bad guy but it is interesting, in this world, that it is he who is liberating slaves and meanwhile Laurence, who is exiled for stopping a genocide and bankrupt because his own dragon freed some slaves, is left with nothing. The war against Napoleon really seems to be what is at the heart of this series and any volume that barely touches upon it, beyond some vague geopolitical ramifications introduced towards the end of the slog that lasts like 75% of the book, ends up feeling more like filler.

Some entertaining moments and interesting world-building (finally, an American! and he hints that he doesn't want his sailors to be pressed into British service, so will I get Temeraire in the War of 1812, showing up at Fort McHenry and changing the line "the bombs bursting in air" to "dragons circling in air"?) do their best to try to pop through the tedium. The hatching of eggs continues to be an entertaining process. Temeraire seems to want every new hatchling to be just like him and he is continually puzzled when they are their own people, or, er, dragons. There always seems to be some new little aspect of how the Aerial Corps has settled things over the centuries, as well, and it makes for an interesting conflict to see how the various people (some of whom seem like decent folks otherwise) react to a hatchling that is deformed and, significantly, not able to fly from birth.

I hope that the next book does not linger long in Australia and does not have half the book taken up by the journey to wherever Temeraire and Laurence are headed next.

[Elana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly this was more like a 2-star book for me, and admitting that hurts my soul deeply. I love this series and I adore Temeraire. The problem was, in this book he was given nothing to do except fly across Australia on comparatively low-stakes missions, and he had no growth. The book was a filler episode, and I can remember only one or two chapters where I was truly interested in the events.

Nothing really happened until page 176, and I thought to myself, "Aha, here we go!" But after that chapter things grew dull and tedious again. The second half of the book I mostly skimmed, and I got to the end and realized I needn't have bothered at all. I could have likely skipped the book and been fine.

Maybe I'm being too harsh. I feel like I am, when I remember the thrilling tale of book five, and the adventures in books three and one. Maybe it's just that I've grown so used to Temeraire doing thrilling things that the endless amounts of nothing in this book were more disappointing than they might otherwise have been.

Novik is still an excellent writer with a mastery of the English language. Unfortunately, I felt there was no story here, and little in the way of characterization. The interesting storylines - Demane and Kulinguile, Demane/Sipho, Demane/Roland, Rankin being a villain (I mean, this guy is a VILLAIN, and he's given an undeserved pardon, basically redeemed without having earned it), and the predicament Laurence and Temeraire still find themselves in - all fall by the wayside and are underdeveloped.

One star for Temeraire, who I'll always enjoy. One star for beautiful prose. One star for positive draconic representation. A total of three is the most generous I can offer.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was just so boring. I just don't understand where this series went wrong--the first one is so funny, and it's about DRAGONS fighting NAPOLEON. But they've gradually stopped being funny and have turned into dragons visiting all the continents. For some reason. This one is just the dragons flying across Australia and accomplishing nothing. Seriously, just chapters and chapters of them flying around for a purpose too flimsy to support a months-long journey across uncharted territory; a purpose that, by the way, they fail to achieve. Reading this book felt even more pointless when the end gave no hope that the characters would ever, like, get back to FIGHTING NAPOLEON with DRAGONS. Heck, it didn't even indicate which continent they'd next pointlessly travel to.

[Wealhtheow · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Temeraire series answers the age-old question, "How would the Napoleonic Wars change if dragons existed?"

In the first book, His Majesty's Dragon, the answer is that not much would change--all the European nations have dragons, and they treat them like a cross between pets and battleships. The only real change is that communication is slightly faster and some additional battles are fought in the air. The main character, Laurence, is a British naval captain who befriends the dragon Temeraire; the first book is their introduction to aerial warfare. It's a wonderful story. But Novik complicates the narrative in a very satisfying way with the next book, Throne of Jade, which widens the world to include China. Further books take Laurence and Temeraire through Africa and finally, to Australia, all the while fighting Napoleon's forces and allies every inch of the way. The series slowly reveals itself to be a colonialist narrative told from a very post-colonialist pov. We are presented with classic European views and politics--the slave trade, use of opium for trade purposes, Manifest Destiny, etc--but the existence of dragons changes the result. When European traders take people as slaves from Africa, the African dragons and their warriors fight back, exceedingly effectively. The spread of European settlers in the Americas is very different, because the native Americans have plenty of defenses of their own. It's fascinating!

But the series is not just a game of "what if"--it's a deeply satisfying character study of the uncomfortably honorable Laurence, the brilliant-but-jejune Temeraire, and the diverse cast of side characters. Although there are a few battles in Tongues of Serpents, the majority of the plot is simply Temeraire and Laurence treking across Australia.

Laurence has always been a character driven by honor and duty--his sense of responsibility toward England weighed heavily and constantly upon his shoulders. But after Victory of Eagles, he has lost his taste for war, even against England's enemies. Although many called him a traitor for his mercy, he maintained his patriotism. But in this book, he must question his own loyalty to his embattled nation.

Although I think this series is easily the most mature look at the Napoleonic wars OR dragons that I've ever read, there's a great deal of humor and adventure in it, as well. The dragons each have fabulous personalities that clash horribly (they read a lot like scaly, half-ton cats). And there's nothing to get the blood up like fighting sea-serpents!

[Steven · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't wait to finish this book, so I can put it down and hope the next one is better. (The last one wasn't very fun to read either). My dislike may be affected by the cold I have as I am reading it.

I can't tell if Novik hates her characters or her readers more. I'm 4/5 of the way through, and only two good things have happened to anybody: the protagonist was exiled to Australia instead of executed, and a minor character we are supposed to like adopted a gimpy dragon instead of it being executed. So, two fates marginally better than death instead of death's sweet release. Pretty much every character whines constantly, and almost every character (including all the ones we're supposed to like) has been miserable the entire book. Half their problems are their own fault; the other half are unrelenting but not necessarily believable problems from the author.

The last 1/5 isn't as drearily uneventful as the first 4/5. Lots and lots of bad things happen, but they happen almost exclusively to the undeclared antagonist (the British Empire, oddly enough) rather than the protagonists.

[Manisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actual review: 2.5

I can feel myself gradually losing interest and I’m not happy about it.

♦ THE PACING:

This… was… so… painfully… slow. I found this to be the weakest of her books so far and it is based solely on the pacing of this book. There were pages where it dragged on and on and on… and nothing happened. Usually, I’m not picky about these things. Historical fiction is rarely as fast-moving as other genres, but this was clearly a stretch. This was so clearly a filler in the series that it could have been easily omitted. There were so many interesting occurences that fell flat for me.

I’m disappointed.

At least I got to spend time with two of my favourite characters from this series.

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seems there are dragons everywhere. Now the story goes to Australia and of course we get to see all new dragons and monsters for the characters to encounter. Great story with action and humor throughout. Very recommended

[Margret · Rating 3 out of 5]

Waffling between a 2 and 3 star. It was just meh.

[Timelord Iain · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot of this one seemed lacking... it's always nice to spend time with Temeraire and Iskierka... and Kulingile was a great addition... but I expected more from a locale like Australia... hopefully Brazil is better, next time...