This or That Reading Challenge discussion

This: A book inspired by air or earth.
That: A book inspired by water or fire.

For This, I read League of Dragons (Temeraire, #9) by Naomi Novik; inspired by air because this a an alternate history novel about flying dragons being part of an aerial corps for armies during the time of Napoleon.

For this challenge I chose That: A book inspired by water or fire, for which I read The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch, which centers around a former theater director who moves just outside a small town into a cliff-side house overlooking the sea after retirement, and where a number of people and events from the protagonist's life revisit, and lead to some troubling and dire consequences. This book started off really slowly, and I found it only moderately interesting. Then a discovery triggers a madcap series of events that border on the manic and surreal. The 2nd half was definitely the stronger, and it proved to be rather unsettling how it all evolved. I really went back-and-forth on this one quite a bit, but ultimately give it a solid 4 stars for the psychological aspects and well executed unreliable narrator.