Throne of Jade

SYNOPSIS:

When Britain intercepted a French ship and its precious cargo–an unhatched dragon’s egg–Capt. Will Laurence of HMS Reliant unexpectedly became master and commander of the noble dragon he named Temeraire. As new recruits in Britain’s Aerial Corps, man and dragon soon proved their mettle in daring combat against Bonaparte’s invading forces. Now China has discovered that its rare gift, intended for Napoleon, has fallen into British hands–and an angry Chinese delegation vows to reclaim the remarkable beast. But Laurence refuses to cooperate. Facing the gallows for his defiance, Laurence has no choice but to accompany Temeraire back to the Far East–a long voyage fraught with peril, intrigue, and the untold terrors of the deep. Yet once the pair reaches the court of the Chinese emperor, even more shocking discoveries and darker dangers await.

REVIEW

2.5 STARS

I'm utterly disappointed at this book. Even though Novik's writing keeps on being amazing, it felt like she lost track of what she wanted to do with the story.

Set on the Allegiance for about 200 pages, we spend most of our time at sea, where nothing extraordinary happens. Days turn into weeks; weeks turn into months. When we arrive in China, the action continues lacking emotion. Everything feels bland and uninteresting. Sure, the Chinese treat their dragons differently but besides that, not much happens.

The best word I find to describe the plot is 'boring', and I'm not exaggerating when I say this book could do with 100 pages less.

Let's start with what I liked. I liked that the Chinese talked through translators and none of them could speak in English. It was very realistic. During modern times, languages were not as known.

The second thing I appreciated was how women played a prominent role in the Chinese aviators. Even though the reasons were still misogynistic, it was nice to know there's not that prejudice.

However, during Riley and Laurence's conversation after the first found Roland, I wish Novik would've defended women a bit more. Temeraire was pro-women being aviators and Laurence couldn't justify well enough why they shouldn't. The dialogue could've gone on, yet instead, no one picked it up again. I hope in the next books this matter is more openly discussed.

I don't know how accurate Novik's investigation of the Chinese culture during modern times was, but I appreciated the effort. I loved how we moved across the world, even though it took us too long to get there.

I end my list of pros here because I can't think of anything else that made me happy while reading this.

The characters didn't evolve at all since His Majesty's Dragon. Temeraire was a spoiled teenager: when he was not throwing tantrums, he was trying to get laid. Laurence kept being uptight and a pawn on games too big for him do fathom. Also, am I the only one that ships him with Granby?

The other characters were too secondary for my liking, and so I have no formed opinion about them.

I also didn't appreciate the way slavery was portrayed – despite knowing Laurence's father and family were against it, there was no discussion, only acknowledgement of its existence. Again, Temeraire was surprised by that reality, and Laurence postponed an explanation to avoid hurting Riley's feelings. So many good opportunities wasted – two important talks avoided.

I'm just glad I could finish this book. Even though it took me more than a month because of its dragging pace, I'm curious to read the third and see if the story manages to capture my interest again.