Ratings85
Average rating3.7
In the second novel of the New York Times bestselling Temeraire series, the Napoleonic Wars take Captain Will Laurence and his dragon to China on a perilous mission. “Full of wonderful characters with real heart.”—Peter Jackson When Britain intercepted a French ship and its precious cargo—an unhatched dragon's egg—Captain 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 Napoleon 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. A reluctant Laurence has no choice but to take Temeraire back to China—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. “Readers with a penchant for both Patrick O’Brian and Anne McCaffrey may have found their perfect match. Naomi Novik beautifully renders an 1800s Europe in which naval buffs and dragon lovers will be keen to immerse themselves.”—Alan Dean Foster, author of the Pip & Flinx series Don’t miss any of Naomi Novik’s magical Temeraire series HIS MAJESTY’S DRAGON • THRONE OF JADE • BLACK POWDER WAR • EMPIRE OF IVORY • VICTORY OF EAGLES • TONGUES OF SERPENTS • CRUCIBLE OF GOLD • BLOOD OF TYRANTS • LEAGUE OF DRAGONS
Reviews with the most likes.
Why did I stop reading this series, almost humane dragons, can you imagine Takhisis or Paladin, sitting down drinking tea, eating biscuits, lazing about while someone reads to them(Takhisis would have looked at the reader and depending on her mood, froze, spat acid, poisoned, burned the fool, Paladin would just ummmmm..ummmmm....what was that spell again??? ohhhhhhhhh.....gunpowder......drat........), honestly, why do the English seem to write better dialogue, story is prim and proper, hilarious comebacks(maybe because they invented the language, please forgive me Mr. Eddings, Mr. Feist, Mr. Jordan and others).....from start to finish, you can read this in one seating........
After their victory at Dover, everything became a routine again, until the Chinese came, insisting on returning Temeraire to them, after a lot of shouting, some underhanded moves, Laurence, Temeraire's pilot/better half(could I even use the word, I am assuming better half means someone who makes you better......)was forced to leave for China to resolve the situation, and so the story unfolds........honestly, the parallelism between reality and make believe was so thin, it might have been what our world would have been.......the phrasing, narration, why I thought I was back in my elementary days.......such attention to details(ok so not that detailed, well so were my history books).....the only difference, dragons took the place of horses.......is it a wonder why I thought reality was so blurred, the only thing that did not appear was dragons pulling carts............
I was quite surprised, I thought ohhh a journey to the West(shhh...I really thought boring)........surprise, surprise.....and a lot of surprises.........it's making the fan in me giggle while writing this review, I hope.........this and that..........oh well.......on to Book Three!!!!
2023:
I forgot how much of the book they spend on the ship!
2020:
even better than I remembered :)
2019:
I enjoyed this way more on a reread.
2017:
The audiobook is fantastic, and I listened to most of this book in one day.
The loyalty Temeraire has to Laurence is the best thing ever!
Really haven't been feeling picking this one up. So setting it aside for now. Will def finish reading it one day tho. The slow pace just isn't working for me at the moment.
This is the tale of two books. The first 60% of the book takes place on a ship travelling to China, and I believe that part drags on quite a bit. The last 40% of the book takes place in China and is much more exciting. All in all, I recommend this book, especially if you enjoyed the first one.
Series
9 primary books12 released booksTemeraire is a 12-book series with 9 primary works first released in 2001 with contributions by Cecelia Holland, Jonathan Stroud, and 47 others.