Tongues of Serpents

Tongues of Serpents, sixth in Naomi Novik's popular Temeraire series, picks up with Laurence and Temeraire's deportation to Australia aboard a convict transport. This is a rather dismal fate, of course, but better than the imminent execution awaiting Laurence in England after their heroic treason

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saving the French dragons from the deadly English germ warfare. Iskierka and Granby are along for the ride, along with two seemingly undistinguished dragon eggs to form the basis for a new breeding ground. Rankin, the carelessly cruel captain from the first book, makes a reappearance as his usual odious self. And unfortunately, with all his influence and money, he is there to take one of the new hatchlings.

Tharkay is also present again, but in a very muted way. The Australian colony is in disarray, having got up a successful coup d'etat to rid itself of the Crown-appointed governor Bligh. Bligh is still very much on the scene, however, and wants Laurence to help him regain control using Temeraire to squelch the rebels. Mixed up in all this is Tharkay's mysterious mission to discover a smugglers' trail in the rough interior. When one of the eggs is stolen, Laurence and Temeraire throw themselves into a desperate chase across the Australian wilds.

This is certainly not my favorite of the Temeraire series, being rather slow moving and without too much in the way of new plot, but it was still an absorbing read I downed in a couple days. I enjoyed the character and relationship development, and the introduction of Kulingile who is proving quite fun. I love how Novik is able to write dragon characters who have their own distinct personalities and dragonish—yet wholly comprehensible—ways of thinking. They aren't just human characters in dragonskin; their logic and values are quite different from their human counterparts. At times this can be humorous and at other times it is an extremely effective device to critique human society.

With a surprising twist at the end (that justifies the book's title, I might add), Novik is definitely setting up here for the last several installments. I was happy to reach immediately for the next in line, Crucible of Gold. What a great series!

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I love the Temeraire series, so I was very excited to get my hands on a copy of this book. I have to say, though, that I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as some of the other Temeraire stories. Of course, a disappointing Temeraire book is still better than many other books, but I couldn't help

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wanting something more. I think I've gotten a bit tired of long trips through mysterious unexplored regions, filled out by encounters with natives and a few battles. I did love Novik's descriptions of the Australian outback; I've never been to Australia and really don't know much about it, but I was left with a sense of the awe-inspiring wildness of it. I also enjoyed the hatching of some new dragons, which is always exciting. What was lacking, from my perspective, was any real involvement of Laurence and Temeraire in the greater social or political issues. In previous books, for example, I'd enjoyed Temeraire's crusade for dragon rights and his success in bring the feral dragons out of the breeding grounds. I knew that Laurence's status would make things difficult, but I was still optimistic that in a newly-developed colony like Australia, there might be more opportunity for influencing the course of affairs. Instead, Laurence refuses to take sides on any issues and sets out almost immediately into the outback, which left me a bit disappointed. The story was still good, it just wasn't what I most wanted to hear. Of course, this is a reflection of my personal preferences; readers who are more interested in individual adventure stories may well be fully satisfied with this book. And needless to say, any fans of the Temeraire series should read it as a matter of course. I'm certainly planning to continue with the next one.

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The sixth Temeraire installment takes readers away from the main action of the war to experience the wild Outback. Overall the book was not what I expected but ends with countless possibilities for a seventh book.

As this book's action takes place primarily in traveling cross country, it could

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occasionally feel tedious. But I loved meeting the new hatchlings. Spending time with Laurence and Temeraire never gets old. And I find Tharkay more endearing with each appearance.

The crux of the story comes in the final chapter when we see Laurence at last abandoning duty and government. This massive character change was beautifully done, slowly, over the course of the book. I was thrilled to see Laurence at last free from the bonds he placed upon himself throughout the series and look forward to what this change will mean for the next adventure.

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I really detested Tongues of Serpents. There's nothing more bitter than finding that a series you loved has taken a turn for the mediocre, right?

Firstly, I had trouble with the writing. It seemed like Novik would bring the audience in at point A, then skip back a few days to the conversations that

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set that moment up, and then skip along a bit further. That was mostly in the early scenes, but it was frustrating and distracting. Also: confusing to my delicate brain.

Secondly, I just didn't enjoy the story. I enjoy a good Simpson Desert travelogue as much as anyone, but even with the addition of a chase narrative -- a dragon egg has been stolen, and the aviators and their motley crew of convicts have to chase after it. Also, there are smugglers subverting the East India Company's monopoly -- the whole desert crossing sequence was overlong and dull. Whole chapters would go by before particular characters had dialogue -- I honestly forgot that Tharkay was with them most of the time. Tension comes from the raising of a deformed dragonet by one of Temeraire's crew, an African boy determined to raise the dragon in the face of aviator tradition. And then there are the bunyips, native carnivores who lay extensive subterranean traps with which to pick off the interlopers. Having grown up with a healthy childhood fear of bunyips, these sequences were a wee bit terrifying. Unfortunately, they sort of drizzled to an unsatisfactory conclusion, with the aviators placating them with food.

Bunyips bring me to the big, major problem with ToS: its depiction of colonial Australia. The sequences in Sydney are straight out of a primary school reader, if you went to primary school in 1960: soldiers are drunk, convicts are white, male and working class (except for a few Irish political transportees), transportation is a sentence of pointless labour with no hope of reprieve, Bligh is a pathetic coward, Macarthur is a lovable rogue, the Indigenous Australians of New South Wales are conveniently dead.

So let's break that down:

- The New South Wales Corps earned its nickname of "the Rum Corps" for good reason: with the lack of physical money, New South Wales operated on a barter system, and under the NSW Corps, this evolved into a rum-based economy. It is true that the regiments were made up of the dregs of the British Army, and were noted for being heavy drinkers with a taste for violence, but it was more complex than that.

Additionally, "rum" at the time referred to a wide range of alcohols, so there's no need for Novik's characters to come over all snobbish about whether or not the Corps can tell the difference between Jamaica rum and any other. Although that might have been Macarthur. Either way.

- 20% of the convicts transported in the Second Fleet were women. Most were transported for prostitution, although in many cases, that was defined as "being Irish and female". A number of convicts were people of colour; Australia's first bushranger was from ... hmm, I think the Caribbean, but don't quote me on that.

- There's specific reference in ToS to convict labour being "pointless," and tickets of leave being known only in theory. These puzzle me, as this was the era when convict labour was used to build Sydney's infrastructure, and tickets of leave -- which conditionally pardoned convicts, being essentially like a parole that enabled them to seek employment and even bring their families out to Australia -- were being granted, although not at the same rate as under previous governors.

- Honestly, whole books could and have been writing about Bligh and Macarthur's characters, the Rum Rebellion and the fight to govern Australia. Novik doesn't fall into the trap of putting Macarthur wholly in the right, but her portrayal of Bligh is straight out of Rum Corps propaganda. Part of the reason Bligh was deposed was that he was seeking to improve the status of working class free men, in the face of Macarthur's burgeoning squatocracy. Not that he was a hero of the working classes by any stretch of the imagination, but as with so much of Australia's history, it's More Complicated Than That.

- Which brings me to the Indigenous Problem. And this is what makes me the angriest, because we as a nation have struggled with a history of genocide and erasure of Indigenous people, and now we have an American author coming in and doing exactly the wrong thing.

So. Firstly, ToS is set in 1808 or '09. It's only a few years since Pemulwuy, leader of an alliance of Aboriginal tribes in a guerilla war against the invaders, was killed. Sydney was still subject to raids. A character makes an offhand remark about how all the Aborigines of the area are dead of smallpox, which I imagine would come as a surprise to the descendants of those 10% who survived.

Partway through the book, I remarked to a friend that all ToS needed was a friendly native guide, and it would have ticked all the colonialised cliche boxes. But I realised, at the end, that that was silly, because that would have involved having an actual Aboriginal character. Of the dozen or so Indigenous people who appear throughout the book, only a couple have dialogue, and only two have names. The great myth of the Empty Australian Centre, Populated Only By Monsters, is alive and well. The characters visit Lake Eyre, an area of considerable significance to many central Australian tribes, twice, and not once do they see a single Indigenous person. Aborigines, in Novik's book, are mysterious and unknowable; they leave traces upon the landscape and their distant songs may be heard, but they are not people.

At the end, Laurence and his people find a Chinese settlement in northern Australia, approximately where Darwin is today. Here, traders from half a dozen countries live in harmony with their trading partners, the Larrakia Nation. This is very nice, and I was curious to see how the Larrakia were magically immune from the diseases carried by the traders. (Trade did exist between northern Indigenous tribes and overseas nations, and artefacts from this commerce have indeed been found as far south as Victoria, but it's generally believed that they came via Indonesia, or Java, as it was then known.) It is in this settlement that we have our two named Indigenous characters, but don't go thinking they play major roles or anything, because that would be silly.

My hands, they hurt, so let me wrap up: Tongues of Serpents relies on a lot of old and ugly myths about Australia's past, and participates in the erasure of Indigenous people from our history. On the one hand, I'm glad it's not written by an Australian; on the other, it is depressing to have an American come in and write a novel which is firmly on the Howard-Windschuttle side of the history wars, especially in a series with widespread international popularity. I'm disappointed in Novik.

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TONGUES OF SERPENTS is the sixth novel by Naomi Novik involving dragons set in the Napoleonic Wars. My least favorite book of the six thus far--but the first five set a very high bar--this book is still on its own merits among the most enjoyable reads I've had in a long time; this series has become

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one of my favorite in fantasy.

Novik states in a note at the end that she prefers to only alter the historical timeline from the point Temeraire, the central dragon in her tales, arrives on the scene. So although Novik's world is already a very different place than ours from the first book, with dragons having made their mark since Roman times, the world of the series is also in other ways very familiar with such historical figures as Napoleon, Wellington and Nelson as well as landmark battles such as Trafalgar and Jena featured. In this novel, Bligh of Bounty fame makes an appearance.

The dragons serve in Britain's Aerial Corps, by which Novik contrives to send Temeraire the dragon and his human captain Laurence globetrotting throughout the series. After this novel set in Australia, the only continents left to visit will be the Americas and Antarctica. That has been one of the series' charms--visiting Britain, China, Turkey, Austria, Prussia Southern Africa and France and seeing these alternate societies different relations with dragons.

For Novik's dragons aren't like those of McKinley, Lackey, McCaffrey or those featured in other works of fantasy I've read. They're not beasts; they're nothing akin to pets. They're people. Temeraire himself displays an intellect that at times overmatches that of his human partner. The dragons in this series and book have personalities and characters that move the action along as much as any human. Because of dragon sentience and the setting at the dawn of the British Empire, issues of freedom, rights and autonomy are particularly important in this series.

With Temeraire and Laurence cut off in Australia both have far less scope for involvement in the world's affairs and the issues Novik has delineated throughout the series are less sharp in this novel. The previous books were more involving to me because more was at stake right from the beginning of the various books, not just for Temeraire and Laurence, but also for their comrades and country. Each book before this also advanced the case (and cause) for dragons fully integrating into human society and thereby cast interesting lights on everything from women's roles, the slave trade and various forms of imperialism. However, the wider world, or even Australia's aborigines, doesn't impinge much on this book until the last few chapters--about half the book is taken up with a trek into the Outback I was at times impatient to see end.

And though Novik does manage to have Tharkay and Granby and a few other familiar characters come along with Laurence and Temeraire to "the far side of the world," I miss a lot of the characters, human and draconic, from the other books left behind--like Jane. (And could have done without Iskierka--Temeraire would agree--though as with him, she did grow on me by the end of the book…a bit).

So no, I didn't love this one quite as much as the other Temeraire books: Not as moving as HIS MAJESTY'S DRAGON or as engrossing as THRONE OF JADE or as thrilling an adventure as BLACK POWDER WAR or with the high emotional stakes and action-filled events of EMPIRE OF IVORY or VICTORY OF EAGLES.

Despite all that, I thoroughly enjoyed the TONGUE OF SERPENTS and more than anything that's due to Laurence and Temeraire. As in the last novel, in this one Temeraire gets to share the point of view with Laurence (who had been the sole point of view in the first four books). Temeraire is like a precocious child that asks the embarrassing questions and who has a disconcerting ability to think outside proscribed lines and his point of view is always engaging. Laurence has changed quite a bit in the course of the books because of Temeraire and their mutual affection and devotion is still endearing and I love Laurence's character arc in this book, where he winds up intellectually and emotionally at the end. At one point in this book Laurence reflects that Temeraire's "habits of free-thinking" are supposed by the other aviators to be due to Laurence's influence--when it is quite the reverse. The Laurence/Temeraire relationship is a lot of what makes these novels such addicting reads. I'll certainly be eager to follow them through their seventh book--even if they wind up in Antarctica.

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This, the sixth volume in the Temeraire series, takes the characters to an entirely new continent: Australia. Laurence and Temeraire are transported, after the events of the previous novel, and must make a new life on the barely colonized Australian coast. There they discover that political

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machinations cannot be left behind and that the English are not the only people on the continent. Adventures, naturally, ensue.

The core of the narrative here is once again a loose quest -- in this case, a pursuit -- and Novik works well within those parameters, creating dangerous challenges, interesting new species encounters, and -- as always -- developing the relationship between Laurence and Temeraire with each twist and turn. This installment continues the tradition introduced in the previous of bringing Temeraire's perspective directly into the novel within the confines of the third person narration; the reader is shifted between his voice and Laurence's with some regularity, but the shifts are smooth, to the point that one doesn't often notice the change until Temeraire's more unusual opinions pop up. Such smoothness is the mark of writerly skill; by this point, Novik has these characters down pat and one can definitely tell.

Novik has taken the opportunity to play a little bit here, with history and culture, and that works to make a familiar pattern seem still fresh. The incorporation of the mythical Australian bunyip, for example, creates some nice, creepy peril as the quest-pursuit unfolds and gives us -- and the characters -- an opportunity to feel that perhaps even having a dragon or three around isn't a guarantee of safety. Such variation is necessary, given that much of the novel is taken up with a trek across the Australian outback, so the usual detailed descriptions of cities, period scenes, or integrated dragon societies simply aren't possible.

The end of this novel almost feels like an ending to the series, or the start of a totally new one, but the next volume is waiting for me, so I know there is more to this story. That is a good thing. Overall, this novel is another solid, if not perfect, addition from a writer whose series is remarkably consistent in its strength and imagination. I'm looking forward to that next one.

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A weak book in an otherwise extremely enjoyable series. I can only hope that it is "weak middle book syndrome" rather than an indication of a decline in quality; only time will tell.

Laurence and Temeraire are in Australia, for reasons readers of previous books in the series know well and people who

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haven't read them would find to be a spoiler. Most of the characters we know from previous books are missing, but we get to meet some newly-hatched dragons (including the first dragon we've seen who's an outright selfish jerk) which keeps things interesting. The plot is rather aimless and meandering; it's realistic enough, as what they would actually end up doing in the situation, but it's not terribly compelling and lacks a satisfying resolution. Australia is not depicted as well as China in the second book or Africa in the fourth; there appear to be no native dragons, and we see next to nothing of aboriginal cultures.

There are some loose ends from earlier books that are picked up after having been neglected for several books (notably, sea-serpents and Laurence's adoption by the Emperor of China), and there are certainly interesting bits, but this book isn't going to hook anyone on the series. There are tantalizing hints dropped about very interesting things going on elsewhere in the world, and I sincerely hope that in the next book we'll get more than hints -- I'd love to see what's going on in India or the Americas!

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This is a "first thoughts review", I will re-read and re-review this book after I reread the first five books in the series. I let it sit for weeks while I hoped to a) find and b) carve out time to read the prior books.

Overall I enjoyed Tongues of Serpents, but I felt it was a little flat when

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compared to the prior books; I don't think this was because of Laurence and Temeraire's distance from England. Several new characters and their new home were introduced, but I felt not fully given their due. I feel a need to reread the books before I write more. I felt something was missing from this book and haven't quite figured out what that was yet.

Despite what I feel are some minor inadequacies, I enjoyed Tongues of Serpents and look forward to rereading it in series. Novik has developed a deep and fascinating alternate history which is a joy to read.

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A solid book in the series, which focuses on Temeraire, Laurence and company in an adventure through the Australian Outback.

I enjoyed this book because I've finally hooked into Temeraire as a character and quite enjoy Laurence's changing points of views and struggles as he copes with being

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labeled, correctly, a traitor.

Less to enjoy is the story itself. It's fairly meandering and doesn't really connect with much except in a sort of accidental side-swiping sort of way. The book feels more like an excuse to explore these characters in a new setting than something with an actual story to tell. It's fortunate that I like both character and setting well enough to put up with that, but I do wish that there was more focus here.

Overall, I like the book, but I'm not so enthused that I'm dying for another.

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I didn't like this novel very much. Looong stretches of it were dull, flat, and waterless, like the countryside Temeraire and company flew over. The characters were as flat as the land. Rankin, whom we have seen and abhorred before, is propped up as a shadow we're to dislike, but few telling

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details are offered as to why...we just have to trust the author. Granby, Laurence's great friend, is almost MIA from the story. Riley, another Laurence ally, gets under 200 words total.

So little was explored! So little was even noted! This is AUSTRALIA, a huge new continent, in a very different world, there HAD TO BE MORE! I wanted more about Larrakia-the-port and the people...something, some little thing, about them that might help explain their unprecedented possession of a trading port! It didn't happen in OUR world, why did it in this one?

I gave this one entire star more than I planned to because Laurence, Royal Navy to his shoe-buttons, *finally* sheds that skin and becomes a reasonable man, appalled by jingoism and venality at the highest levels of his society. This alone was worth the slog for a series lover. But the next book is the last I'll read if it's as affectless and unrewarding as this one was.

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First, an admission: I haven't read book five, so I came into this without the full back-story. It wasn't necessary, however, as the story dealt with the fall-out of his sentence of treason and not the treason itself.

This was a slow, ponderous book, but, I think, rightly so. In the beginning,

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Laurence is still wed to the idea of martial obedience, and attempts to puzzle out which of the Sydney factions he owes allegiance to as if he were still an officer. This slowly changes, however, as he moves away from Sydney to survey new territory, and events lead him further and further away from the world he knew, both physically and ideologically.

Spoilers: After reaching the new, Chinese port and witnessing the horrific outcome of an unprovoked British attack on it, though he and his men had been hosted there, Laurence's crisis of faith is almost complete. It is finished by the time their group is back in Sydney, and the new governor offers him military office in his freshly declared independent Australia. Finally, given a command he would have leaped to accept in his first days in Australia, he refuses: "Laurence was silent a moment, waiting for the sense of duty to answer; but it did not speak" (page 274 of the uncorrected proof). With this, his transformation is complete; he finally turned his own back on a government that turned on him long ago. And when that back is guarded by a Celestial, one can only guess what will happen next.

In conclusion, this book is a necessary advancement of the series, but far more for Laurence's character than for the overarching plot. Though light on action and heavy on descriptions of Australian landscape and Laurence's growing internal struggle, this was nonetheless an enjoyable addition to the series and I look forward to more to come.

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There is not much action in this book, but this is a series rooted in the Age of Sail genre, and I suspect that in any AoS series, there are some books which consist mainly of moving the characters from one location to another. On those terms, I found this a pleasant opportunity to check in with

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old friends.

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I had read that the latest installment was depressing, but I don't agree with that assessment. Yes, there are sad moments where Laurence and Temeraire are faced with being used as pawns by overbearing government officials, but they didn't overwhelm the story. I loved Kulingile's part in the story,

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and how Laurence was able to (hopefully) teach Temeraire about charity. I also enjoyed the way Ms Novik was able to slip in the information that female captains back in England are finally being publicly recognized. There's a hopeful ending, and I'm very excited to read the next book in the series.

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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.

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*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 aviato

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Another Temeraire book is a good thing. I felt the plot of the last book left Laurence and Temeraire in a strange position - expelled from the Corps and from the defense of their own country. I wondered how sending them to Australia as prisoners would play out. For sure, neither is the kind to

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calmly submit to being mere subjects under someone else's command. Both are too smart and feel keenly the responsibility for guiding events and the need for being productive in action.

We see Temeraire and Laurence both change and grow as personalities. They have done what was right from duty and from a moral standpoint. They are paying for that by being exiled. Yet, they aren't interested in joining in the squabble over who rules the sorry colony of Sydney, only in protecting the eggs they brought to establish a covert. The concern for the hatchlings when Rankin shows up is very understandable and even a bit funny. The result is pretty satisfactory. The other two eggs hold their own surprises, and lead to a cross-country trek.

The writing is still well done, the issues of freedom and rights, and the tendency of some (people and nations) to want to overstep their bounds and tread on the rights of others when convenient are still themes of this book. Not a lot of battle action, but some establishment of locale and where the battles of the great nations of the world in naval and trade will likely occur.

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If you haven't read the first five books in the Temeraire series, this is a **spoiler warning** for those titles.

Temeraire and Laurence have been convicted of treason and transported to New South Wales, Australia. Arriving, they find that the political situation at the penal colony is in disarray -

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the troops staged a coup and overthrew the governor, who wants to be in power. Both sides want Laurence's backing, and he's not sure how best to navigate through the political turmoil without giving up his own high standards. Temeraire also has dragon eggs brought along to attempt the creation of a colony, and he only hopes that one won't open for the wrong sort of person.

I have been looking forward to Temeraire and Laurence's continued adventures ever since I finished Victory of Eagles a couple of summers ago. To be entirely fair, my expectations for this story were extremely high, so when I say that the story did not live up to them, this is not as harsh a judgment as it might otherwise have been. I like the relationship between Temeraire and Laurence as it has developed, and I love Iskierka and her banter with Granby or Temeraire. These are characters I love to spend time with, even when I was less than enthralled with the plot. I wished there were more interactions between the dragons, because that was my favorite part. Even the weakest in this series is a worthwhile read, and I'm already looking forward to the next.

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While definitely enjoyable, this book is the weakest in the Temeraire series. The majority of the pages are spent covering a seemingly endless voyage across Australia. What could have been handled in a few chapters in a more interesting novel was stretched out far beyond what it should have been.

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During the journey, a new kind of creature is introduced, built up, and then apparently forgotten with few questions answered. These things, whatever they are, were one of the most interesting parts of this novel, and could have made the story much better than it was, had there been a point to their introduction.

That being said, Tongues of Serpents was still a good book -- just not a great book, as are the rest in this series. Hopefully, this is a fluke in an otherwise excellent series -- and Ms. Novik will return in force in the next installment.

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Rather placeholder a real next installment. A letdown after the other books in the series..

Other reviews of this title that I've read suggested it didn't seem to be as good or as interesting as the previous novels in the Temeraire series. I didn't get that at all -- and I think it's because I was listening to the book instead of reading it. Their long voyage across Australia quite

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probably was tedious to read, but listening to it while on my 45 minute commute made the time seem to slip by. I do agree that this wasn't the strongest of the book, especially after the previous novel, which I really enjoyed. Looking back, it did seem like filler, but at the same time, I really enjoyed Simon Vance's reading of the novel. I hope that the next book in the series is both better and longer.

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And then it all goes horribly wrong. Part of the problem is that I love the first 5 books so much; the bar was set high and the expectation was immense. Unfortunately, there's just so much wrong with Tongues of Serpents that I barely know where to start.

Will Laurence and Temeraire have been

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banished to Australia to establish new breeding grounds, convicts in all but name. But the colony is mutinous, its Governor in exile, and the continent hazardous, with no obvious opportunities for redemption.

Unfortunately, Tongues of Serpents passes up almost all of the exciting opportunities intrinsic to its setting in favour of a slow-burn plot that never really catches fire. I'm used to Temeraire books being episodic travelogues that build character, but Serpents doesn't even deliver on this basis: none of our principals grow or learn anything new, and we see far too little of the Aboriginal Australians and the indigenous wildlife (although the quicksand trap engineered by the bunyips will be traumatising for anyone who read The Neverending Story).

The only glimmer of joy is new hatchling Kulingile and his choice of captain - but it's not enough to offset the horror of having to deal with the odious Captain Rankin again. In the end, the entire book appears to be mostly interested in setting up the pieces for future novels - at the risk of losing readers before they get there.

Slow, frustrating and in places it appears to betray everything we know and love about our characters (even if I read this through the lens of Will having PTSD and acute depression post-Victory, his decisions at the climax are questionable).

Ugh.

Full review (i.e. more whinging).

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Okay, first, I adore this 'verse. I love the characters, the transformation of history into what it would be with dragons -- and I'm especially anticipating seeing how the Americas play out.

Tongues of Serpents is a transitional novel in the series, which, like transitional episodes of TV series,

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means that both a lot happens, and not much happens at all. And, of course, this is all meant to be so tiresome that Laurence throws in his proverbial hat and retires to the country. Then the next stage of the series' real plot can begin. Which is fine, if somewhat tiresome for the reader, too. It's the larger series that matters.

However, I'm always a little frustrated with Novik's writing because it's so fast-paced and action-oriented. We only really get a clear idea of how Temeraire himself feels about anything that's happening. Laurence has feelings in the moment, but we don't have much of a sense of him caring for anything beyond duty (apart from loving Temeraire fiercely). Even in the description of the settings -- we know what a character values based on what s/he notices, and it seems like most of the descriptions of setting come from Temeraire's POV, not Laurence's. I'm afraid all his attention is taken up by threats to their safety and imagining how his betters perceive him.

This is frustrating for me because I want to relate to him more, as a character, even as repressed as he usually is. Meanwhile when we met his parents and Admiral Roland, I was totally satisfied with understanding how he felt and what he valued. Maybe this is to show Laurence, at this point in his travels, is well past his ability to give a damn? He has every right to be depressed about his situation, but if that's the case, then I expect someone to notice. And no one has.

I think that's the root of my frustration, anyway. Apart from that, I loved the setting, the new people, the new dragons, and so forth. I wish Kulingile's story had more time. I'd like to see a whole book about him and Demane (and Sipho) getting educated and driving their teachers batty with their worldly experience and wealth of differing perspectives, since they aren't exactly at the Academy to be instructed by their elders, and then kicking ass and taking names on various missions.

I used the disability tag because of Kulingile's treatment when hatched...and also because of how a character initially crippled, unable to fly, and forced to be carried around on other dragons' backs, ultimately turns out to be a terribly valuable heavyweight, who isn't disabled at all. I'm biting my tongue on my critique of the "oh, but he wasn't ACTUALLY disabled at all!" trope (as if a disabled character really is only a pitiable thing to be euthanized against its will), because it pisses me off and I don't have the mental bandwidth to go there. But I do strongly wish George R.R. Martin & Lois McMaster Bujold weren't the only SFF authors I can think of who incorporate disabled characters into violent plots without magicking them "better" or dismissing their skill sets and hiding them away.

Anyway, definitely looking forward to the rest of the series. :)

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First of all, this book is quite lighter and less depressive than the last. Then, moving to the other considerations, the whole point of the series is "What would happen if the Napoleonic wars were fought with the aid of dragons?" but in this books seems to emerge another what-if point. What if the

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European nations were not the only super-powers in the world? China, South Africa, Inca, USA with a very strong Amerindian component... I do not know why, but this puts a kind of strange happiness in my heart. Plus, the newest dragons are hilarious and cute.

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Easily the worst of the series. Plodding, uninteresting. What a disappointment.

This is admittedly not the most entertaining book of the Temeraire epic, and it has connecting story written all over it. That said, Novik detonates some serious geopolitical developments at the end of this book that sends her alternate history even more off the rails in regards to actual history.

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More importantly there is the small matter that Lawrence, after some literal wandering around in the wilderness, completes his conversion in regards to his conflict between duty and principle, and now appears ready to deal himself his own hand.

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