Naomi Novik: Throne of Jade

Throne of Jade continues the story that began in Temeraire. The first book revealed that the dragon Temeraire is a rare Chinese Celestial and, as it happens, the Chinese want him back. The British government doesn't put up much resistance and thus Will and Temeraire find them on Allegiance, a large transport, on their way to China.

The sea journey takes them months, so there's lots of room for all kinds of action during the journey - battles, intrigue and conversations. The characters of Temeraire and Will are explored further, and the supporting cast is interesting as well, there are some rather cryptic Chinese fellows aboard the ship.

Towards the end of the novel, the ship takes them to China, where the events finally reach their peak. Of course, the reader probably knows they're going to make it just fine (there are, after all, three more books in the series), but how it turns out is a bit of a mystery until it happens. The way things are resolved smells perhaps a tad too deus ex machina to me, but I can forgive that: the book is otherwise very good. Besides, I think I prefer to have a fast-paced adventure instead of slower, several hundred pages long epic, so some short cuts are probably mandatory.

So, I'm rather satisfied with this second part of the series and I'm definitely looking forward to continuing to the third installment. [ Temeraire: The Throne of Jade (Temeraire series book 2) at Amazon.co.uk ] [ Throne of Jade at LibraryThing ]