Tongues of Serpents
Mar. 4th, 2012 01:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skull_bearerSo, after Victory of Eagles, I was less then enthusiastic about the lastest installment in the Temeraire series, Tongues of Serpents. Another boat-trip, this time to Australia, woo-hoo. I had no interest in it (Harry Potter burnt me enough I didn't want to see another beloved series slide down shit hill), and it sat on my shelf until last month, when I decided I felt like a bit of fantasy, and I might as well see if it was any good.
And it was about at the point they discovered the Chinese traders in Australia, that I realised I had been reading the books all wrong.
Mind you, it's not my fault. The first book is majorly misleading, and the caption of the series : Master and Commander With Dragons! is completely erronous. The caption should read: Temeraire; or How William Laurence Brought Down the British Empire.
This isn't a historical fantasy, it's full-blown Alternate History that happens to contain dragons. Man, I should have seen this coming from Empire of Ivory, but in re-reading the series it was obvious from Black Powder War. I'm pretty sure Napoleon didn't win in Russia and make a peace treaty with the Tsar (I could be wrong, please correct me, but I thought he chased the Russian armies to about Moscow, and at that point his men were dead with hunger and cold and the Russians won). But yeah, Empire of Ivory should have made it clear, the focus was not on the dragon illness, the whole dragon thing is a vehicle to keep the POV characters in places where stuff is happening, the focus is on the destruction of Britian's slave trade and the rise of an African empire.
Same thing with Tongues of Serpents, again, being in Australia is just a authorial hand-wave to get Laurence and Temeraire in a position to observe what is happening. It's a very good book, in the context of the series. Quite slow-paced, not much happens, but it's a nice breather and helps to set up themes for the next book. Namely, that after Yongxing's death in Throne of Jade, the Chinese have become expansionist (friendly expansionist, the Australian aboriginies are glad of the trade), British power is waning, and Laurence has finally had enough of British bullshit and broken free of that mess.
It also helps soften the blow from Victory of Eagles. As a Master and Commander With Dragons series, the characters are the main focus, and having Laurence go all Einsatzgruppen was a big turn-off. However, as a How William Laurence Brought Down the British Empire series, the focus is no longer ont he characters but on the larger events in the world, with the characters being vehicles through which we watch these events.
So yeah, really recommend sticking with the series, really looking forward to the next book and the events that will, by the looks of things, bring down the British Empire. AND NOTHING OF VALUE WAS LOST.
And it was about at the point they discovered the Chinese traders in Australia, that I realised I had been reading the books all wrong.
Mind you, it's not my fault. The first book is majorly misleading, and the caption of the series : Master and Commander With Dragons! is completely erronous. The caption should read: Temeraire; or How William Laurence Brought Down the British Empire.
This isn't a historical fantasy, it's full-blown Alternate History that happens to contain dragons. Man, I should have seen this coming from Empire of Ivory, but in re-reading the series it was obvious from Black Powder War. I'm pretty sure Napoleon didn't win in Russia and make a peace treaty with the Tsar (I could be wrong, please correct me, but I thought he chased the Russian armies to about Moscow, and at that point his men were dead with hunger and cold and the Russians won). But yeah, Empire of Ivory should have made it clear, the focus was not on the dragon illness, the whole dragon thing is a vehicle to keep the POV characters in places where stuff is happening, the focus is on the destruction of Britian's slave trade and the rise of an African empire.
Same thing with Tongues of Serpents, again, being in Australia is just a authorial hand-wave to get Laurence and Temeraire in a position to observe what is happening. It's a very good book, in the context of the series. Quite slow-paced, not much happens, but it's a nice breather and helps to set up themes for the next book. Namely, that after Yongxing's death in Throne of Jade, the Chinese have become expansionist (friendly expansionist, the Australian aboriginies are glad of the trade), British power is waning, and Laurence has finally had enough of British bullshit and broken free of that mess.
It also helps soften the blow from Victory of Eagles. As a Master and Commander With Dragons series, the characters are the main focus, and having Laurence go all Einsatzgruppen was a big turn-off. However, as a How William Laurence Brought Down the British Empire series, the focus is no longer ont he characters but on the larger events in the world, with the characters being vehicles through which we watch these events.
So yeah, really recommend sticking with the series, really looking forward to the next book and the events that will, by the looks of things, bring down the British Empire. AND NOTHING OF VALUE WAS LOST.