![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Review - Black Powder War
Apr. 22nd, 2009 03:21 pmI had to read Black Powder War very fast, as it was due back to the library today and I only finished the previous book in the series yesterday. It wasn't a chore, though. The pacing was better than the second book in any case, and it's very easy to just sink into it and enjoy the world. There was one stretch where it did drag a little, and I took a break, but considering I read it in three stretches of about 100 pages each, that's not saying much. That part was a bit too concerned with the military side of it, which I don't enjoy as much, prioritising that over the characters. For the most part, though, I loved it.
I like that Novik doesn't rest on her laurels at any point: having introduced a new theme, she keeps with it, and throughout this book Temeraire continually brings up the idea of dragons having freedom, even though there can be no real resolution to this right away. And new things are always introduced, with Laurence and crew having to transport the dragon eggs. I was very pleased to see Granby rising in the world a little, although I shared Temeraire's qualms about it all of a sudden. I hope we don't end up seeing less of him now that he's risen in the world somewhat.
I also enjoyed the introduction of Tharkay and the feral dragons, and I certainly hope we see more of them. We didn't learn that much about Tharkay, and it'd be a shame to waste such an enigmatic, useful character. I don't know precisely what Novik can do with him from here, but I hope it's something! Arkady and the rest of the feral dragons were fun characters, and I hope they weren't simply dei ex machinis. It doesn't seem like Novik's style, but we'll see.
One thing I did feel the lack of in this book was strong female characters. With Captain Harcourt and Jane Roland, the first book had some strong females, and they were present at the beginning of the second book at least, but in this third book, I don't think there was any real female intervention. Emily Roland isn't mentioned much, if at all! Of course, there's the woman who brings British gold from the treasury to show the British, but she has barely more than a token appearance: strong actions as a woman, especially considering the context, but still not much of it. I hope there are more female characters again in the next book.
Something I enjoy about the story as a whole is the focus on realism. Which is really odd, given that it's speculative fiction, but I enjoy the worries over the harness, the worries over the crew, the fighting conditions, the little things that make it that bit more real. And things like dragons being longer-lived than humans, and the captainship being hereditary. It's also interesting that dragons need crews much like ships. I don't think I've ever read a book where dragons had more than one rider. Another good thought, considering the supposed size of them, which shows this is more than just "yay dragons!" and actually a book that's had a lot of thought put into it.
I also enjoy the alternate history angle, and I get the sense it's been well thought out, although of course, I know very little about Napoleon and the problems of those wars. What I do know comes from War and Peace and/or Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell! Not something I really have much factual knowledge about, though War and Peace isn't to be sniffed at, with all the references it made to the war part of it and this treaty and that battle... It'd take a better history scholar than me to tell you about the accuracy of the elements that are similar, but it feels right to me -- aside from the dragons, of course.
I like that Novik doesn't rest on her laurels at any point: having introduced a new theme, she keeps with it, and throughout this book Temeraire continually brings up the idea of dragons having freedom, even though there can be no real resolution to this right away. And new things are always introduced, with Laurence and crew having to transport the dragon eggs. I was very pleased to see Granby rising in the world a little, although I shared Temeraire's qualms about it all of a sudden. I hope we don't end up seeing less of him now that he's risen in the world somewhat.
I also enjoyed the introduction of Tharkay and the feral dragons, and I certainly hope we see more of them. We didn't learn that much about Tharkay, and it'd be a shame to waste such an enigmatic, useful character. I don't know precisely what Novik can do with him from here, but I hope it's something! Arkady and the rest of the feral dragons were fun characters, and I hope they weren't simply dei ex machinis. It doesn't seem like Novik's style, but we'll see.
One thing I did feel the lack of in this book was strong female characters. With Captain Harcourt and Jane Roland, the first book had some strong females, and they were present at the beginning of the second book at least, but in this third book, I don't think there was any real female intervention. Emily Roland isn't mentioned much, if at all! Of course, there's the woman who brings British gold from the treasury to show the British, but she has barely more than a token appearance: strong actions as a woman, especially considering the context, but still not much of it. I hope there are more female characters again in the next book.
Something I enjoy about the story as a whole is the focus on realism. Which is really odd, given that it's speculative fiction, but I enjoy the worries over the harness, the worries over the crew, the fighting conditions, the little things that make it that bit more real. And things like dragons being longer-lived than humans, and the captainship being hereditary. It's also interesting that dragons need crews much like ships. I don't think I've ever read a book where dragons had more than one rider. Another good thought, considering the supposed size of them, which shows this is more than just "yay dragons!" and actually a book that's had a lot of thought put into it.
I also enjoy the alternate history angle, and I get the sense it's been well thought out, although of course, I know very little about Napoleon and the problems of those wars. What I do know comes from War and Peace and/or Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell! Not something I really have much factual knowledge about, though War and Peace isn't to be sniffed at, with all the references it made to the war part of it and this treaty and that battle... It'd take a better history scholar than me to tell you about the accuracy of the elements that are similar, but it feels right to me -- aside from the dragons, of course.
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
