Throne of Jade
Temeraire, Book 2

by Naomi Novik

If you read and enjoyed bestselling novel Temeraire, you will be overjoyed that the sequel is available now. If you have not read it please do so before you embark on this book, as this is very much a trilogy, with all that entails. Captain William Laurence didn’t want to be saddled for life with a dragon; he loved his life in the Navy too much. He became Temeraire’s partner and the two became inseparable – but Temeraire is the rarest of all dragons, a Chinese Celestial, and the Chinese want him back again. Laurence won’t leave him, so he has to go to China as well, and this is the story of their adventures at sea during the long months on a slow boat to China, and in that land itself.

As Anne McCaffrey’s books are so popular it is unsurprising that this series is a runaway success as well. More a tale for the girls than the boys with its abundance of cuteness, just when I had had enough of this the battle scenes kick in, and I am thrilling to it all. I’ve been a sea story fan for years and although personally I would prefer it all without the dragons, Ms Novik’s marvelous storytelling style has the tale rolling along, and me getting carried away with it. Alternative histories must be very difficult to write, especially those with a strong fantasy element yet somehow it is carried off perfectly. Missing was more about an alternative China, which never quite appeared. I would have loved to read how it differed from reality in this parallel world, but this part remains rather elusive. Fans of Harry Potter will enjoy the dragons, and anybody who grew up reading Joan Aiken will be fascinated by another depiction of an alternative early 19th century. I was left feeling that this author could write about almost anything and make it interesting.