Historical

The Temporary Wife by Mary Balogh (reissued in a 2-in-1 with A Promise of Spring, which I’m NOT recommending). Recommended by Janine and Sunita.  Reviewed here.

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PNR

Fair Game by Patricia Briggs.  Recommended by Josephine, Janine, and Jane (The ending is a game changer)  Review here.

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Oracle’s Moon by Thea Harrison. Recommended by Shuzluva and Jane.  Reviewed here.

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GLBT

Related posts:

1. Dear Author Recommends for March
2. Dear Author Recommends for March
3. Dear Author Recommends for March

Though I fretted for almost two years waiting for this book, I can see from your author’s notes that you’ve had a lot to keep you busy having had your own little egg, as the dragons would say, in the interim. Still, what a book you’ve written for us. Excitement, danger, new breeds of dragons, a harrowing journey to and across a new continent for Temerarie and Laurence, Granby and Iskierka, Kulingile and Demane plus 200 sailors and one airsick ambassador – the action zipped along and kept me riveted. It was a wait but the wait was worth it.

William Laurence, formerly a Captain in His Majesty’s Aerial Corps, is skeptical when Arthur Hammond arrives from China with news that the Admiralty has restored Laurence to the Corps and that they are to travel from the valley where he and Temeraire have been establishing a home to Sydney and thence aboard a dragon transport to Brazil. Oh yes, the restoration comes with strings attached and those strings are going to cost dearly.

News has reached England that Napoleon and theTswana Kingdom have formed an alliance. The French will transport the Tswana dragons and warriors from Africa to Brazil and in return, the Tswana will besiege the Portuguese slave holders who hold many of the Tswana people in bondage. Why should the British care? Because Portugal offers a foothold for British troops even now trying to establish an army on the Iberian Peninsula in order to strike at the French. Hence all aid that can be rendered to the Portuguese colony must be done.

So along with Kulingile and Iskierka, returned from India aboard the dragon transport Allegiance and even more insufferable due to having been involved in several prize captures, Temeraire and his ragged crew embark for the trip to South America. But disaster awaits before they reach their destination and in a bitter twist of fate the dragons, remnants of their crew, officers and assorted worthless sailors from the transport find themselves prisoners of the French before being essentially marooned. It takes a stroke of good luck for them to reach the continent where they face an even bigger challenge – the still mighty Incan Empire which is being heavily wooed by the French. Can the British save the day for King and Country? Or will they be lucky just to save even their own lives.

In my review of it, I made no effort to conceal the fact that the last book, “Tongues of Serpents” had large sections which bored me to tears. The slog through the Outback of Australia went on and on and I felt mentally dragged along with them for the whole damn journey. So when this book began with Arthur Hammond landing in Australia after a long journey from China, and the first things he saw were bunyips and more bunyips, I would almost swear I said aloud, “Jesus wept.” Thankfully, the bunyips were soon left behind or I might have lost my mind at the thought of another book filled with them.
Instead, oh joy!, the action soon shifts to the dragon transport and, even better, Rankin and his ilk remain behind.

Kulingile is still growing, Iskierka is even more of a Grand Diva than ever – often driving Granby to want to beat his head against a wall at her antics – and Temeraire is thrilled at the chance to return to active duty – to uphold Laurence’s honor at what they did – and to action – where he might hope to take his share of the prize money and thus be able to outdo Iskierka in finery. A dragon must maintain his dignity and pride, after all.

Whereas the last book was filled with a large section that became old, same old, this one has something new and interesting around every corner. I recall a tidbit from an earlier book, “Victory of Eagles” perhaps, about the Incans and their dragons and had hoped that a future book would feature them. That book is this one and it’s fascinating to see the relationship between those dragons and “their” people. Though the Admiralty, aviators and general populace of Britain might look with some misgivings at British dragons getting any more outlandish notions in their heads. There’s also enough gold and gems there to satisfy even Iskierka’s avariciousness though Granby is less than thrilled at the means and methods she’s willing to employ to obtain them.

But wait, there’s more! A harrowing flight over the Andes Mountains and across the width of the continent tests the men, dragons and ladies to their limits before they finally arrive where they initially set out for. Years ago I read a travel book called “Up the Orinoco” that gives me an idea of what our intrepid band is up against in the jungle. There are enough details here to flesh out horrors yet also neatly skimmed through so that I never felt as if I were stuck swatting the insects, mopping the sweat and darting back from the shoreline to avoid the river crocodiles. Thank you.

There’s also conflict galore. Laurence has to battle with himself about accepting reinstatement and face another who suffered the fallout due to Laurence and Temeraire’s actions. Temeraire and Iskierka alternately huff and flounce over her relish of fighting, her high handed demands and how much she flirts with an Incan dragon. Granby despairs over keeping Iskierka in check before finally laying down the law. The British delegation muddles through learning about how to go on in this strange land before fleeing for their lives and all too soon are faced with the irreconcilable demands of trying to placate the Portuguese in the face of the justness of the demands of the Tswana.

However there are a few things which seem to be picked up and discarded at will or whim. Initially there appears that there will be some continuing friction from the aviator community against Demane for harnessing Kulingile. A budding relationship between Demane and Emily Roland begins only to have the entire thing dropped. And after an initial period of trouble, the 200 some sailors are seldom a real concern for the remainder of the book.

Still, I’m just so delighted not to have anything remotely near a repeat of the last book that reading this one was a joy. Where will everyone go next? Intriguing possibilities are presented and one character is revealed to be far different in position and situation than has been thought up until now. As well, Laurence’s actions might either forge a new and lasting alliance which could help Britain fight on against the French, or alternately this could merely serve to remind the Admiralty of his tendency to free thinking beyond that required of a military captain. Only time, and the next book, will tell. A-

~Jayne

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Related posts:

1. REVIEW: Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik
2. REVIEW: Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik
3. REVIEW: Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik

I actually remember the various blog posts that inspired this anthology. Which was better: the zombie or the unicorn? It was a hilarious debate that suited the blog format. What I wasn’t sure about was how well this idea would translate to book form. I thought a lot of it depended on the inside joke of having been there for the off-the-cuff blog debate, and that’s never something you can count on in a book. While I think the editorial comments from Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier did help to recreate that joking atmosphere, a book is not a blog and in many ways, this anthology teetered on being gimmicky and cheesy.

All that said, I do like reading anthologies because it lets me sample various writers’ work in one shot. True, a short story is not like a novel and I’ve seen many excellent novelists write terrible short stories and vice versa, but I’ve picked up many a book by an author I was introduced to via short story. So I was interested to see which authors chose which creature and their respective takes on them.

Please pardon the length of this review. I tried to keep my comments concise but there are 12 stories to cover. I admit freely this is probably one of the main reasons why anthologies and collections tend to be rarely reviewed on DA.

The anthology opens with “The Highest Justice” by Garth Nix, in which Princess Jess is on a mission. With the help of the family friend (a unicorn), her recently murdered mother has been reanimated. It’s not pretty, but her mother does have one last wish: to see her murderer one last time.

It would be remiss of me not to mention that I personally think unicorns are twee and in a contest between a unicorn and a zombie, I will always choose the zombie. And while I thought the actual unicorn of this story is not twee in any way, I felt the story itself was. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed. I expected more from the anthology’s opening story, and even more from Garth Nix. When it comes to anthologies, I expect the leading story to set the tone for the entire collection and “The Highest Justice” left me ambivalent and unethused about the stories to follow.

As it was, I thought this story was a standard fairy tale-esque piece with very little new to offer. I predicted every single thing that happened and that’s never a good sign. C-

The first zombie story of the anthology is “Love Will Tear Us Apart” by Alaya Dawn Johnson, in which the main character, Grayson, has a tiny problem. You see, he was infected by a brain-devouring prion. On the bright side, he was given a cure that stopped the prions from multiplying, thus keeping his brain in tact. Unfortunately, it was only a partial cure so while the prions don’t reproduce, they make him want to eat people. Oh well, science isn’t perfect.

Because of his homicidal/cannibalistic tendencies, Grayson is transient. You can’t stay too long in one place because otherwise people will notice the bodies piling up. The problem is that he’s developed a crush on his classmate, Jack. And he likes Jack a lot, so much so that Grayson’s willing not to eat him. Unfortunately, Jack’s dad used to be a government agent and I think we can all see where this is leading.

After the blandness of the Nix story, I really liked the pop culture-laden narrative of this story. I was also glad to see two queer teens in a YA story. This shouldn’t be remarkable enough that it warrants a separate mention but sad to say, we’re still at that point where queer characters being YA protagonists is noteworthy. But if more stories like this are written, hopefully one day it won’t be. As for the story itself, I really enjoyed the first two-thirds but the last third or so started to unravel for me. B-

In “Purity Test” by Naomi Novik, a drunken woman asleep on a park bench finds herself awakened and recruited by a unicorn to save many baby unicorns from an evil wizard.

Humorous stories are tough. Because humor is such a personal thing that varies sharply from one person to the next, it can be hit or miss. I’m afraid to say it was miss for me here. I admit I prefer humor that’s dryer and less in your face. For me, this story reeked of trying too hard to be funny and subversive. It might as well as have had neon signs announcing this fact. And in my opinion, if you have to announce that you’re subversive, you’re not. And as I’ve said before, I prefer there to be more subtlety and less anvils in my fiction.

That said, I can definitely see this story working for other people. It was just a major disconnect for me. D

Unless I’m mistaken, I believe “Bourgainvillea” by Carrie Ryan is set in the same world as The Forest of Hands and Teeth. While I was lukewarm to Forest of Hands and Teeth, I found myself very engaged with this story.

Iza lives on the island of Curacao, which managed to survive the zombie apocalypse and its aftermath thanks to the efforts of her controlling father. Much like her dead mother, Iza dreams of the world before but those dreams and her reality come to a head when a young man swims to shore. One of the reasons why Curacao has remained unscathed is because no outsiders are allowed on the island, both to ward against zombie infection and to control the population. When Iza meets this young man, does she do what’s needed or does she let him go?

I think this story stands well on its own, not requiring much prior knowledge of the books. I still wonder about the difference between the fast zombies and the slow zombies because the explanation for why a person becomes one versus the other wasn’t very clear to me. I can only assume it was covered in The Dead-Tossed Waves, which I never read. B

In “A Thousand Flowers” by Margo Lanagan, a young man is accused of raping a princess when the real culprit might be something more magical. This is the point in the anthology where I seriously started to wonder why I was having such a bad run with the unicorn stories. I do prefer zombies over unicorns but at this point, I was starting to feel like my reactions to unicorn stories could not be chalked up to that at all.

I’ve made it clear in the past that I’m not a big fan of rape in fiction, mostly due to how it’s been used and reduced to plot points. And while it was intrinsic to the story here, I was made very uneasy by the fact that the narrative depended on the idea of a man being falsely accused of rape and punished for it while the woman kept silent about the details of what actually happened. I do realize that it would be unlikely for anyone to believe the princess’s story had she told the truth, but I admit I have a difficult time separating this story from our reality, in which the fear of a man being falsely accused rape is often used against rape victims.

I also want to point out that the transitions between POV characters were confusing. “A Thousand Flowers” is written in first person POV but the narrative is told through the eyes of three different narrators and when the first switch occurred, I had to reread a few times to understand what happened. Maybe I was just being slow on that particularly day but if I had a problem, I think it safe to assume I will not be the only one. I don’t mind these sorts of narrative techniques, but I do wish the transition had been clearer. D

In Maureen Johnson’s “The Children of the Revolution”, a teenager finds herself in charge of some very strange children while trying to earn enough money to get out of England after a disastrous attempt to spend time working on a farming co-opt with her boyfriend. I really enjoyed this story. I liked the commentary about celebrities — the children they adopt, the various belief systems they follow. And I must say, that final scene is a killer. B-

Next, we have “The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn” by Diana Peterfreund. Okay, I admit I skipped your killer unicorn books because I just could not get past the premise. (See: my giving the side eye at most anything involving unicorns.) But by this point in the anthology, I was hoping for something, anything, to pick me up on the unicorn front. And to my surprise, your story did.

Set in the same world as your killer unicorn series, “The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn” is about Wen, who was born with the ability to sense and, therefore, kill unicorns. Unfortunately, this also means that unicorns can sense her and will try to preemptively kill her. Last summer, her cousins were killed by a unicorn that had been targeting her. Wen is just trying to forget last summer ever happened but when the carnival comes to town, complete with its own killer unicorn, she finds herself saddled with a baby unicorn to take care of.

I liked this premise a lot. Wen’s family is very religious. They think unicorns are demons and her abilities are some sort of witchcraft. So it’s believable that she would run away from her abilities, even when unicorn hunters had previously tried to recruit her. If the books had had this premise, I probably wouldn’t have hesitated to pick them up because the idea of someone with the abilities of a unicorn hunter who instead chooses to raise one? That’s a variation of one of my favorite tropes.

My only complaint is that the relationship with Yves is not entirely satisfactory. I don’t know if I missed something. I get the sense there was a previous short story about Wen because I was under the impression the books featured a different heroine. If there was a previous short story, I don’t think it hampered my understanding since any necessary details were nicely worked into the story but I think it might have hurt the story arc involving Wen and Yves. As a result, I thought the ending came out of nowhere and made me give not like Yves very much because, what about his girlfriend? B

In Scott Westerfeld’s “Inoculata”, a group of teenagers and children drill in case of emergency under the watchful eyes of several adults while in the relative safety of a fence. I just did not know what to make of this story. While I again appreciated the casual treatment of queer characters, I felt like the narrative was incomplete and the emotional impact hollow. It just didn’t work for me at all. C-

With a title like “Princess Prettypants”, I had no idea what to expect from Meg Cabot. It could have been my worst fears about unicorns come true. Instead, I got a really great read.

It’s Liz’s seventeenth birthday but unfortunately, she shares it with the most popular girl at school. As a result, her birthday parties are small and sparsely attended since people opt for the larger shindig thrown by her classmate. To make matters worse, she recently broke up with her boyfriend after catching him in bed with another girl, her best friend has a crush on the school jerk, and she may possibly be developing feelings for the boy next door. Also, her family is tragically uncool and they only cement this fact by daring to give her a unicorn for her birthday.

But what stood in the barn in front of Liz, glowing softly with a kind of inner luminiscence that seemed to have nothing to do with the electrical light from the bulbs hanging from the rafters some thirty feet overheard, was not a horse.

Or rather, it had a horse’s body — a huge one, nineteen hands high at least — sleek, with a gorgeous white flowing mane and tail, soft blue muzzle, and purple fetlocks.

But jutting from the center of its forehead was a twisting, sparkling, three-foot-long lavender horn.

What her aunt Jody had sent Liz for her birthday was, in fact, a unicorn.

“You,” Liz could not help blurting out, “are shitting me.”

“Elizabeth!” her mother cried in horror. “Watch your language!”

“But that,” Liz said, raising a finger to point at the monstrosity that even now was lowering her noble head to tear at some of the grass poking from Munchkin’s old haystack,” is a unicorn.”

“Of course it’s a unicorn.” Her father walked over to the animal and gave her a hearty smack on her gleaming white flank. The unicorn tossed her head, her silky mane flying, and let out a musical whinny. Liz got a whiff of her breath, which smelled like honeysuckle. “Your aunt’s always sent you the nicest gifts. Remember that Christmas she sent you that hand-stitched pink fairy costume with the tutu and the detachable wings made out of real swan feathers?”

“Jesus Christ, Dad,” Liz said, flabbergasted. “I was five years old.”

I don’t if my positive response to this story is because Liz reflects my own personal views of unicorns or if because the story fulfills a certain criteria I use to judge many stories: If you’re going to do something, go all out or go home. If one thing can’t be said about this story, it’s that it didn’t hold anything back.

And as a result of this story, I think I need to read more of Meg Cabot’s work. B+

“Cold Hands” by Cassandra Clare is set in a town where, due to a curse, the dead don’t stay in their graves and reanimate as zombies. And because the zombies seek out their loved ones, everyone in the town is trapped there and has been for centuries. They can’t leave because zombies will follow them. And if people from their new homes find out — because lumbering zombies are difficult to overlook — they get driven away.

Adele is a common girl who is in love with, and dating, the Duke’s nephew, James. It’s a common perception among the townspeople that she will eventually marry him, just as he will become Duke of the town once he turns 18. Unfortunately, James is tragically killed in a car accident which, as you can probably guess, was no accident at all.

This was a pleasant story and I did enjoy the experience reading it but as I now write this review, I find myself unable to pick any points that stuck out for me. I haven’t read either The Mortal Instruments or The Infernal Devices series so I don’t know how this story compares to those books. I would expect Clare’s fans to like this story though. C+

“The Third Virgin” by Kathleen Duey is a sad story about a unicorn who has grown addicted to the sensation of weighing a person’s life — to heal or to kill — and its quest to die. After all the stories in which unicorns played principle supporting characters, it was nice to have a story from the unicorn’s point of view that explored the burden (and dangers) of having such the traditional healing gift. C+

“Prom Night” by Libba Bray is a bittersweet story about the world after the apocalypse and what happens when all’s that left are the teenagers. It tells us about the connections between people and asks the question of what remains in a person’s heart after they reanimate. Do they still love? Is any piece of them left? All this set against the backdrop of what would have been prom night if the zombie apocalypse hadn’t happened.

I thought the bittersweet ending was very characteristic of Bray. It’s not to everyone’s tastes but she’s very good at it. I thought it was the perfect way to end the anthology. B-

As with many anthologies, Zombies versus Unicorns did end up being a mixed bag but I enjoyed reading all the various takes on unicorns and zombies, even after the shaky start for Team Unicorn.

My regards,
Jia

P.S. – Go Team Zombie!

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Related posts:

1. REVIEW: My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon edited by P.N. Elrod
2. Zombies the New Black?
3. REVIEW: White Cat by Holly Black

Dear Ms. Novik,

Well, it has taken the better part of two years to get my hands on the next Temeraire book but it’s definitely been worth it. Old dragons, new dragons, old enemies, old friends, a new continent to explore plus a closing battle that made me feel slightly sick while reading it…”Tongues of Serpents” has them all. But in all honesty, there were parts which dragged to go along with the heart pounding bits.

After an eight month voyage from England to Australia aboard the dragon transport HMS Allegiance, Temeraire and Laurence have arrived in Sydney along with Iskierka and Granby – not by Granby’s choice but once Iskierka decides to go, she goes – where they find a colony in rebellion against the governor and a populace drunk most of the time. Laurence’s sentence of death for treason may have been commuted to transportation but his standing among his fellow military men is sunk as low as it ever was. Thinking a dragon would aid their cause, both sides of the rebellion court him and Temeraire yet the politics work out that taking either side would ruin them. Now all await word from England on the fate of the rebel leaders.

But instead who shows up but Captain Rankin, he who treated poor Levitas so cruelly. Jane Roland had sent 3 eggs with the transport in order to establish a new covert in Australia and Rankin’s lordly family has finally pulled enough strings and thrown around enough weight to get him assigned to take the next one which hatches. Despite Temeraire’s entreaties to the egg to reject this potential captain, the newly hatched dragon sizes Rankin up, asks some cool questions about rank and wealth then decides to accept him, though he does reject Rankin’s choice of name for his own selection. Man and beast soon prove that God works in mysterious ways, much to the mingled amusement and/or frustration of the others.

All are getting bored waiting around in the heat when a proposal is made by the rebellion leaders which will get the dragons and their crews out of the way since none of them seem inclined to support either the deposed governor nor the rebels. The Aerial Corps will scout a trading route through the Blue Mountains which surround Sydney and if possible build a road to allow colonization of the interior of the continent. And if they can covertly discover how illegal trade is bringing Chinese goods into Sydney, all the better. Expecting to be gone a week or so at most, the whole crew sets off only to find themselves beset by enemies they can’t see, chasing after something they can’t afford to lose and coming face to face with a threat to England which they might not beat.

I think I mentioned in my review of “Black Powder War” that the trip down the Silk Road, while having its moments of interest, also had its share of tedium. Ditto the laying about at the beginning of “Victory of Eagles.” There was a whole lot of political maneuvering and new characters to learn which were key to later events but which took a lot of time and patience to commit to memory before things picked up. This book suffers from both. Yes, we the readers need to learn how you are going to portray Australia in this series since you delight in not only adding dragons to the Napoleonic Wars but also in altering history and natural flora and fauna. But at times I was getting as impatient as Temeraire for some action.

Then the journey began and for a while, a long while, it was like watching slides of a neighbor’s vacation trip. Interesting at first but later a seeming endless repetition of the similar shots of the same people wearing the same thing and grouped together in the same way varying only by country. Here there would be moments when exciting things would happen and the story would advance, I’m not saying it didn’t, but then it settle into a new repetitious pattern. Until a while later a new thing would occur to liven up the mix before, yep again, the tedium would strike.

And yet…and yet…I love seeing Temeraire and Laurence again. And watching Iskierka covet more shiny things for Granby. While listening to Temeraire and Iskierka snip at each other. All as this world has advanced with England facing new challenges and Napoleon busy making new alliances which could sway the ultimate course of the war. I have to keep reminding myself that in this reality, England might not win which keeps me more on edge than I would normally be in any book about these wars. We don’t know the outcome any more than these characters do while they’re living it.

The pairing of Rankin and his new dragon is alternately funny and maddening. The other new dragon in the covert opens interesting possibilities while adding spice to the mix of the aviators. You seem to love to shake and stir them all up. I can almost imagine you cackling with glee as you toss them on their heads. It’s good to see Tharkay carrying out his shadowy business even as he sticks a spoke into Rankin’s wheels every now and then. Plus Laurence is horrified to realize that Emily Roland is growing up and might soon be getting into all sorts of mischief. And oh the endless problems that Gong Su has trying to prepare tasty meals on the wing to tempt Temeraire’s refined palate when all he’s got are cassowaries and stringy kangaroos.

I do like how you have fun with Australia by adding all sorts of problems for our intrepid adventurers to deal with. Wildfires, thunderstorms, bunyips, quicksand and the native population all cause havoc even before the group finally makes it to the coast and discovers what’s behind a lot of their traveling headaches. If I had to deal with what they do, I would never complain about 10 hours in the car and rest stop bathrooms again. The way you tantalizingly add to our knowledge of new parts of this world – such as South America or the Iroquois who appear to be having good luck with farm raising dragons among the Yankees – whets my appetite. The reappearance of old enemies in the story, such as how Napoleon is recruiting the Tswares and the Chinese are using sea serpents add new twists that keeps things interesting.

When the penultimate battle started, I was as sick as Temeraire and as torn as Laurence. I was also expecting something totally different from what I got. Here’s nineteenth century state of the art warfare against a people who ought to have been nearly helpless against it. Only they weren’t and as the tide of the battle swiftly, so very swiftly, changed I was reading in horror at the fate of those who thought they had things wrapped up before the first cannon was fired. The “up close” image Laurence has of the dying man meeting his fate will stay with me for a while in my nightmares. The sad trip of the Aerial Corps back Sydney would have felt like the retreat of a broken army. And then to face the departure of so many friends while being stuck on this island prison would test men less strong than Laurence.

Though the book doesn’t quite live up to the hopes I had for it, I still enjoyed it. I am still looking forward to what will come next and as so often is the case with this series, I haven’t got a clue what to expect. Will Laurence and Temeraire stay in Australia, build their pavilion and entertain Lung Tien Qian? Or will the lure of privateering win after all? Or will they travel to new places as they attempt to make their way in this world where they have no honor? I guess I’ll have to wait. But hopefully not as long this time.

~Jayne

Goodreads | Amazon | BN | Sony | Kobo

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik
2. REVIEW: Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik
3. REVIEW: Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik

• Lady Isabella’s Scandalous Lover by Jennifer Ashley. Recommended by Jane.
• Bonds of Justice by Nalini Singh. Recommended by everyone (or so it seems because when the DA loop gave out their recommended reads list to me, everyone was like “me too” on the Bonds of Justice book.   Shuzluva won the right to review it).
• Demon Blood by Meljean Brook. Recommended by Jane.
• Liberating Lacey by Anne Calhoun. Recommended by Jane. (It is for sale at Amazon but it is far cheaper at Ellora’s Cave).
• I Kissed an Earl by Julie Ann Long. Recommended by Janine.
• Life After Joe by Harper Fox. Recommended by Sarah F.
• SOS: Convenient Husband Required by Liz Fielding. Recommended by Sunita.
• The Surgeon’s Miracle by Caroline Anderson. Recommended by Sunita.
• “A Bride After All” by Kasey Michaels. Recommended by Jayne.
• Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik. Recommended by Jayne.
• Unspeakable by Laura Griffith . Recommended by Jayne.

Got a recommendation for us? Disagree with our recs or agree?   Let us know in the comments.

Related posts:

1. Recommended Reads for July
2. Dear Author Recommends for May
3. Dear Author Recommends for February

Jennie F is one of our “new-ish” reviewers. She reviews sporadically and has ecletic taste.   Her list includes a variety of fiction books, not all of which are romance:   

• VICTORY OF EAGLES by Naomi Novik, Grade A
• THE EDGE OF IMPROPRIETY by Pam Rosenthal,  Grade: A
• DELICIOUS by Sherry Thomas, Grade A
• FROM DEAD TO WORSE by Charlaine Harris, Grade A
• PRIVATE ARRANGEMENTS by Sherry Thomas, Grade A-
• YOUR SCANDALOUS WAYS by Loretta Chase, Grade A-
• WHERE SERPENTS SLEEP by C.S. Harris, Grade: B+
• DUKE OF SHADOWS by Meredith Duran, Grade B+
• LOVE THE ONE YOU’RE WITH by Emily Giffin,  Grade: B+
• CRY WOLF by Patricia Briggs, Grade B+
• POWER PLAY by Deirdre Martin, Grade B+

Related posts:

1. PW Best Of List
2. May 11, 2008 Bestseller comparison list
3. Random House Loses Big Authors; Charlaine Harris Dominates the Bestseller List

Dear Ms Novik,

After finishing “Empire of Ivory,” I wondered where you’d take me in the follow up book. Answer: through the wringer. “Victory of Eagles” sees Temeraire and his captain Will Laurence having to face the results of their actions – seen as treasonous by most of the military – which ended “Ivory.”

I mentioned how while reading the series, one needs to be alert to the major and minor changes you’ve made to the actual history of the times. Unlike Patrick O’Brian’s famous Aubrey and Maturin books or countless others written in the same vein, the Temeraire books don’t stick exactly to what really happened. And with this story, history is not merely bent, it’s twisted like a pretzel.

Things start out slowly with Temeraire sinking into mental and physical despondency in the breeding ground in Wales. After what he and Laurence do to save the dragons of Europe and the world, the two are separated upon their return to England. Laurence knows what he faces while Temeraire only slowly begins to understand just how the military views what they did. Laurence is now a condemned traitor, kept alive only to assure that Temeraire will behave himself, stay in the breeding grounds and provide the nation with more dragon eggs. Temeraire has to amuse himself by quoting passages from the Principia Mathematica to ward off his boredom. But unknown to his keepers, he’s been let in on a way to learn news of the outside world. And what he learns horrifies him.

Yes, Laurence is alive but living a life of misery on the prison ships anchored on the Thames. That is until the French finally begin their invasion of England. Using state of the art tactics, they neutralize many of the Naval vessels while sinking others. When Temeraire is told Laurence’s ship went down with all hands, his willingness to stay a prisoner in Wales ends. Instead he organizes and leads the other dragons there in defense of the nation. After all, they’re intelligent, they know war tactics. Who needs to be in harness to fight for one’s homeland?

I enjoyed watching Temeraire’s natal steps towards becoming a Whig politician. Sure he wants to fight but he has to persuade the others that it’s the right thing to do after the French land on English soil. And it’s not an easy task once the other dragons begin to learn how the French honor the rights of their Armee de l’Aire. Temeraire himself sometimes has a hard time overcoming his own qualms due to his knowledge of how the dragons of China live as well as what he saw while in France. In those countries, dragons are not feared, as in England, but are treated with dignity and respect. And given treasure!

Soon, the dragons learn first hand how the invasion will change their lives as the French begin to secure their position around London following the disastrous defeat of the English Army. I admire how you make me believe in the events you invent. The quick rally to fight for London, the way the French manage to position their troops for the counterstroke, the realization that a general retreat to Scotland is the only hope to preserve what’s left of the English forces, how it’s the dragons who work out the method used to transport the French so quickly all over England and how they manage a 19th century equivalent of the evacuation of Dunkirk.

This book has quite a bit more action than we’ve seen in the past few stories yet you manage to work in a nice bit on the ethics of war. The price asked of the dragons and their crews grows to horrific proportions. Yes, it’s in defense of the nation and the people of England but asking them to forgo their honor exacts a terrible price even as it finally begins to even the odds and force Napoleon towards the battle Wellesley devises to rid England of the Corsican invader.

And speaking of Wellesley, I adore his foul mouthed blunt speaking and brilliant strategizing. It’s so in character with the famous quotes he made in real life and the battles he engineered. As well, the sly nod to Patrick O’Brian was a delight to read. I loved the fact that we get to read more about the strong bonds between the dragons and their captains and crews. Plus we get to see Temeraire’s love of flash and glitter.

Temeraire was pleased that, to his eye, their own force was much the handsomer. A great many of the Frenchmen he could spy wore long drab coats, with scarcely a touch of color, and otherwise were largely in white breeches and white shirts – none too clean, Temeraire noted – with very ordinary dark blue coats. He much preferred the vivid red coats which dominated their own army. They had also several companies of soldiers in the center in colorful and patterned skirts, instead of plain breeches; and of course their flag was by far the more interesting.

While I was reading the book, I wondered ahead what would follow. With Napoleon’s crushing defeat and the taint of treason still clinging to Laurence and Temeraire, what could they do next and where would they be allowed to go? But once again, I needn’t have worried as their fate is decided in a way that stays close to military discipline as well as to the historical events of the times. Now having finished the heart pounding excitement of “Victory of Eagles,” I only wonder how I’m going to last until next year. Write quickly. B+

~Jayne

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I’m so glad I waited until now to read “Empire of Ivory” even though I’ve had a copy in my hot little hands, well actually piled on top of my TBR heap by my computer, for months now. Something told me to wait, to keep it in reserve until closer to the date when book five will be released. But after the emotional roller coaster of this book, I think I’ll need a little while to process, digest and prepare myself for what’s in store for Laurence and Temeraire.

I can’t imagine anyone being able to just pick up the series at this point without having read books 1-3. There’s so much history all ready. So many great characters we’ve met, so much world building you’ve already – for lack of a better term – built up. I think new readers would be floundering as well as missing so much of the richness that makes reading these books such a delight.

The journey of Temeraire and his crew from China is at last over – and from my last letter you know that I found parts of that just a little bit slow. Now they’re finally in sight of England’s coast and as bewildered as I was as to why they’ve seen no other dragons on patrol much less received any response to their flares sent up in desperation as the French dragons harry them across the Channel. The news they finally learn is heartbreaking as well as ominous. How can the entire British Aerial Corps be saved? How can news of what’s happened be kept from Napoleon and an invasion be held off? And once there’s the faintest hope, will the desperate efforts of Lily, Temeraire and the other dragons of their formation be in time?

I applaud you for not holding back in terms of danger and intensity in this alternate reality of the Napoleonic wars. It’s easy, while reading books that stick to what really happened, to be aware of the outcome of battles and not worry too much. You keep readers on their toes by inserting new battles and changing not only this war but subtlety altering much of world history – as evinced by the details of Africa and Laurence’s throw away line about Peru and the Incas. While reading these books I can never totally relax since for each hard won two steps forward, you seem to delight in dragging everyone back at least a full step if not more.

With the return to England, we get to see more dragons and once again witness the devotion between them and their captains and crew. It’s something I had missed in “Black Powder War.” Of necessity we also get more politics and, to my regret, I must say that parts of the story in England and again in Africa – while rich in detail – did tend to bog down again in perhaps too many descriptions. The pace at times lost its intensity.

However, once back in England things picked up nicely. At least until the meeting with the Naval Lords when I was as appalled as the other dragon captains at what had been done. Really, Laurence and Temeraire’s actions after that were inevitable given Laurence’s sense of honor and Temeraire’s sensitivity as a thinking being. And the results are what has left me wrung dry and likely to lose sleep while awaiting the next book. Oh you evil woman. What will happen to Laurence? What will poor Temeraire do? And can I possibly survive until I know? Guess I have no choice but to hope we get an arc way before the publication date of “Victory of Eagles.” B+

~Jayne

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I’ve now found out that even a lesser Novik book is still pretty good. But this one should come with a warning to load up on lots of chocolate, a glass of wine or some Prozac before starting. Jaysus, there were a lot of depressing events to read and, for a while, every time I started a new chapter things just seemed to get worse for our intrepid British Aviators and their marvelous dragon, Temeraire.

The story starts off well enough in China were book two had ended with Temeraire and his crew, including his Captain Will Laurence, defeating the sinister plans of a Chinese prince to overthrow the throne. By doing so, they’ve made an implacable enemy of Lien, the Celestial dragon companion of the prince. Her rage extends past Laurence and Temeraire to include anything British. While waiting for favorable winds, Temeraire’s dragon transport is badly damaged by fire soon followed by a letter instructing Laurence to proceed to Istanbul with all speed to collect three dragon eggs which the British government has bought from the Sultan. What follows is an interesting yet seemingly interminable trip via the old Silk Road for Temeraire and his crew as they race to get the eggs before any can hatch.

There’s some fun as they run into a herd of feral dragons who follow them, and make nuisances of themselves, to the Sultan’s palace. Then things sort of bog down again during the (literally) Byzantine negotiations to get the eggs, find out what’s gone wrong about getting the eggs, find the eggs and make off with them. Then, just when things get moving again, Temeraire and crew arrive just in time to be conscripted into the Prussian Army as it readies itself to face Napoleon. More bogging down (at times again, literally). And waiting….and a few fights which go badly, then waiting and things going still worse for those who are trying to rein in the Corsican. Then at last some more fun when one of the eggs is ready to hatch. Then, oh help us, more things going badly and the end in sight for our boys before you pull it out at the end.

I was delighted to read more about the fabulous Temeraire and loved the bond of emotion between he and Laurence. I enjoyed the way you snatched victory from the jaws of defeat (kind of like a dragon grabbing his next meal) in the final few pages. The firebreathing Kaziliks are a nice addition to the growing list of dragon breeds in the stories, though I wonder if they’re all as bloodthirsty as little Iskierka. My, she’s a feisty one. But I gotta be honest and say that my attention did tend to wander, a lot, during parts of the story.

I think you did a marvelous job of inserting dragons into the Napoleonic battles, Laurence’s sense of duty and honor are never more evident and as I said, the way you ended the story was inspired yet, it does drag somewhat. Not enough to go lower than a B- but it’s not what I’d hoped for.

~Jayne

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Brava again for creating this imaginative world and for giving us the relationship of Laurence and Temeraire. I’m glad to see that their bond only strengthens during this book. We also get to see Temeraire growing up more and maturing into an even more thoughtful dragon. When they see slave traders off the coast of Africa, it is he who applies that situation to his own and that of the other dragons in service to England. And once he sees how dragons are treated in China, Laurence begins to have his doubts as to the outcome of their relationship. As Temeraire learns to read and write, how could he ever be satisfied to return to the life he knew in England? Plus he gets a girlfriend!

Once again, you give us believable opposition forces instead of creating some cardboard chewing villain for the sake of having one. Laurence, Temeraire and the aviator crew are ranged not only against the Chinese but there is also tension between the Navy and the Flying Corps. Your world building continues and adds a new form of creature to the dragons you’ve already created. Though the lesson that creature is supposed to teach might be shown a little heavy handedly. And even though we are entering a world filled with dragons, you keep to the known conventions of the time and thoroughly ground the story and characters.

I actually found this book to be just as good as the first. There is enough action, intrigue and political machinations to keep the plot moving and of course the strong relationship between man and dragon. My two niggles would be why Laurence and his crew would have any doubts about who was behind the attempts on his life. It seemed pretty obvious to me. And if Celestials are so rare, even in China, how would the breed be known in the West? A-

~Jayne

Edited to add: And thanks for the delightful short story at your website.

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What can I say but “wow.” No, I guess “Wow!” would be a better way to phrase it. You’ve created a stunning new world with vivid characters, action and scenery. My colleague Jane has already filled our readers in on the plot so I’ll head straight into my thoughts on various aspects of the story.

I really enjoyed how you filled us in on the backstory without dropping it in huge chunks on our heads. I never felt lost or confused nor got bored wading through masses of information at one time. I loved the various names for the dragon breeds and how they were just as important as individual characters with their own quirks and charms. Temerarie is wonderful but I’m glad you made him a bit mulish about flying endless flight patterns and smug about his beautiful new breast collar. We’re none of us perfect, right?

I do agree with many readers that you’ve developed a wonderful air equivalent to the many Napoleonic Naval series in print. Laurence is a man to whom honor and duty are more important than his life, even if he does sometimes have trouble adequately conveying their importance to his dragon partner. ;) I also liked the fact that you made both Laurence and Temerarie outsiders in the new world they inhabit and that each has to earn respect. And you’ve melded your world seamlessly into historic fact. Brava!

I’m also intrigued by the fact thatonly women can bond with a certain dragon breed.This certainly adds a new flavor to this type of series and is one I applaud. I was laughing when Captain Roland explained just what England might be asking of him as his duty in about 10 years. You also had me weepingat the sad fate of poor little Levitus. He was such a lovely character and I was cheering for him to have a better outcome. I suppose this means that asshole Rankin will appear to cause trouble at a later point?

I am taking a few points off because of all the time spent on the training. That slowed the story down too much and in the end, I saw very little of the training in evidence in the battle sequences. Maybe it will play into future books. But still this one earns a solid A- grade from me and the hope that we will be treated to more than three books in this series.

~Jayne

Jane thought it was an A too.

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This really is a series for the ages. I believe that this trilogy will make every best fantasy list out there. The things that I like best are learning about the dragons themselves and seeing the interaction between Temeraire and Laurence. The things I like least are the battle scenes. I got a tiny bit tired of the fight scenes, but that is clearly a personal preference. I wished for more Temeraire and Laurence reading, interacting and loving one another and less Temeraire and Laurence in battle but I am a romance reader. Those would be the things I would like the best!

The opening chapter begins with Laurence being called to leave Temeraire by Lord Barharm, a diplomat. The Chinese are in Britian and they want their Celestial back. Britain is fearful of the Chinese’s relationship with the French (evidenced by the gift of such an amazing dragon egg) and is pressuring Laurence to lie to Temeraire and to leave him. Laurence refuses to do so in a dramatic scene. The Chinese delegation headed by Younxing, brother of the Emperor of China, is disgusted by the British treatment of dragons, specifically Temeraire. As a Celestial, he is not a war beast. He is a rare creature to be pampered and feted. His goals are to be scholarly in nature. The Chinese wish to return to China with Temeraire but Temeraire refuses to leave Laurence.

The story then takes us on a sea voyage from Britain to China. This book is split into thirds and it was toward the end of the second part that my attention started drifting despite all that was going on. There are battles with the French, sea creatures, and shipboard illnesses. There is tension between the aviator crew and the ship’s crew. There was Temeraire’s disgust over the slave trade when they stopped for supplies in the Cape and his challenge to Laurence that the dragons had no better status than slaves, only treated better because they were feared. Laurence, a product of his time, dislikes the slave trade but has a hard time seeing the similarities initially.

The action picked up quite a bit when the group arrived in China. Over the sea voyage, Younxing would talk with Temeraire, tell him about the dragons in China, read him poetry written by dragons, challenging Temeraire’s intellect and love of learning. Laurence, admittedly no scholar, becomes uneasy about the interest that Temeraire is showing in the Chinese culture. When they arrive in China, this concern becomes magnified for the dragons and the Chinese live harmoniously together. The whole city is created so that dragons can meander down the paths of the city alongside humans. Why would Temeraire not want to be here where dragons are feted, where they can walk unmolested and unharnessed. Where they may buy cows and jewels and what ever else they fancy. To me, this was the true conflict and the one that kept me turning the pages. Would Temeraire be seduced by freedom?

I thought the characterization of the Chinese was extremely well done. First, you named everyone correctly. I remember reading a book about a Chinese character who had a multisyballic name. I wanted to just scream at the inaccuracy of it. The Chinese and Korean names have (generally), at most, two syllables (two characters) and the characters are generally monosyballic. Japanese names often have more than two syllables. Of course, I don’t need to tell you this but I do appreciate the naming of all the characters appropriately. It lends loads of authenticity to the story.

The slave trade was shown to be brutal and cruel without being overly preachy. You showed the British imperialistic mind set with just a toss of a head. One character mentioned off hand that a colony in Africa had just been acquired by the British so that there would be a port for the ship to stop. There were little details that make the book just shine in its realism from the celebration the sailors held when the equator was crossed to the multi course meals served for the New Year celebration by the Chinese.

I don’t really have anything negative other than the one point in the story where it began to drag for me. I was tired of the sea voyage, I guess, and glad to be in China. I wanted more Temeraire and Laurence interaction. Yet, I certainly cannot wait for the last installment in this series. I see that Temeraire and Laurence have made a fierce enemy and a reckoning must come. B+ for you.

Best regards,

Jane

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I resisted for about 3 weeks in buying your book. It wasn’t a romance. It featured a male protagonist. It was about war and warlike things. War scenes are hard for me to follow. Even the glowing reviews couldn’t budge me but then I saw it for sale at Fictionwise and I thought, why not.

There is a kind of glowing feeling that you get when you close the cover of a really good book. It makes you happy that you are a reader. It invigorates your love for books. It makes the grass greener, the flowers more fragrant, it . . . well, I guess you get the idea.

The plot is fairly simple: Naval captian William Laurence, a younger son of the gentry, who likes the opera and has an understanding with a gently bred young woman, captures a French frigate. On board is a dragon’s egg. Laurence immediately calculates the bounty he will recieve as a result of turning over a dragon’s egg. The ship’s surgeon informs him that the egg is hard and ready to hatch. Laurence’s hopes for a big bounty goes down the tubes. A feral dragon is not worth much. His only hope and really, his duty, is to attempt to harness the dragon before the dragon’s first meal, thereby making the dragon useful to the British army.

Lots are cast with Laurence’s name included which sets the stage for all of Laurence’s actions thereafter. Laurence always acts for duty. He always acts with honor. While this may sound insufferable, it is not. Laurence is portrayed as an honorable man who is fighting for his country. He treats everyone with honor, from the lowliest seaman to the highest Admiral but he also expects honor and respect in return and will not hesitate to take to task those who do not provide the same courtesy. It was a character show in perfect synchronization with the time period and the setting. You did a superb job of showing us the man that Laurence was in just the first chapter.

A young seaman’s name is picked from the lots but when the egg hatches, Temeraire isn’t interested in the young seaman, he is interested in Laurence. Laurence accepts his role as the dragon’s handler immediately and resigns from his position as captain. Laurence is sick hearted. He knows that as an aviator his whole life will change – and not for the better. His father will be disgusted. His love will not wait for him (nor would he expect it). He will no longer be a part of society that he enjoys so much. Aviators must devote themselves to their dragons and are relegated to the fringes of society – living together in enclaves with other dragon handlers.

Laurence soon realizes that he would rather give up his life than be separated from Temeraire. The relationship that develops between Temeraire and Laurence is one of such deep connection that I do not even care to see a romance between Laurence and some woman. If it happens, fine, but the true love story is between the man and the dragon. The depth of feeling and devotion these two exhibit is more touching than I have read in a romance in a long time. An underlying tenderness and sweetness resounds on each page. It is evident that the loss of one would be dire to the other. This was true for almost all the dragons and handlers. Your characters were multi-dimensional, including the dragons. Your alternative world was completely believable.

Another thing that I found superb was your ability to transform the reader’s experience. When I was reading your book, I was transported to that time period and every page reinforced that. Laurence and Temeraire’s dialogue was period appropriate. There was never a moment I felt was anachronistic.

Finally, I even enjoyed the fight scenes. You have a great touch with the pen and I am so joyful that this series is to be released one month after another. I am certain by the end of June, you will have cemented yourself as a bestselling author. Thanks for the story. Can’t wait for the next entry. A for you.

Best regards,

Jane

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