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| Black Powder War by Naomi Novik |
Book title:
Black Powder War
Author:
Naomi Novik
Genre:
Historical fantasy
Published: May
30, 2006
365 pages
“I do not know that the Chinese system is any worse; there is a limit to the evil one despot alone can do, and if he is truly vicious he can be overthrown; a hundred corrupt members of Parliament may together do as much injustice or more, and be the less easy to uproot.”
While still in China, Captain Will Laurence and his dragon Temeraire receive an urgent message to bring invaluable dragon eggs from Istanbul to Britain. They don’t have much time before the dragon eggs hatch, and they and their crew set off at once, following the Silk Road west and encountering sandstorms and feral dragons on the way.
Black Powder War is the third book in Naomi Novik’s historical fantasy series Temeraire, set during the Napoleonic Wars and featuring dragons. I recently listened to the first two books (His Majesty’s Dragon and Throne of Jade) as audio books, and this was yet another audio book listen. Needless to say, I really like this series.
In my review of Throne of Jade, I noted the slow pacing of that book. This time the pacing was much better. Although there is a lot of travel from place to place, the action never stagnated like in Throne of Jade. However, Black Powder War felt a little disjointed. The book is divided into three parts: the first takes place during the trip to Istanbul, the second part takes pace in Istanbul, and the third part in Prussia, where Laurence and Temeraire must help the Prussian army when Napoleon attacks. This means that all three parts have a slightly different cast of characters and goals. Although the dragon eggs formed a connecting thread between the different parts, the book felt more like filler that exists only because the characters needed to get from China back to Europe.
So in terms of pacing, this book was better than Throne of Jade, but in terms of contents, it wasn’t quite as good as His Majesty’s Dragon. I ended up giving Black Powder War four and a half stars. Still a very good rating, and I’m eager to continue with the series!
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