Book Review: Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik

Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik

Book title: Empire of Ivory
Author: Naomi Novik
Genre: Historical fantasy
Published: September 25, 2007
416 pages
My rating: 4.5/5

“Laurence,” Temeraire said, looking around, “where are they all? Victoriatus is in Edinburgh; he at least ought to have come. After all, we helped him, when he was hurt; not that I need help, precisely, against these little dragons,” he added, straightening his neck with a crackle of popping joints, “but it is not very convenient to try and fight while we are carrying so many people.”

Returning to England from China, Captain Will Laurence and his dragon Temeraire learn that an epidemic has struck the Aerial Corps. The entire fleet of dragons is sick and many have died. Laurence and Temeraire must travel back to South Africa in search for a cure before Napoleon hears about the dire situation and attempts to invade Britain.

My audio book listens of Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series continues, now with the fourth book in the series, Empire of Ivory (you can find my review of the first book in the series here). This time we learn more about dragons in southern Africa, where Laurence and Temeraire go in search of a cure. It was fascinating to imagine how Africans could have fought against slavery if they had had dragons.

The pacing of this series has gotten better, although it still feels a little slow. There’s very little action in this book. At first, Temeraire and Will are isolated from the dragons they met in the first book and have to do the boring job of patrolling the English Channel. Then they once again take a sea voyage and spend considerable time trying to find the cure. I would have preferred to see more of the British dragons after the long absence from their company in the second and the third book, but we only meet them again on the latter half of the book. Little Iskierka, a fire-breathing dragon, was a nice addition to the cast, but she’s left behind in England after the first half of the book. At least the ending provided much-needed excitement.

This was probably my least favorite book in the series so far, but I still enjoyed it a lot. The cliffhanger ending left me impatient to continue with the series immediately! If you’ve enjoyed the first three books, definitely continue with the series. I gave Empire of Ivory four and a half stars.