I just finished reading two books this weekend and sat down this morning to write those reviews. But when I logged into my blog, I looked at how many unfinished reviews I had sitting in my queue. Now these are all for books that I read some time ago, so I’m not going to go back to finish writing about all of them. But I thought I’d still put my thoughts down for a few that were more memorable.
This is a book review for League of Dragons (Temeraire #9) by Naomi Novik, the final book in the series. While I didn’t really enjoy the last few books, I felt like I still had to finish reading to the end. You can find my reviews for Crucible of Gold (#7) and Blood of Tyrants (#8) on this site also.
Here is the blurb:
The deadly campaign in Russia has cost both Napoleon and those allied against him. Napoleon has been denied his victory…but at a terrible price. Lawrence and the dragon Temeraire pursue the fleeing French army back west, but are demoralized when Napoleon makes it back to Paris unscathed. Worse, they soon learn that the French have stolen Termeraire and Iskierka’s egg. Now, it is do or die, as our heroes not only need to save Temeraire’s offspring but also to stop Napoleon for good!
The premise behind all these books is that they are set during the Napoleonic Wars, but there are dragons and they are used like an air force. I loved the first three books and had high hopes for the rest of the series. But for some reason, each book took the main characters further afield and lost tension as they were no longer as immediately important to the war.
This final book does wrap up the overall story, but it fell flat in resolving all of the characters’ arcs. I was disappointed in the ending, unfortunately. If you want to read something by this author, I’d recommend either the first book in this series (His Majesty’s Dragon) or one of her more recent stand-alones: Uprooted reviewed here, or Spinning Silver reviewed here.
Are you a Temeraire fan? What did you think of the series? Let me know in the comments above.
Find more of my reviews here.
Selection Error – a flash fiction story podcast by Utopia Science Fiction Magazine in December 2022
Dec 27, 2022 @ 06:37:17
I have enjoyed immensely The League of Dragons and each of the novels of Temeraire! Considering that I don’t often read fantasy novels and live dragons must be put in this category for now; this is the highest praise and recommendation I can give this series. In League of Dragons, Captain Lawrence and Temeraire lead an international league of dragons and soldiers to battle Napoleon! It so well written that I didn’t ever want to put it down and characters so lifelike I imagined myself there. Just for fun and sheer enjoyment read Naomi Novik’s Temeraire novels! My highest recommendation.