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Oh my.
That was an excellent book. Most excellent, but almost an almost physical pain to read. Ms. Novik does not shy away from the consequences of Lawrence and Temeraire's decision in in Empire of Ivory, and spares them not a moment of the reality of it; if you're looking to see them eventually hailed as heroes and innovators, then you're sorely mistaken. The System wins...it bends, to some extent, but it wins.
And, finally, Temeraire is forced to come to terms with the reality of BEING a sapient being, and being treated like one...specifically, a traitorous and unreliable one. It is...it's almost too painful, in places. The other books, even Empire of Ivory, were relieved here and there with humor and amusing situations. There is no comic relief here, and the mid-to-late point of the book is, in fact, extremely bloody depressing...not least of which because Novik chooses to underplay the fact of what they're doing. The brutality of it is in between the lines, which makes it in some ways even worse. It almost feels like the very text shares Lawrence's shame, even if Temeraire doesn't understand enough to do so.
Also, we finally get Temeraire as the viewpoint character, and just in time. He's slowly becoming more 'human', as he's exposed to the responsibilities of command, and the fact that his actions do have consequences; in some ways, Isk is now our 'alien' character, because she largely resists any attempt to install responsibility into her whatsoever.
And now we get to see Australia. I'm...only so pleased about the ending. I was expecting them to be transported in the end: Wellington is right, Temeraire IS too much of an inherent rabblerouser for the Government to feel safe keeping him, regardless of the power of the Divine Wind. It sucks, because Temeraire is raising cain for the right purposes, but the military doesn't exactly give a crap. The rights of the individual is not high on their priorities for the moment.
All in all, it is an excellent book, but a very unsettling one. I hope, very much, that things look up for our dynamic duo in the next installment, one way or the other.
That was an excellent book. Most excellent, but almost an almost physical pain to read. Ms. Novik does not shy away from the consequences of Lawrence and Temeraire's decision in in Empire of Ivory, and spares them not a moment of the reality of it; if you're looking to see them eventually hailed as heroes and innovators, then you're sorely mistaken. The System wins...it bends, to some extent, but it wins.
And, finally, Temeraire is forced to come to terms with the reality of BEING a sapient being, and being treated like one...specifically, a traitorous and unreliable one. It is...it's almost too painful, in places. The other books, even Empire of Ivory, were relieved here and there with humor and amusing situations. There is no comic relief here, and the mid-to-late point of the book is, in fact, extremely bloody depressing...not least of which because Novik chooses to underplay the fact of what they're doing. The brutality of it is in between the lines, which makes it in some ways even worse. It almost feels like the very text shares Lawrence's shame, even if Temeraire doesn't understand enough to do so.
Also, we finally get Temeraire as the viewpoint character, and just in time. He's slowly becoming more 'human', as he's exposed to the responsibilities of command, and the fact that his actions do have consequences; in some ways, Isk is now our 'alien' character, because she largely resists any attempt to install responsibility into her whatsoever.
And now we get to see Australia. I'm...only so pleased about the ending. I was expecting them to be transported in the end: Wellington is right, Temeraire IS too much of an inherent rabblerouser for the Government to feel safe keeping him, regardless of the power of the Divine Wind. It sucks, because Temeraire is raising cain for the right purposes, but the military doesn't exactly give a crap. The rights of the individual is not high on their priorities for the moment.
All in all, it is an excellent book, but a very unsettling one. I hope, very much, that things look up for our dynamic duo in the next installment, one way or the other.
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Although, now I'm pretty interested in seeing how Australia is going to be. :) Good series. Very good series. It would make a good game. :D