ridel reviewed Blood of Tyrants by Naomi Novik (Temeraire, #8)
The Series Continues its Downhill Trajectory
2 stars
Blood of Tyrants starts with a trope I detest: amnesia. I hate this literary technique as its solution is often at the convenience of the author, after which everything is back to normal. All the action in the meantime is drama for the sake of drama, and rarely has any lasting impact because everyone accepts that the patient wasn't themselves. As such, I'm naturally biased to dislike this novel.
Sadly, Blood of Tyrants doesn't get any better. Like previous novels, too much time is wasted travelling. We get yet another side-quest to explore and learn a new land... that of Japan. What culture and history is teased with little permanent effect, as the closed-off nation has no impact to the plot. Only 20% of the novel is about the legendary Patriotic War, and of course with so little page count, it's rushed and incomplete.
Naomi Novik has continued to mimic …
Blood of Tyrants starts with a trope I detest: amnesia. I hate this literary technique as its solution is often at the convenience of the author, after which everything is back to normal. All the action in the meantime is drama for the sake of drama, and rarely has any lasting impact because everyone accepts that the patient wasn't themselves. As such, I'm naturally biased to dislike this novel.
Sadly, Blood of Tyrants doesn't get any better. Like previous novels, too much time is wasted travelling. We get yet another side-quest to explore and learn a new land... that of Japan. What culture and history is teased with little permanent effect, as the closed-off nation has no impact to the plot. Only 20% of the novel is about the legendary Patriotic War, and of course with so little page count, it's rushed and incomplete.
Naomi Novik has continued to mimic the events of actual history, and Napoleon's march into Russia occurs just like before, except this time with dragons. Where before, I praised, now I criticize. We are well into a decade of deviations and I detest the idea that the march of history hasn't changed. Not only is it lazy writing, but it also minimizes the impact that Lawrence and Temeraire have wrought with their egalitarian attitudes towards the treatment of dragons. The author has unleashed Empires within Africa and South America, and allied them with Napoleon! To continue pretending the European theatre would continue in its manner is honestly difficult to believe.
With only a single book remaining, I will finish the series, but I'm not convinced that the author has the courage and creativity to follow through on the plots she's set into motion in this alternate history world. Pity. It started so well.
