ridel reviewed League of Dragons by Naomi Novik (Temeraire, #9)
A Stunning Failure that celebrates Slavers and Colonialists
1 star
Why did I ever hope that the finale would be better? The last Temeraire book is just like the three before it: disappointing in the main with a nugget of greatness. The author doesn't correct any flaws of the previous books, and worse, choses to end the series in a racist immoral manner. It's an incredibly disappointing end, so much that I recommend fans should stop reading at Victory of Eagles.
Naomi Novik manages to do something I've never seen, which is to ignore the cliffhanger from the previous novel and skipahead. It's the most inappropriate timeskip in a series that has had plenty of scenes inexplicably cut. To add insult to injury, page count is devoted to mundane matters like marriage prospects for sidebar characters, and then our heroes trample off into the countryside on some sort of last attempt at a buddy-adventure in the middle of …
Why did I ever hope that the finale would be better? The last Temeraire book is just like the three before it: disappointing in the main with a nugget of greatness. The author doesn't correct any flaws of the previous books, and worse, choses to end the series in a racist immoral manner. It's an incredibly disappointing end, so much that I recommend fans should stop reading at Victory of Eagles.
Naomi Novik manages to do something I've never seen, which is to ignore the cliffhanger from the previous novel and skipahead. It's the most inappropriate timeskip in a series that has had plenty of scenes inexplicably cut. To add insult to injury, page count is devoted to mundane matters like marriage prospects for sidebar characters, and then our heroes trample off into the countryside on some sort of last attempt at a buddy-adventure in the middle of pivotal events of the Napleonic Wars. Writing filler while skipping critical scenes -- that is the essence of the latter Temeraire novels.
The average rating of this book is higher than the previous, and I can understand why people rated it that way. The last third of the novel finally returns to the Patriotic War. Temeraire and Lawrence pick up their character arc from Book 5, growing as people and impacting the world as befits their exhaulted ranks. Sadly, with only a third of the book remaining, scenes are skipped and what little there is, is painfully short.
Finally, the ending is of such questionable morality that I wonder if the author can see past her own biases. Our protagonists belong to the British alliance, and that is made up of a bunch of slavers and colonialists that have sold people as property and shoved spikes inside dragon wings to keep them from flying and eating. They are not the protagonists. I will not support them over a world-wide multicontinental coalition whose flaw seems to be that Napoleon brought them together. I can't say more without spoiling.
I detest League of Dragons. I'm bitterly disappointed that I kept reading after Tongue of Serpents. Rarely has a book been so terrible that it undoes previous successes. But as of writing this review, I don't have any fond feelings for the Temeraire series.
That saddens me.
