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Be careful what you wish for is a phrase I hear often, but rarely heed. I got what I wished for after the end of Mage-Commander. Rosyln Chambers continues her Horatio Hornblower-style naval career in Beyond the Eyes of Mars, and this time, the challenges come with a heavy cost. After three novels, Rosyln finally faces challenges that feel like they require the painful costs that Damien routinely paid.

While my main criticisms of this series are addressed, there's something still missing that doesn't capture the magic of the original novels. I think the First Legion is not a sufficiently challenging antagonist (by definition they are the leftovers of a greater, but defeated opponent), and we aren't given personal viewpoints for us to hate the remnants of the Republic. We've also already done this: Kelly Lamonte and Rosyln Chambers team up to track down an interstellar foe, and in broad strokes, it's basically the same plot as Mage-Commander.

I find it hard to rate this novel. On its own merits, it's better than the majority of books I read and should be an easy five stars. Yet relative to its predecessors, it's not the blow-out success of the early Starship's Mage stories. Ultimately, I can't consider this book nearly perfect given its similarity to Mage-Commander.

Still - highly recommended.

Too much detail about too little - that is the writing style of John Gwynne in this first book of a trilogy set in Norse mythology. I read in reviews that the last hundred pages picks up the plot, but I'll tell you that's relative statement. So little plot occurs in the first 80% of the book that you might be thankful something is finally happening, when honestly I've read better cold opens.

Yet at a superficial glance, The Shadow of the Gods should be an excellent book. It has deep worldbuilding, a massive cast of supporting characters, three mysterious main characters with unclear pasts, and has the grim atmosphere of a Norse tale. What's the problem? The details don't matter. We get a painful amount of detail, such as eye color, accessories like what necklaces they wear, and also how many weapons and on which side of the body it's being carried. This stuff is never plot relevant. And all the time, you're ignorant of the broad strokes: which jarls are fighting over what and why, any sort of politics in the world, and our main characters never discuss their own background (and guard that jealously) so you don't even know much about the people you're following.

Now the world is a harsh one: lives are practically worthless and slavery is rampant. The author's adherence to Norse tales, and maybe modern grimdark practices, mean that characters are dying almost all the time with no fanfare. One moment they're going to sleep, and the next they're being attacked overnight. I can't believe I'm going to say this - but so many people die, that you stop caring. Not only do you stop caring when someone from the first page is offed, but you stop caring to follow new characters because they'll likely die in a few pages anyways! Oh, and you might miss their death because it's just one sentence buried in a massive fight scene about footwork and parrying.

I managed to finish this book because I thought it might be worth the ending, but it really isn't. This author's writing style isn't for me.

Not recommended.

It's been a while since I've read the Alexander Clay series so I was worried my tastes might have changed. I'm glad to say that it's still a very entertaining Age of Sail story, and thankfully that British passive-aggressive social construct is minimized so that the flavour is there without it becoming frustrating. There's lots of action that's split between Captain Clay's command, as well as that of the common sailor, such that the narration feels well-rounded yet concise. The story is very tight with minimal filler.

That said... it was too concise, as the antagonists were under-developed, and the titular Larcum Mudge to be underwhelming due to a lack of page count. He's yet-another-single-novel-character that Philip Allan introduces and discards as if this were a TV series. I haven't read the next novel, but I doubt the character will return. And this brings me to my main complaint: the episodic feeling of this novel. It's a personal preference but if a novel is skippable to the overall story of a series, I tend to really dislike those books. This novel is less critical than its predecessors and felt solid but uninspired, though it did surprise me enough with character development that I actually gave it another star.

Overall - recommended.

Mage-Commander finally has Roslyn Chambers stepping out of the shadow of Damien Montegomery and finding her own path. This path is a Horatio Hornblower-style naval career (ie. rising star during a war), and we find ourselves ensconced in the machinery of the Protectorate's navy with the focus on a single ship instead of the multi-star system fleet battles that were a hallmark of the UnArcana arc. I admit I was expecting Roslyn to replace Damien as another Hand, and so I'm pleasantly surprised by her turn at the helm of a space ship.

The fallout of the UnArcana rebellion is finally upon us, and the universe expands by skipping forward several years, as well as introducing new areas of the Protectorate. Returning to the daily tasks of a starship and its interactions with various space stations, it pleasantly reminds me of the first Starship's Mage novel. I'm happy to lower the stakes from the ridiculous heights of creating a Constitution and defending the whole of the Protectorate!

I have nitpicks, primarily that the challenges Roslyn faces feel underwhelming at times... so much so that she's starting to feel a bit Mary Sue. As an author, you really need to be careful if your main character's biggest problem is that they're too modest of their successes. Glynn Stewart has managed to walk that fine line, but I really don't want any more conversations where people tell Roslyn how amazing she is. If you are sensitive to these problems, then you might want to pass, but these are nitpicks and I'm happy now that the next stage of Starship's Mage is finally here.

Recommended.

This is the first official Roslyn Chambers novel in the Starship's Mage universe, Book 1 in the series Mage-Officer of Mars, and as such was written as an Origin Story. This is a strategic flaw because for long term readers, we don't need an introduction to a character that has been around for 3+ novels. Glynn Stewart wants us to treat The Service of Mars as the ending of Arc 2 (UnArcana Rebellion), but that novel already felt like Roslyn's main character debut. This mismatch in expectations results in a below standard novel.

If you pick up this novel expecting an Origin Story, I think it'll be fine. For me, I didn't care for a self-contained story, purposefully set on the fringes of civilization to reduce complexity, with teasers to the larger universe. There are no long-term arcs of importance and while it's entertaining, I suspect it can be skipped without impacting the enjoyment of future novels.

Recommended only for completionists.

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.

The Service of Mars should have been classified as a different series, as it is effectively a spin-off with a new main character augmented by some returning cast members. As it doesn't telegraph this, I suspect a lot of readers will be disappointed due to a lack of Damien Montgomery.

Personally, I was expecting that Damien would end up as a side-character, and was unsurprised when it became clear that scenes with him would be as rare as those from the Mage-King himself. Instead, we return to the frontlines of the War, which was put on hold in the previous novel. It's not a jarring transition since the cast is almost equivalent to Sword of Mars, with the crew of Rhapsody in Purple returning, as well as the Admiral and her flag staff in Second Fleet. Basically if you liked Sword of Mars, you shouldn't dislike this book because there is one less Hand on the spy ship.

Now that I've finished defending the shift in main characters, I'll return to an actual review of the novel. The plot itself is just as thrilling as ever, with the Republic as sneaky as before and the Protectorate straddling the line between highly competent but constantly getting stabbed in the back. I think we come out just right... the Protectorate doesn't feel like it's too stupid to survive, but just barely. Suspense is ratcheted way up, as while I know Damien won't be killed, I have no assurances for the rest of the cast. I feared for the lives of quite a few of the main characters.

That said, The Service of Mars just isn't quite up to the standards of the previous books. The Republic is not enough of a threat, and worse, the story moved on to other matters in Mountain of Mars. And finally... the new characters just aren't Damien.

Recommended, but have your expectations set correctly.

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.

Crucible of Gold continues the grand tradition of Temeraire adventures: seeing our heroes adventure to new parts of the world so that we may explore more of the author's alternate-history where dragons are real. It also continues the tradition of being very, very far from black powder military fiction, which is not how the series is marketed, and we also know the author is capable of delivering in the superb Victory of Eagles.

Worse, this book is a retread of many things we've seen in the series. The worldbuilding has stopped showing us new ways dragons have impacted human society. The journey to South America feels just like the adventures in the sea from Throne of Jade. And perhaps if the destination was interesting, this is all acceptable. But alternate histories are interesting in their deviations from what we know. Sadly, modern 21st century humanity know very little about the Incas. So ironically, the descriptions of the Incan Empire are fantastical and lack the impact when exploring similar scenes in Colonial Africa or China.

On a positive note, Crucible of Gold improves on the disappointing Tongues of Serpents by having a much more enjoyable extended cast. Humour is also back, something I didn't realize had been missing, but the naive and good-hearted dragons used to cause a lot of funny scenes and that had ceased for several books. Still, this is still a below-average Temeraire novel.

Recommended to fans only.

Tongues of Serpents unfortunately has to follow the climatic Victory of Eagles, which was the culmination of multiple novels of build-up resulting in Britain and Napoleonic France clashing in all-out war. Our heroes are moved to the penal colony of Australia, and the author reverts back to her buddy-adventure style of writing. It's a dramatic change in tempo, a lowering of suspense and tension, and highlights all the weaknesses of the series without any of the upsides.

At the heart of the matter is that Lawrence remains depressed: his narration, his attitude, and his actions are all lethargic and indecisive. This means that the buddy-adventure is not fun. Temeraire remains positive but as we are removed from Britain, the cast of characters is shrunk and he is forced to spend most of his time brooding about Lawrence. Add to this the passive-aggressive attitudes of Age of Sail Britain, whereby people never resolve relationship problems but spend their days insulting each other as slyly as possible, and you have the emotional atmosphere of this adventure: not fun.

Then let's all be reminded that Tongues of Serpents is on the heels of a novel that saw the fate of Europe decided. We switch to incredibly small stakes... not even the outcome of New South Wales, but an adventure inland to recover a dragon egg that we are not emotionally attached to. They literally wander across the countryside lost in the vast wilderness in a rehash of their journey along the silk road, except this time it's for the majority of the book.

I can't express what a disappointment that is after Victory of Eagles. It stops being a fun adventure between two companions, drops the tempo and suspense of the Napoleonic Wars, and gives us bickering and avoidance.

Not recommended. I'm sure the next novel will summarize the changes in this novel.

Avoid the back of the book! I hate spoilers, and am furious with the back of the book discussing a specific character's death. I'm tempted to dock the rating for that kind of marketing blunder alone.

Onwards to the review... my spoiler policy will assume you've read the previous novel, and will pretend you haven't any knowledge of the book aside from its title.

Mountain of Mars continues the grand tradition of Glynn Stewart being unwilling to accept any sort of status quo and write a story within it. The universe must change and the author holds nothing back. By the title alone, you will likely guess that Mars is at the centre of this novel, returning us to loose threads that had been put on pause during the war with the Republic and was teased at the end of Sword of Mars.

That said, because we're returning to Mars itself, the book feels like it's pumping the breaks on the epic space battles that had filled the pages of the last two novels. We still get plenty of action with the Hand doing what a Hand does best, but this switch in story content was rather jarring. This is my main complaint, and you can tell it's a minor one. The cast around Damien continues to grow, the universe grows in scope, and the stakes are ever higher.

Highly Recommended.

The Temeraire series is a wonderful set of buddy-adventures across the world, which is unfortunate because the marketing for the Temeraire series failed miserably by focusing on the Napoleonic warfare aspect. This is not military fiction, and instead captures that strange Age of Sail culture of 'civilized war' alongside a realistic treatment of dragons.

I had forgotten how amusing the scenes were where dragons caught a cold, but to see that elevated to the key threat within this novel was very satisfying. As always, I'll avoid spoilers, but both the title and the back of book makes it obvious that Empire of Ivory is an African adventure. This, similar to the last few novels, offers the reader a chance to explore Naomi Novik's deep worldbuilding through the eyes of Lawrence and Temeraire. We learn plenty of the African continent, the colonial Empires and the impact of slavery (in conjunction with dragons).

In fact, I appreciate Naomi Novik's treatment of slavery and the abolition movement. It's neither ignored, nor plastered over with modern 21st century sensibilities. I think it's a good balance of condemning the practice while accepting how fundamentally it secured European dominance.

Highly recommended.

Victory of Eagles is the Temeraire novel that many have been waiting for: it's packed from start to finish with Napoleonic warfare augmented with flying dragons. Its blood-soaked pages are filled with plenty of combat culminating in a truly epic last act. Woven throughout is Temeraire and Lawrence's intriguing relationship, but also the advancement of our understanding of dragon culture and society. This is alternate-history worldbuilding at its finest.

On the downside, it's a depressing novel compared to the buddy adventures in the preceding stories. Lawrence's narration is filtered through the culture of an Age of Sail Captain, with its strange notions of social rules and honour. Since he is depressed, so too are many of the pages of Victory of Eagles. To balance this, Temeraire is given a direct POV, and those pages really elevate this novel beyond another Hornblower-clone. The dragon is clever and naive, but not childish. It's a joy to read.

Highly Recommended.

Black Powder War continues the adventures of Lawrence and Temeraire as they return from China, and if you enjoyed Throne of Jade, then this will be equally enjoyable. In fact, I suspect if the two books were combined into one, it would have been a much bigger success, as the journey to China culminates in a great deal of Napoleonic warfare merged beautifully with the realistic handling of dragons that has put this series on the map.

Despite starting these novels for Age of Sail battles, I find myself preferring the adventure more than the action. Naomi Novik sketches out a wonderfully rich alternate history that our main characters wander through, passing through the Gobi, up into the Karakorum, and finally into Istanbul and continental Europe during Napoleon's greatest victories. There's a surprisingly large cast that surrounds Temeraire and not all of them make it home. Those losses keep the adventure tense, and when we shift into the depth of the Napoleonic Wars, the stakes are raised but I found myself missing the exploration and introduction of familiar cultures that have been made alien through their use of dragons.

Ultimately I wish this novel was combined with Throne of Jade, as they pair wonderfully together and I assume the author planned both at the same time. As it is, Black Powder War as a standalone is excellent, but it could have been so much more.

Recommended.

Throne of Jade is a very different novel from its predecessor, being one of exploration and adventure rather than the Age of Sail / black powder army combat that formed the basis for His Majesty's Dragon. If you were expecting Napoleonic squares augmented by fire-breathing dragons, you will be disappointed, and I think the lower rating reflects these dashed expectations. However, I was drawn by Temeraire's and Captain Lawrence's relationship and that core idea is executed wonderfully as they travel to China.

I am delighted by the expansion of this alternate history as we see what China looks like given the inclusion of these intelligent dragons. Naomi Novik cleverly weaves China's traditional dragon-heavy culture into a society that is strikingly modern and egalitarian. She captures the fundamental dynamics of China and Britain's political relationship during that era, though only on the edges as this novel is ultimately about dragons. The peek into the world-building -- of society, cultural values, and even economics -- is executed brilliantly and I enjoyed the months-long journey to Beijing.

I'm glad I stuck with this, since the former novel left me wanting. Recommended.