Book #72

Black Powder War
by Naomi Novik

The third book in the Temeraire series was better than the second but still not quite as enjoyable as the first; I think it's a natural progression, since the first book is fun because it is nice and uncomplicated, like Temeraire himself, and the subsequent books naturally get much more complicated as Temeraire grows up and becomes more of a complete being, and as the situation with the Napoleonic Wars grows more and more serious. I liked this one more than the second because I preferred the encounters they had as they went overland to the difficulties with the sea voyage. Though I have to say I'm impressed that Novik could do both: in Throne of Jade, most of the tension was between people kept in close quarters without bonds of trust or friendship for many months, and in this one it was between strangers who encounter each other unexpectedly. It worked quite well. Though these books are starting to make me shake my head in exasperation just as I do with the Anita Blake books; when I read those, I think, "Freaking vampires." When I read these, I think, "Freaking governments."

In the last one, Laurence and Temeraire get a load of crap from the Chinese government, though it turned out that was largely because of the internal plotting of the conspirators against the Emperor; once they were dealt with, things went pretty smoothly. In this one, they get a load of crap from the Turkish empire, from the Sultan and his flunkies, but not because there is some small faction at work: no the Sultan himself is trying to mess with England, and is thus messing with Laurence and Temeraire. As the book intended, I didn't particularly like or trust the Eurasian guide Tharkay, who tries to be irritating throughout his time under Laurence's command; I did like how that turned out, though. But starting with the Sultan, and the British government's bad orders and failed commitments, and continuing on through the Prussian and Russian losses to Napoleon, the governments in these books are just -- dumb.

The scene when Lien, the albino Chinese dragon, explained to the very young and innocent Temeraire why she didn't need to fight him to get her revenge, was both frightening and outrageous; I wanted to reach into the book and punch her in the snoot for threatening my Temeraire, and also for being all devious and underhanded. She's a pain. And then the battle scenes were painful to read, not because they were too long or overcomplicated, but because they were so frustrating. It seems apparent to me now that while Napoleon was smart enough to grasp the basic strengths and weaknesses of his army, his greatest trait was simply that he wasn't an idiot. Everybody who fought him, was. Lord Nelson of the British Navy wasn't an idiot, and so he kept his head dealing with Napoleon's fleet -- which was led by Napoleon's fairly idiotic admiral, of course, not Napoleon himself -- and Nelson won. I'm betting that as these books finish up the story of the Napoleonic wars that this trend will continue: idiots like the Prussians, who expect their battle plan to work simply because it worked decades before for Frederick the Great -- because warfare never changes, and if it worked once, it will always work after that, forever and ever amen -- those idiots will fail. People who grasp the modern warfare that Napoleon is employing, and Laurence and Temeraire seem able to grasp it, will have success against l'Empereur. I can't wait to read about Waterloo with dragons, though I have to say I'm impressed that Novik has, I believe, stayed pretty true to history despite putting dragons in the mix. This is actually an excellent alternate history. With dragons.

Last thing: I'm glad Granby got his dragon, but that little pain better grow up quick. And I'm on Temeraire's side with dragon rights, and I'm glad Laurence has seen the light.