Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik

Finally! Two weeks ago we purchased Naomi Novik’s 6th book in the Temeraire series, Tongue of Serpents.


In this latest installment Temeraire and Laurence are exiled to Australia because of their actions in books previous to this one. When they arrive there they find that the previous governor Bligh has been overthrown by a local man named MacArthur. This leaves Laurence in an awkward position because as he owns a very large and powerful dragon they both want to curry his favor in order to use Temeraire to secure power in the developing colony.

In order to avoid being manipulated by the current political battles Laurence and Temeraire accept the mission to explore the Blue Mountains and find a route through them. En route through the mountains they discover that a dragon egg that they have been guarding has been stolen. So they begin a lengthy search across the entire continent of Australia to gain the little dragon hatchling back.

So, this book had a lot of wandering across the wild and deadly outback of Australia, which was not my favorite story line of all the books. They meet a lot of challenges and dangers along the way: a huge thunderstorm that starts a fire, lack of water, lack of food, mysterious man-snatching monsters. So there is enough drama and high adventure to be had but Australia is a continent and they cross the entire thing! So traveling is the majority of the book. Not so much fun as battles with Napoleon.

My favorite parts of the book included the hatching of the new eggs. I love watching eggs get hatched they are funny as you get to see the personality of the dragon right off. In fact, I just love seeing the dragon personalities interact at all. They are all so headstrong and funny and thoroughly in love with their captains that each new dragon is endearing in its own way. Tharkay gets to come along because he has been hired to figure out who is smuggling goods through Australia’s ports. I really liked that plot line and the fact that we got to meet merchants from so many different places, including America.

So, while this book was not my favorite in the series there is still plenty to enjoy! I am already excited to see how the author will develop the seeds she planted in this novel in the next books. Will Laurence and Temeraire head to America, settle in an Australian valley (very likely), or head back to China? Will they become privateers or herd cattle? Will they get pardoned and head to battle Napoleon in South America? I like how this novel hinted at greater globalization and it shall be fun to see what the crops up in the next novel along those lines. Laurence and Temeraire have already visited Australia, Europe, Asia, and Africa. I am guessing that the Americas lie in their future! I hope we get to meet new dragons. I always love new dragons.


Oh, sidenote usually these books are pretty clean, but there are one or two instances of serious swearing and one or two polite as possibe references to extremely crude acts on the part of the convicts. This is done on the part of the author to show just how truly uncivilized life is in Australia. Prison colony people. Not pretty. I thought it was in good taste, but people liked to at least be warned about these things sometimes.

Two Dragon Books from Novik

*Will contain spoilers*
Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik
I have to admit that I think the fourth book of this series is my least favorite so far. Temeraire and Laurence are in Africa trying to find a cure to an illness that has made all the dragons in Britain ill. The African setting wasn’t as interesting to me at first as say the dragon culture in China. Then the crew trying to find the cure is captured by a band of dragons in the interior of the continent, who are very angry about their people being taken by slavers. Then the African setting and culture starts to get more interesting and plot began to hook me in.

So, after they manage to escape from this angry band of dragons and return back to Britain, Laurence and Temeraire discover that the British have sent the plague upon the French dragons. They cannot condone this action, and consider it murder of fellow sentient beings, and therefore deliver the cure to the French. This of course is considered treason and the book ends on a rather sad note, as Laurence and Temeraire have to return home and face the consequences of their actions, which will probably include the hanging of Laurence.


Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik

Although, I did not love the fourth book of this series all that much, I really did enjoy the fifth book. I think this may be my favorite Temeraire book so far! In this book Temeraire is going crazy in the breeding grounds waiting for new of what happened to Laurence. Meanwhile, Napolean invades Britain, as in actually lands troops on the shores and marches toward London. Laurence and Temeraire are desperately needed in the battlefield to fight, but can only do so if the military allows them to be reunited.

This was an excellent book because I loved seeing the dragons, lead by Temeraire, progress into their own little force. Temeraire convinces the dragons in the breeding grounds to leave and go fight again Napolean. Even when he doesn’t know what has happened to Laurence yet. The author also explores more fully the consequences of Temeraire and Lawrence committing treason. If you want to find out what finally happens in regards to that you must read the book!

Overall, I still love this series. I’m really glad that the fifth book was so good! The fourth book had me worried a bit, but Novik really delivered in the fifth book. So, I’m getting excited about the fact that the sixth book, Tongues of Serpents, comes out in July.

Contest Alert!
You can win a free copy of His Majesty's Dragon. Look at details on this post of Naiomi Novik's blog. If I know you and you want me to enter you just send me an email with your info!

Naomi Novik’s website

Book Review: His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik

Will Laurence is the captain of a British Navy war ship while Napoleon is trying to take over Europe. He captures a French frigate and discovers what he least expected a dragon egg on board. To make matter worse his ship surgeon declares that the dragon will hatch in less than a week. The crew draws lots to see, who will “harness” it, or bond with the dragon so that it stays tame, but the hatching goes awry and the dragon takes a liking to Captain Laurence. Now, the captain must care for the little creature and leave the Naval life to join the king’s aerial combat corps. The dragon, Temeraire, and Laurence must begin a new life together fighting against French dragon forces before Napoleon scores a victory.

I really enjoyed this book. The story grabbed my attention from the beginning and I adored the interaction and character development of both Laurence and his dragon Temeraire. The prose is written in time-period style, which makes it a little harder to read, but most definitely fun. The only problem I had with this book is that I think the author doesn’t write battles as well as she does her characterization, but they were still interesting to read. I don’t know if they market this fantasy series as an alternative history, but it is, being set during the Napoleonic Era, and specifically mentions battles that really happened and recounts the outcomes. Though, if you don’t know much about the history you probably won’t be able to tell. I highly recommend this series because I had so much fun reading it.

There has been some talk of Peter Jackson making the book into a movie, but I’m not sure if that has officially gone through or if a release date has been set.
There is more information at Naomi Novik’s website: http://www.temeraire.org/