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Temeraire
I've been meaning to read Naomi Novik's Temeraire novels for a while, since I love all her writing so much, but I was waiting until the third to come out since I suspected that otherwise I would be too impatient. That was a good call, since I read the first one Thursday night and ended up taking the day off work yesterday to read the next two. And then I stayed up until 6 a.m. reading every single post on the two livejournal communities dedicated to Temeraire.
So I guess I'm hooked! And I have to say, before I read these novels I would have said my interest in dragon stories was very low and my interest in historical fiction about the Napoleanic wars was zero. Apparently I was very wrong on both counts.
Spoilers for His Majesty's Dragon , Throne of Jade and Black Powder War behind the cut.
I'm so in love with this whole world I can't even be coherent about it. The best thing about reading all the books at once, I guess, is that a lot of the questions I saw on the comms in response to the first book or two were answered for me at once: how different British and Chinese cultural attitudes toward dragons were; whether or not dragons had their own language; how dragons can speak immediately after they are hatched; why the Chinese would send such a valuable egg to the French if they didn't consider the French allies, etc.
I also really like how it becomes increasingly clear throughout the novels that Laurence's POV isn't entirely reliable, but that his view of the world is thoroughly shaped by his upper-class British cultural lenses. I'm happy that Novik has made him a sympathetic character but still given him period attitudes about gender, loyalty, the superiority of British culture, etc. that aren't anachronistic, and I especially enjoy how his relationship with Temeraire is really shaking the foundations of his own worldview.
I'm in love with Temeraire, of course. I always enjoy coming-of-age stories, and his is a fascinating one to watch, especially in book 2 when he comes face-to-face with the social problems of human society (slavery, the class system, the differential treatment of dragons in Britain) and tries to make sense of it all.
And he is so damn funny--especially when his natural curiosity about sex is played off against Laurence's reluctance to talk about such matters. Has anyone yet made the icon that says "my fandom has masturbating dragons?" That scene in book 3 made me laugh out loud.
I admire his loyalty and impulsiveness in book 2--I was cheering when he rescued Laurence from being arrested, even though with Laurence I realized this was not a wise choice in the long-term--but I also like the fact that his impulsiveness has consequences. Lien's enmity, for example, which may fundamentally reshape the whole course of the war and therefore the geography of Europe, is largely a consequence of Temeraire's duel. (It's possible, of course, that had Yongxing's treachery been exposed without the duel, Lien might have still blamed the Brits and sought vengeance, but the duel certainly made it more personal for her).
And I love Lien as an enemy. She has a wonderful grasp of strategy, and I really loved both the scene where she threatened Temeraire in Istanbul (that sent chills down my spine) and her scene with Napolean. The third book really upped the stakes, didn't it? (And wah!!! Now I have to wait a whole year for the next one!!!)
Has anyone written any Temeraire/Lien? (I do love enemy sex, and I bet since she is so much older she knows precisely how to push all the buttons of a young male) Or Laurence/Tharkay slash?
So now I'm waiting for the SV/Temeraire AU crossover in which Clark is a dragon and Lex is an aviator. Maybe Lex discovered Clark's egg in the field after the meteor shower. Dragons are already "super" in the flying/strength/firebreathing abilities, so clearly what would be different about Kryptonian dragons is that they can shapeshift into human form, thus making human/dragon romance a little easier.
I don't suppose anyone has actually written this?
So I guess I'm hooked! And I have to say, before I read these novels I would have said my interest in dragon stories was very low and my interest in historical fiction about the Napoleanic wars was zero. Apparently I was very wrong on both counts.
Spoilers for His Majesty's Dragon , Throne of Jade and Black Powder War behind the cut.
I'm so in love with this whole world I can't even be coherent about it. The best thing about reading all the books at once, I guess, is that a lot of the questions I saw on the comms in response to the first book or two were answered for me at once: how different British and Chinese cultural attitudes toward dragons were; whether or not dragons had their own language; how dragons can speak immediately after they are hatched; why the Chinese would send such a valuable egg to the French if they didn't consider the French allies, etc.
I also really like how it becomes increasingly clear throughout the novels that Laurence's POV isn't entirely reliable, but that his view of the world is thoroughly shaped by his upper-class British cultural lenses. I'm happy that Novik has made him a sympathetic character but still given him period attitudes about gender, loyalty, the superiority of British culture, etc. that aren't anachronistic, and I especially enjoy how his relationship with Temeraire is really shaking the foundations of his own worldview.
I'm in love with Temeraire, of course. I always enjoy coming-of-age stories, and his is a fascinating one to watch, especially in book 2 when he comes face-to-face with the social problems of human society (slavery, the class system, the differential treatment of dragons in Britain) and tries to make sense of it all.
And he is so damn funny--especially when his natural curiosity about sex is played off against Laurence's reluctance to talk about such matters. Has anyone yet made the icon that says "my fandom has masturbating dragons?" That scene in book 3 made me laugh out loud.
I admire his loyalty and impulsiveness in book 2--I was cheering when he rescued Laurence from being arrested, even though with Laurence I realized this was not a wise choice in the long-term--but I also like the fact that his impulsiveness has consequences. Lien's enmity, for example, which may fundamentally reshape the whole course of the war and therefore the geography of Europe, is largely a consequence of Temeraire's duel. (It's possible, of course, that had Yongxing's treachery been exposed without the duel, Lien might have still blamed the Brits and sought vengeance, but the duel certainly made it more personal for her).
And I love Lien as an enemy. She has a wonderful grasp of strategy, and I really loved both the scene where she threatened Temeraire in Istanbul (that sent chills down my spine) and her scene with Napolean. The third book really upped the stakes, didn't it? (And wah!!! Now I have to wait a whole year for the next one!!!)
Has anyone written any Temeraire/Lien? (I do love enemy sex, and I bet since she is so much older she knows precisely how to push all the buttons of a young male) Or Laurence/Tharkay slash?
So now I'm waiting for the SV/Temeraire AU crossover in which Clark is a dragon and Lex is an aviator. Maybe Lex discovered Clark's egg in the field after the meteor shower. Dragons are already "super" in the flying/strength/firebreathing abilities, so clearly what would be different about Kryptonian dragons is that they can shapeshift into human form, thus making human/dragon romance a little easier.
I don't suppose anyone has actually written this?
no subject
I read a fair amount of fantasy, but I'm pretty conservative in picking up new series, because there's nothing worse than only being able to find two books of a five book series, or thinking you're reading a stand-alone and finding it's the first of a projected really-long series in which the novels don't really stand on their own.
I like Tanya Huff a lot, because she's so slashy, even though lately she's been focusing more on her horror series than pure fantasy. (I loved the ones centering on Henry Fitzroy, the vampire; I'm a little less interested in the Tony ones). I had my obligatory Mercedes Lackey phase (again, because of the slashiness), and while I can no longer stand the Valdemar books I still do read her "Elementals" series.
Lately I've mainly been reading fantasy that does interesting things with politics or religion. I really love Kate Elliott's Burning Stone series, because it takes the neo-medievalism of most fantasy and does something actually interesting with it, exploring what it would actually be like to live in a society with no real social mobility. And I adore her alternate dominant form of Christianity, which is sort of Gnostic, and how that plays into all the intrigue and overlapping political struggles of the empire and church. Not to mention the interesting non-humans in that universe.
I also really love Fiona Patton, for similar reasons: fasinating politics, interesting religion (in this case a sort of Celtic paganism, reimagined), densely layered politics, really interesting social structures (though the monarchs all of course have arranged marriages, there is a Companions guild--and it seems like Companions are more likely to be of one's same sex. The first book, The Stone Prince, does a particularly interesting job of exploring the issue of love v. duty both for royalty and for members of the Companions Guild).
And lately I've really been enjoying Jane Linskold, who's been writing a series about a girl who grew up as a wolf in a land where some animals are intelligent, but she may be the lost crown princess. (I hadn't noticed just how much I like intricate and densely plotted court politics, complete with a complicated intersection of different cultures, in my fantasy until I made this list--but boy is this series, which started with Through Wolf's Eyes, full of those things.)
no subject
Kate Elliott's series sounds interesting, and I'll definitely look out for it.
And hey, if you want *slashy* fantasy recs that's a whole different story. *g*
But for fantasy/dragons -- my absolute favourite is Song of the Beast by Carol Berg. It's a stand alone, and the best novel she's written, in my opinion. Carol Berg wrote the Transformation series -- that slashy series?
The other "dragon" books I enjoyed -- Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy. You've probably read it already, but if you haven't, definitely check it out. Slashy and wonderful. Loved everything about it except for the ending of the very last book.
And I'm sure there are others I've enjoyed, but those are the ones off the top of my head.
no subject
I'm now closer to my fiction bookshelf, and see I neglected to recommend my absolute favorite fantasy author of all time: Connie Willis. Well, maybe she's less fantasy than sci-fi speculative fic. What she's most famous for is time-travel/ alternate history; her Doomsday Book, about a historian sent back to the 14th century just as the Black Plague struck, is just an unbelievably amazing book, and probably the most heartbreaking thing I've ever read. She uses the same premise, to much more comic effect, in To Say Nothing About the Dog , which is a light-hearted time-travel romp to the 19th century. And I absolutely adore her novel about near-death experiences, called Passages .
And I see I also forgot to mention R.A. McAvoy and Elizabeth Lynn and Robin McKinley and Patricia McKillip, but they're such big names I'm sure you've read them. McAvoy has even written about dragons, and I'm looking at the title of one of the Elizabeth Lynn's I haven't read in a long time and realize it features shape-shifters, one of whom is a dragon. So I guess I have enjoyed some dragon stories before NN's.
no subject
(Anonymous) 2006-07-22 11:55 am (UTC)(link)