Book Review

Well, I've finished another book that I got over Christmas, Naomi Novik's Throne of Jade - Temeraire Book 2.  I read the first Temeraire book over the summer, and really enjoyed it.  The second book lived up to all the promise of the first, with an imaginatively written world.  Novik's China was particularly creative, with the integration of dragons into their society showing that she thought about the realities of daily life in detail.  This made for very satisfying reading.

I was very pleased with the development of the relationship between Temeraire and Laurence.  In the first book, Temeraire is treated as a young child and over the course of this book he clearly matures and forces Laurence to see him as a fully independent individual.  This made Temeraire a more interesting character rather than simply a curiousity.  

The plot rockets along, engaging and very exciting.  I found it hard to put the book down and really enjoyed the political intrigue.  The writing was clear and colourful and lots of fun to read.  All in all, I really enjoyed this book.