Quickie Review: The Jade Throne
Jun. 8th, 2007 05:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhalSummary: In a Napoleanic Era where dragons exist, ex-Royal Navy Captain & current draconic aviator Will Lawrence must take his dragon Temeraire to Mysterious China (tm) to convince the emperor to let him keep the ultra rare Chinese bred dragon.
Okay, as someone mentioned in a reply to previous review of the first book, this one addresses some of the points I brought up, especially Europe's treatment of the dragons compared to the rest of the world. Some random points
1. I R amuzed that Trememaire is apparently going to bring the Worker's Revolution back to England. Since the next book is going to be set in India, I guess I'm going to have to wait until at least Book Four to see the consequences of that mess...
2. Uh, so China has 5000 dragons compared to England's 20 or so? I'm forced to wonder how the hell England managed to bring the opium trade and other indignities on them, as China's ambassador complains about at one point. On the other hand, Hammond's need to tread softly around them is perfectly understandable.
3. The Evil Plot (tm) wasn't much of a surprise, though the reason why China sent one of their rare Imperial eggs to France makes more sense now. Not much more sense (why not send it to a valued provincial governor and just adopt them into the Imperial family instead?) but it works.
4. The second to last fight scene, in which Laurence's crew does their own version of Roark's Drift was well done, at least until the gratuitous insertion of a kung fu movie.
5. Given all the property damage Laurence and his crew were involved in, I think the Emperor was remarkably sanguine about the whole thing. Or maybe he just wanted to get rid of Those Crazy Foreigners ASAP.
Okay, as someone mentioned in a reply to previous review of the first book, this one addresses some of the points I brought up, especially Europe's treatment of the dragons compared to the rest of the world. Some random points
1. I R amuzed that Trememaire is apparently going to bring the Worker's Revolution back to England. Since the next book is going to be set in India, I guess I'm going to have to wait until at least Book Four to see the consequences of that mess...
2. Uh, so China has 5000 dragons compared to England's 20 or so? I'm forced to wonder how the hell England managed to bring the opium trade and other indignities on them, as China's ambassador complains about at one point. On the other hand, Hammond's need to tread softly around them is perfectly understandable.
3. The Evil Plot (tm) wasn't much of a surprise, though the reason why China sent one of their rare Imperial eggs to France makes more sense now. Not much more sense (why not send it to a valued provincial governor and just adopt them into the Imperial family instead?) but it works.
4. The second to last fight scene, in which Laurence's crew does their own version of Roark's Drift was well done, at least until the gratuitous insertion of a kung fu movie.
5. Given all the property damage Laurence and his crew were involved in, I think the Emperor was remarkably sanguine about the whole thing. Or maybe he just wanted to get rid of Those Crazy Foreigners ASAP.
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Date: 2007-06-08 01:24 pm (UTC)The next book (Black Powder War, already out) turns out not to be set in India. But it's fair to say that they are not in England for much of it.
If they'd done that, then the adopted governor would have a claim to the throne exactly equal to the current crown prince (dragon-wise, which is apparently what they go by) and they'd have their civil war anyway. Lawrence only wants to get out of China.
Book three is already out. And if you figure out why it's called "Black Powder War" after you read it, tell me and we'll both know. Book 4 comes out this summer.