Temeraire

[grayorca]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temeraire_(series)

 

This Wiki article can explain better than me. What I am curious about is, are there any other readers of this relatively-obscure series by Noami Novik?

 

Being the history buff, and casual Patrick O'Brian fan, that I am, I can't get enough of it. When I read the copies of HMD and ToJ at the local library, in one afternoon, I immediately went to Amazon and ordered the first four books.

 

And the idea that the great Peter Jackson would like to make it into a miniseries - awesome.

[Imzadi]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temeraire_(series)

 

This Wiki article can explain better than me. What I am curious about is, are there any other readers of this relatively-obscure series by Noami Novik?

 

Being the history buff, and casual Patrick O'Brian fan, that I am, I can't get enough of it. When I read the copies of HMD and ToJ at the local library, in one afternoon, I immediately went to Amazon and ordered the first four books.

 

And the idea that the great Peter Jackson would like to make it into a miniseries - awesome.

I started reading the first book at a friend's house, about a year ago. Promptly proceeded to get all 5 of them for my kindle and read them in about 2 weeks. Now i am anxiously awaiting the next one.

Peter Jackson and a mini-series? I could see that.

[Kyrieath]

I was given the first two as a birthday gift; I've been snatching them up ever since as they get released into paperback. I'll admit it's not a series for everyone; as fantasy goes, it's still quite low key despite the presence of dragons.

 

It was certainly interesting to see how having access to aerial capabilities could have effected the tactics of the Napoleonic Wars though. Playing out the social stresses of the era where humans could barely expect tolerance among their own kind due to differing races with the added stress of dragons being intelligent but treated as beasts among the western cultures was a nice touch as well.

 

The characters are well presented in turn; I honestly didn't think I'd come to like Tharkay very much when he was first introduced. Now he's one of my favorites.

[grayorca]

Even if the series isn't easily accessible to people now, what I'm thinking is that if and when Mr. Jackson starts to promote a miniseries, a larger audience will come to the franchise. And those who are interested enough would likely take the time to read the books.

 

The whole idea of an alternate history, borne with dragons in its midst, is an appealing concept, not only for the Napoleonic era. I could see even more series spun off of this one for future installments.

[kadoatie]

I have this on TBR, but it's far down enough that I'll likely not get to it for years - recommend moving it up? ;')

Also, what did you all most enjoy and least like about the series? Helps me decide whether it'd be one I would devour as well.

[Kyrieath]

Very much recommended to move up; it's a very enjoyable read if the writing style doesn't put you off (not everyone likes 19th century stylings).

 

As to what I enjoyed most: the characters themselves; even the ones I didn't like as people I didn't outright hate as characters. They all had well defined personalities, purpose and place in the story, no matter how great or small their part. I also enjoyed seeing the theoretical adjustments having access to flying tactics could have made to the war.

 

What I least enjoyed: occasionally, as expected of that style, things could get a little overly wordy. We're not talking Les Miserables level of spending twenty or more pages describing a man's house, but there were the occasional moments of "alright, I get the picture- move on". That didn't happen very often, however.

[mindsword]

I thought it was pretty good. I eventually began to dislike the characters, so I stopped reading. got to black powder war, I think the name was.

[Ruins]

I've read the first one and loved it- but I can't find the rest. I'm in the UK.

[Piratice]

I read all the up to the midpoint of Throne of Jade. I got distracted when the latest book of my favorite author came out haha

 

I love the series and I would like to continue reading it but I have like 30 books on my shelf waiting for me to read them

[space891]

I've read them. They're not too bad. Don't think everyone would like the series. but...

[RheaZen]

Ohey, I read those! Not too bad, though I can't say I remember them well.

[MinervaTree]

I'm about halfway through the first one. I really like it so far.

[Odio]

I've never heard of them but the name temeraire sounds so familiar... Anyway, I looked at the wiki and that's a really cool idea!

[funofmetalmusic]

i've read it....just AWESOME! in Greece there are publiced only the 3books...

[flyinghigh12]

I've read them. Well, the first, and I'm halfway through the second. My friend lent it to me, but I didn't realky like the sound of it, so it just sat on my bookshelf. When I eventually got round to reading it, I couldn't put it down! I practically begged her forthe next one, and she's hot the third on order now.

[Lolchen]

I read those, too, though in German. My brother had this dragon-phase (inspired by me, heheh ^^") and got a lots of books involving dragons. Temeraire was one of those, he's got all he could, but I'm still stuck in the middle of book two and have been for more than a year.

 

I guess why I stopped reading originally was because that Chinese man was trying to get inbetween Temeraire and his rider... or something I guess I got carried away afterwards, might put it on my reading list again, though.

 

 

I really loved the part at the beginning, how no one really knew what to do with Temeraire and the growing up center was cool

Edited May 31, 2010 by Lolchen

[Emmejo]

I really have enjoyed it so far.

 

I love the character interaction in it, it feels so natural and just right. I also like that the characters are flawed but don't make a big deal out of it like "Look at my issues! Feel sorry for me and watch me brood!" they are simply part of the characters and the flaws that are a real PITA at one point can be handy sometimes.

 

I love alternate histories, it is always interesting to see what might have been had something been different. And dragons always add an extra level of cool.

 

I admit I get a little bogged down in the military strategy bits sometimes (so many unfamiliar terms and techniques) and that sometimes the pacing gets rough, but it is a lot of fun.

[Nekoi]

I absolutely ADORE this series! I'm not usually much of one for historical fantasies, but this one grabbed me and refused to be put down. I knew Peter Jackson had asked for the movie rights to the first 3 books, but I didn't know he wanted to make it into a miniseries! (Haven't been on the website for a while....still waiting for the next book to come out...lol) I would love to see what he does with this series.

 

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[Infinis]

Temeraire is my absolute favorite dragon book series. I have the SFBC book edition which contains the first three and now I order them as they come out (I have yet to order the latest one, though...). I've never been much of a history-type person but for some reason this book series makes the napoleonic ers waaay more interesting. I like the way Iskierka irks Temeraire.

[BlueApollo]

I tried reading it, I really did. I think I should give it another shot. It just got so dull in the first book.

[Infinis]

I tried reading it, I really did. I think I should give it another shot. It just got so dull in the first book.

There are some dull points but once you start reading the parts about their adventures and the battles it gets a lot more interesting. It starts truly getting interesting in about the second third of the first book. And it gets even better by the time you get to Throne of Jade.

[Elleth]

It takes a while to get going, but I adore Temeraire (the dragon and series both). What's your impression of Tongues of Serpents, which is your favourite installment?

[Infinis]

I have yet to get Tongues of Serpents. D: I want to get it soon, though, I have every other book in the series so far. *must...complete...collection*

[Wookieinmashoo]

I have Tongues of Serpents, I got it a few days ago, but I have not read it, because I know I won't put it down until it's finished.

 

The series is not for everyone...there's probably not enough fantasy for the fantasy fanatics, and not histrionically accurate enough for the history buffs. If you like the combination of both, I would suggest it. If you've never red such a combination, I'd recommend checking it out.

 

The high points of the books have to be the characters. They all have their good points and their flaws. What I like most is a different take on dragons and intelligence. I don't read a lot of fantasy because most of the dragons and creatures are overly magical or overly intelligent and there's no balance. In these books it's easy to assume the dragons might be more intelligent than humans, but they have childish natures and also love to fight...making them very plausible and easy to imagine existing.

 

The low points are probably the pacing and wordiness of the series. But that's nothing unusual for an "epic" series like Lord of the Rings. Though I even enjoy the low points myself and I didn't realize Thrown of Jade pretty much had nothing happen in it for the first half of the book. Another problem is with the dragons themselves and their size...their size is incredibly implausible, both for flying and for just finding enough food to sustain themselves. Considering the dragon's growth, I don't think things like cattle could possibly breed fast enough to sustain an army of dragons. The African dragons were fed from herds of elephants...an elephant only produces one calf once every several years....so they would never be a sustainable, farm-able food source.

 

I still like the series, even if it takes the extremely big, fast growing dragons approach.

[Infinis]

I finished Tongues of Serpents around three weeks ago and I couldn't put it down when I could read it. o3o It was awesome x3

 

The first time I read it, I read In his Majesty's Service, which is the omnibus of the first three books. I got confused partway through because I though Throne of Jade was still His majesty's Dragon. |D

 

I skipped some parts of the books, like where it got exceptionally boring for me. but I have read most of them fully the second time reading them. o3o

 

I always wondered how cattle and such could feed that many dragons of that size. o.o