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"Victory of Eagles" - Review |
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Written by Der Doktor
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Saturday, 12 July 2008 |
So, my copy of "Victory of Eagles" arrived here yesterday and has been plowed through in less than 24 hours. Either they have sent me a flawed copy or Del Rey has produced the book with deliberate imperfections so that it actually looks like a novel from the 19th century, which would be in accordance to Naomi Novik's writing. I choose to believe in the latter.
As before the novel almost reads itself, it is hard to put it away once you have started to read it. Still I expect this one to spark some controversy between the Temeraire fans. Many will think it is too dark or too melancholic. I actually like the very high demand with which Naomi Novik approaches her own story and her characters. So here's my full review of the novel:
The times for Temeraire and Laurence are hard ...
Both are seperated from each other - Temeraire being held in the Welsh breeding grounds, Laurence being imprisoned on a British ship and awaiting his execution. Meanwhile, Napoleon uses his chance to attack Great Britain. Soon he sets his troop on the island and marches towards London.
The British have no other choice: They need Temeraire to stop the French's unrelenting advance. So Laurence - who is being despised as a traitor - is sent to get Temeraire. But his dragon is convinced that Laurence perished with the ship on which he was held. Driven by revenge, Temeraire sets out on his own, but with a peculiar army in his wake, to seek battle with Napoleon's forces.
But even if captain and dragon are being reunited again - will they even be able to fight for a nation that calls them traitors?
It is unbelievable. After the cliffhanger of "Empire of Ivory" you speculate about possible outcomes for Temeraire's and Laurence's dire situation and you think you have covered the best possibilities - and here comes Naomi Novik with another, fresh idea that leads the plot in a new direction, one which you didn't expect. Well, one thing was clear and has been largely heralded at the back of the last book: Napoleon invades England! So far the reason for the British not to execute Laurence immediately, since they do not want to spoil the powerful Temeraire completely. But when the dragon suddenly breaks his chains and comes to be a commander of his own very special regiment in the British Army, that takes the reader completely by surprise and shows that Naomi Novik's well of ideas for her series hasn't yet run dry.
One can see this already at the beginning, with the description of the breeding grounds as a new microcosm inside the Temeraire universe - here one meets a few very peculiar dragons, who have formed their own little society, which has the little problem of being very unjust, until the intelligent Temeraire mixes things up. Generally Novik does well to let her novel play entirely in war-ridden Great Britain after the characters have done many trips to other continents in the previous novels. The description of the war is very precise and believable, with a particular focus on strategy and the fundamental question of supply, especially since there are many dozens of dragons to feed. But there are many new ideas and details which fit in perfectly and make much sense inside this parallel universe. New characters such as the brilliant little dragon Perscitias - the Q of dragons - and the unrelenting Wellesley - a figure certainly known to historians - also pose an enrichment to the cast.
But fans will propably have a hard time with "Victory of Eagles", since this part of the series is by far the darkest, most difficult and demanding yet. Of course it is nice to see how Temeraire is slowly reaching his personal goals, and sometimes there are again very light bits of dry humor. But the secret focus of this story is the character of William Laurence, who is portrayed so tragically that one is hard pressed not to become depressed oneself. More and more he is beginning to become an emotional wreck, being confronted with the silent contempt of his former collegues and friends as well as with his own responsibility for having indirectly caused this war in Britain through his betrayal. Bit by bit one has to see how he distances himself ever more even from his beloved Temeraire until there is nothing left he wouldn't do to repay his guilt to the country he betrayed. The worst thing about this is: you know exactly that there can be no consolidation and no redemption for this doomed man, and remarkably Novik stays true to this bitter course - for an author who loves her characters, this cannot be easy. But it shows how attached the reader has become to them over the series.
And even if the novel ends with a tiny glimmer of hope, one cannot help but put away the book with a feeling of deep melancholy in face of the development of Laurence's character and his relationship to Temeraire. Other than its predecessor this book does not end with an exciting cliffhanger, but with a sad, silent coda. Until then for sure there have been lots of battles, fights, all the adventure one has come to know from the series as well as an apocalyptic finale. After the brilliant first act the story struggles a bit to keep the pace up, mainly due to an almost completely unnecessary rescue mission in the middle, which serves only to develop Laurence's character a little further but not the plot itself. Nevertheless this highly entertaining book fulfills the high standards that the previous novels of the series have set. Only, if the dark, heavy mood of this book will appeal to all the fans of the until now rather light-hearted Temeraire series, remains to be seen.
Conclusion: This is the deepest and most demanding book of the series yet, but also the least accessible. |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 12 July 2008 )
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