Black Powder War (Temeraire, Book 3)

by Naomi Novik

Book Overview

In the third novel of the New York Times bestselling Temeraire series, Captain Will Laurence and his dragon transport precious cargo while fending off enemies on all sides. "A splendid series."--Anne... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345481305
• Release Date: May 2006
• Publisher: Del Rey
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 1.0" x 4.3"

Customer Reviews

Temeraire Visits Turkey and Prussia Courtesy of Novik's Brilliant Prose

After an unexpectedly long wait, I finally had the chance recently to read Naomi Novik's "Black Powder War". It's a fascinating, quite thrilling, excursion into her own beguiling alternate history of Napoleon's 1806 campaign against Prussia. Unexpectedly summoned by an order borne by the mysterious Tharkay, Temeraire and his master and friend, Captain Will Laurence of the Aerial Corps, are sent unexpectedly on an epic quest from China, across the Himalayas, into Turkey, to acquire three dragon eggs for the Aerial Corps from the Sultan of the Ottoman Turkish Empire in Istanbul. Theirs is a journey with ample peril, as they and their companions have to contend to with the treacherous machinations of another Chinese Imperial dragon and the Byzantine political strife of the Sultan's court itself. On their return to Great Britain, Temeraire, Will and their companions stumble onto Napoleon's latest, greatest, army on the march against the brave, but numerically inferior, Prussians. With the "Black Powder War", Novik offers us yet another well-crafted tale in her ongoing superlative historical fantasy series, written exquisitely with such attention to historical detail that readers might assume that she was indeed Patrick O'Brian's literary offspring.

Awesome Fantasy/History Series.

This is a great continuation of the series that takes place during the Napoleanic Wars but have a twist of what if their where dragons. In this one Laurence the captain of Temaire a Celestial Dragon is forced to go across country from China to England to pick up some dragon eggs. Along the way they meet some feral dragons who are actually pretty funny and bring some comedy to the book through their actions. This book does leave you hanging at the end and you cant wait to read the next book in the series.

An amazing read!

I completely disagree with the readers who found the third book too bogged down in history. But then I was a history major in college. Ms. Novick has created a completely believable alternate reality where dragons live in historical context. She has kept the period feel (attitude, mores, perjudices) real. One could almost believe this how things were. That's harder than inventing a completely new universe with rules you can create. It's especially difficult when dealing with the Napoleonic conquests. Ms. Novick has done her research, the novels work as fantasy and historical period dramas (with a twist). High marks on the portrayal of historical figures and tactical details of battle. The quick glimpse of Napoleon in book 3 is dead on and shows why the man was such great leader and superior general early in his career. My only complaint is that I wish the books were longer, I think there is much more detail to be explored. I read the first book and right away bought the next two before I was done. I passed book one to a friend who is hot on my heals demanding book three to read.

Very good, but...

I gave this book four stars, but almost gave it five. Four and a half stars would probably be what I'd say it deserves. Like in the two previous books, there is adventure, character development, and occasional humor. But it didn't quite drive me like the first two did. The first time I read this book, I would not have considered five stars at all, it would have had three or four. I re-read it, however, and I liked it better after I did (perhaps because when re-reading I can skip over the least interesting parts, but I did not do a whole lot of skipping.) The journey across the desert was interesting, but didn't interest me enough. The long wait in Istanbul was almost as frustrating for me as for the characters. The worst was the section promised by the title, near the end of the journey, when Laurence and Temeraire join the Prussians in their war against the French--again, almost as frustrating and depressing for me as for the characters.(I suppose this could be a good writing technique to get you to connect with the caracters, lol ;) After that, however, it does improve, (*small spoiler*) with the hatching of Iskierka, who had me laughing out loud over and over at her antics. If you read and liked the first two books in the series, give this one a try, it is very good, and promises of better things to come.

Dragon Duels and Derring-Do

I was hesitant in buying this last one because the reviews I was reading seemed to dwell on the military campaigns of Napoleon (yes, he makes a cameo appearance). I supposed the title of the book didn't help. But really the Napoleonic War doesn't start until Page 200 of a 365 Page Book. And I was surprised to see how skillfully and plausibly the author wove the dragons into the war. It was a WORTHY and Most Exciting finale to the Temeraire Trilogy. Do not miss any of it. You will see how expertly the dragons are used in battle. How Lien, the outcast albino dragon, who lost her captain, the perfidious prince Yongxing (read THRONE OF JADE), defected to the side of the French, in order to effect a most ingenious revenge on Temeraire and Laurence. Most noteworthy is the development of the dragon psyche. We are introduced to the feral dragons of the Turkish mountains . . dragons in their natural state who have never known the harness but consequently aren't that well-fed either. (Comic relief after a particularly intense journey through the desert). And Temeraire beg us to consider the emancipation of all dragons though his fascinating discussions with Laurence concerning the issues of choice and freedom. THere's also the dragon eggs themselves-- whose value-- figures a greal deal in all the books. How do the dragons feel about separation from their eggs? 5 Stars! (Some heartbreak in the fate of some members of Temeraire's crew.) I do so hate these moments when I have to whip out a hanky for characters in a Fantasy! But I guess that tells you how well-written this book truly is! I look forward to more, Ms. Novik! Consider me a life-long fan!