Black Powder War by Naomi Novik

Black Powder War

Temeraire – Book 3

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group as Del Ray (2006)

Author: Naomi Novik

Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Pages: 365

Price: $7.99

After their fateful adventure in China, Capt. Will Laurence of His Majesty's Aerial Corps and his extraordinary dragon, Temeraire, are waylaid by a mysterious envoy bearing urgent new orders from Britain. Three valuable dragon eggs have been purchased from the Ottoman Empire, and Laurence and Temeraire must detour to Istanbul to escort the precious cargo back to England. Time is of the essence if the eggs are to be borne home before hatching.

Yet disaster threatens the mission at every turn – thanks to the diabolical machinations of the Chinese dragon Lien, who blames Temeraire for her master's death and vows to ally herself with Napoleon and take vengeance. Then faced with shattering betrayal in an unexpected place, Laurence, Temeraire and their squad much launch a daring offensive. But what chance do they have against the massed forces of Bonaparte's implacable army?

Black Powder War picks up shortly after the events of Throne of Jade. The driving events in the story occur early and there's very little superfluous content before the adventure gets underway. This time around Laurence and Temeraire are trying to get from China to Turkey, my immediate concern over another book bogged down by unnecessary travel descriptions were unfounded. There are stops and complications during the course of the journey but, unlike the previous book, these pit stops seemed to serve the story. They didn't feel like placeholders, there simply because too much time had gone by since the last bit of excitement occurred.

The first two-thirds or so fly by as many factors work against Laurence and Temeraire. There's also a bit of fun we've all come to expect from historical fiction, given the opportunity to dramatically change the course of events as the reader knows them, how much would one ignore their basic values in order to alter history? Upon completing half of their mission Laurence and Temeraire get caught up in Prussia. Unfortunately this is where the pace of the book slows down, with a lot of time being devoted to the description of military maneuvers and the difficulties of managing an army, logistically speaking. Most likely the latter was included in an attempt to heighten the desperation evident in the characters, but it occasionally seemed a chore to continue.

The ending was not quite what I expected. Given the deceleration of the plot going into the final act of the book I was convinced that an epic battle awaited me. While this wasn't the case, the ending was still satisfying for the reader. Laurence's evolving opinion on the social plight of dragons is an interesting facet of the story that gained a lot of momentum going into the end of the book. We may soon see a reconciliation between Laurence and his father, due in no small part to their similarities in view regarding two different down-trodden populations.

Conclusion: Black Powder War corrected in style some of the issues from the previous book. It suffered from a final act that seemed to bog the story down, but a satisfying conclusion and a number of possibilities going forward help make this a series I will continue.

Rating: 7.5/10