TOJ is the sophomore novel in Naomi Novik's Temeraire Series is appropriately continues with the dragon Temeraire's maturation. The novel opens with the Chinese attempting to reclaim Temeraire, who was originally meant for Emperor Napoleon but was seized unwittingly by a former Navy captain, William Laurence. Without giving too much away, the two with their faithful groundcrew set off on a ship to China.
The plot is overambitious and the narrative is at time badly paced and unwieldly. Parts of the story moved extremely slowly and there seemed an overabundance of characters that I didn't notice in the first book. Temeraire has developed as a character and has begun to ask difficult questions about slavery, freedom, and "other-ness" but it gives the book an oddly moralistic tone that is slightly off-key. This is especially obvious when Temeraire's questions force Laurence to amend the bigoted views of an already 19th century British man. Temeraire is not as adorable and charming in the first novel, but Laurence seemed to have stalled and his stoic British-ism is a tad wooden at times.
I did not enjoy this book as much as the first but it was still a pleasant enough read. Hopefully the next one is better.