Throne of Jade (Temeraire, #2) in Around the World in 80 Books

Sep 13, 2011 Karen rated it liked it

In this 2nd book in this Temeraire series, Laurence and Temeraire find themselves sent to China. I continue to just speed through these books, Novik is a wonderful story teller.

10/21/2017: I read this book again, and although it isn't quite as good as the first book, I still enjoyed it.

08/15/2021: I read this again. ...more

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Jul 20, 2023 Nina ( picturetalk321 ) rated it liked it

Shelves: author-woman, author-white, usa, a-reviewed, re-read, author-by-a-friend, theme-dragon, genre-historicalfiction, genre-fantasy, z-read-gelesen-2023

When I first read the Temeraire books, I read them out of order (except for Books 1 and 2) and it is a special pleasure to re-read them, following their chronology logically and in doing so, following the author's creative process. As Naomi Novik revealed at the Waterstone's event I attended last week, she is a pantser and goes back to adjust, going along. I wonder how much of the MCs' arc emerged as each book did? Certainly, by the end of Book 2 (Throne of Jade), Temeraire's revolutionary Jacob ...more

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Mar 16, 2011 Kimberly rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-i-own, 2013-bookshelf, series

Back in March I read the first two books in the Temeraire series very close together. In fact I had barely finished the first one before I started the second one and I was so surprised that I did that because I don't do it very often.

When I first started Throne of Jade I was both excited and nervous. I was excited because I had loved the first book so much and I was nervous because I loved it so much and wanted it to keep up the momentum which can sometimes drop off when it comes to a second boo Back in March I read the first two books in the Temeraire series very close together. In fact I had barely finished the first one before I started the second one and I was so surprised that I did that because I don't do it very often.

When I first started Throne of Jade I was both excited and nervous. I was excited because I had loved the first book so much and I was nervous because I loved it so much and wanted it to keep up the momentum which can sometimes drop off when it comes to a second book in a series but I was so relieved to see that this wasn't the case with this novel at all.

This novel follows the growing juvenile dragon Temeraire and his keeper Captain Laurence as they travel by sea back to China the so-called rightful homeland as per request of both the Chinese and British Governments. Full of deception, heartbreak, joy, betrayal and of course copious amounts of adventure the author's writing really came together in this one.

Throne of Jade was full of plot twists with political undercurrents that made it a very intriguing and consuming read. Poor Mr. Turning the Pages was neglected for the couple of days that I spent reading the first two books in this series and I think he grew rather tired of me talking about talking dragons, months long sea voyages and battles with sea creatures. Throne of Jade was just one of those books that I had to talk about because it was so detailed and complex.

While I was pleased to see that the plot was so cohesive and detailed I was even more ecstatic to see that the characters of Will and Temeraire were growing and evolving so well. It was awesome to see their personalities coming out more and especially in the case of Temeraire as he along with Will were presented with some tough situations that have the potential to cause severe repercussions for not only the two of them but both the nations of England and China.

Overall, with all the new plot twists that were throne in, the story line was fantastic and I really enjoyed the descriptive way Naomi Novik described the scenes in her book especially when it came to China and the dragon's living there. It was a fantastic follow up to His Majesty's Dragon and I can't wait to read the third book in this fantastic series.

I would recommend this book to all those who read and enjoyed the first book in the series His Majesty's Dragon. If you haven't read the first book in the series I highly suggest doing so especially if you have a penchant for talking dragons, adventure, alternative history and well developed stories that are equally character and plot driven. ...more

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