Review: Throne of Jade

Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I wasn’t crazy about the first Temeraire book, but I found the mix of history and fantasy interesting enough to grab the second book. I had high hopes things would improve, that the first book was merely the set-up, and entered Throne of Jade with crossed fingers.

As much as I wanted to love this one, I found it to be painfully slow with hardly anything happening. I dealt with a lot of nothingness for very little payoff and am now uncertain as to whether I will read the next book. The only thing I really enjoyed was the friendship between our main character and his dragon. It was the saving grace of the story, the thing that stopped it from being overly painful.

I think I’m accustomed to more action in my fantasy and my historical reads, and with this one having so little (at the most, we have two chapters worth of action, and that’s with a generous estimation) I was left wanting. I kept waiting for something big to happen, kept hoping things would blow my mind, only to find those scenes over and done with quickly.

Sure, the world building is great. The history and fantasy are really well mixed, but it is not enough.

Perhaps I will read book three – I probably will, as I am still curious – but it will not be for a while.

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