Purchased this book via Amazon.com as slightly used after reading about it in the Washington Post Book World article "The Beasts of War".

Not as good as the first book in the Temeraire series, this book suffers from a slow start. However, the end of the book brings back the intrigue and creativity of a modern world inhabited by dragons. The characters were nicely developed and quite realistic, especially in their interactions. I found the book also rewarding as an exploration of the nature between a handler and dragon and of the world of foreign diplomacy. This book is more cerebral than the last, but still contains quality action sequences. Overall a more satisfying read, although quite repetitive and slow.

This book is part of a bookray! The original forum thread can be found here. It is also the second in a staggered bookray featuring Naomi Novik's His Majesty's Dragon and Black Powder War. The ray participants are:

1) DragonGoddess - Olathe, Kansas, USA
2) Ladyjanet - Normal, Illinois, USA
3) omly - Arlington, Massachusetts, USA
4) Twinfather - Gouda, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands <==HERE
5) katayoun - Tehran, Iran
6) Hengameh - Tehran, Iran
7) ResQgeek - Franconia, Virginia, USA
8) nimrodiel - Evanston, Illinois, USA

Since this is a staggered bookray, here are some additional notes that may be applicable.
1) It is not a problem to remove yourself from the latter bookrays in the trilogy if you get too many books or don't like the series. Just PM me and I'll take you off the list.
2) Since it can be expensive to ship three books internationally, you may want to PM the next person on the list to ask if they can wait for all three books at the same time in one package. If the next person is ok with this, be sure to try to read the books quickly and pass them on.
3) Since postage for shipping three books internationally can be expensive, I may be able to help with the costs if it becomes a problem. Just PM me if it gets too expensive and I'll see if I can help.

Mailed to DragonGoddess in Olathe, Kansas, USA.

Arrived yesterday. I started it this morning and am more than halfway through (it helps that my DH is on vacation so I can devote more time to reading while he deals with the little ones). This book delves a little deeper into the politics of the nations involved. Although a little slower paced than the first (so far) but it is just as well written and I am enjoying it very much. Will give final thoughts before sending on to Ladyjanet. Thanks VVilliam.

While it was a bit of a slog in the middle, it sure ended with a bang. Again, I enjoyed the political and cultural differences between countries (England and China) and how they pertained to dragons and people. Well thought out. It was a very good read and I am in eager anticipation of the last book. Mailed to Ladyjanet with His Majesty's Dragon.

Arrived with book one. It might have to rest for a bit, but it's #2 on my reading list (after #1 of course <>

Wonderful Book! It's really hard to write about it without giving everything away, but the ending kept me guessing, and I was very happy with the outcome. Truly a grand adventure for the entire crew.
Off to omly!

This book arrived at the end of this week. I have already started reading it on the bus, and was really pleased that Trememaire and Laurence have returned. For some reason I thought that each book in this series would follow a completely different dragon.

When the last book left off, I didn't realize that we would be continuing to follow Laurence and Trememaire in this one. Even if I had, I don't think I would have thought of the political and diplomatic problems that would have arisen with China.

I have an interest in China, from both having mostly chinese co-workers and just a love of the beauty and strength of that nation. Given that knowledge, I was a little surprised when the chinese characters introduced themselves with their given names before their surnames. Despite that, I think that overall Novik did a great job juxtaposing these two cultures forced into close relations.

From a philosophical standpoint, this visit to China raises some interesting issues about the morality of how dragons are treated in the Europe of this world. I have no doubts that Trememaire is up the challenge of rethinking how things should be with his usual "Jacobian" antics. The question is how well will Britain react?

Received the package with the trilogy today.Straight to the top of Mt. TBR!

and again thank you, the books are here safe and sound!

WOW! and handed over to hengameh

hengameh wasn't able to send the books before changing address and so they are entrusted to me to be sent on their way.

These books arrived safely in Virginia. I had forgotten about this bookray, but I'll try to get to them as soon as I can.

After the action in “His Majesty’s Dragon”, this follow up novel represents a marked change of pace. After helping to block Napoleon’s invasion of Great Britain and revealing Temeraire’s identity as a rare Celestial dragon, Laurence and his partner now find themselves at the center of a brewing diplomatic dispute between the British and Chinese. When it appears that the British are prepared to surrender Temeraire to the Chinese, Laurence finds himself embarking on the long sea journey to the Far East to negotiate for their future at the Chinese Imperial Court.

The pacing of this story reflects the monotony of such a long sea voyage during this time period, as well as the glacial pace of diplomatic negotiations. As a result, this book doesn’t grip the reader’s attention quite as firmly as the first novel, but it does manage to provide a great deal of character development and does a great deal more to define the dragons as characters in their own right, especially in China, where they are a much more integral part of society. This makes the book worth reading as a companion piece, but I suspect that it would be difficult for a reader that picked this book up first to find the story sufficiently compelling to finish.

Mailing this book off to the final participant in the bookray. Enjoy!

This got here safely.

Shortly after I signed up for the bookray my partner actually went out and bought the series. But I hadn't read them before they got loaned to a friend who still has our copies. So, I'm exited to read these :)

I thought this one better than the first book. I loved how the author wove together the clashes of culture between the English and the Chinese. I also thought that this book was a bit more engaging than the last as it pulled on all the world building and setting given to us readers during the first book.

There is a moment once Lawrence and Temeraire are in China which really gripped me (though I don't think I will mention which one exactly as it is spoilery).

I think what helped me most was reading books 1 and 2 back to back, I didn't find this one to start any slower than the first book and I loved the portions describing the journey and the long sea voyage....

Passing this on to my younger sister who i think will enjoy this series.