This was a perfectly acceptable way to pass the time. But the charm of the concept (from book one) has worn off for me. I will probably continue to read book #4 and then decide whether I’m done entirely or not. Things I loved: the overland travel from China to Istanbul was great fun. I love an adventure trek, and meeting the feral dragons in the mountains, the logistics of bringing enough camels and supplies (how to keep a dragon fed and watered across the great desert), plus the character of Tharkay is great. Lawrence has already had to re-examine a lot of his white Englishman assumptions (from the presence of women serving in the aerial corps, to learning how the Chinese treatment and respect for their dragons far surpasses the English ideas). But his interactions and assumptions about non-white characters hasn’t grown so much. So introducing Tharkay (of both Asian and white English parents), with his cool hunting Hawk and enigmatically mysterious nature, was a fun new dynamic. And the journey to Istanbul was relatively interesting. But the middle of the book, dealing with politics and intrigue in Istanbul was just a slog. Yawn. (And I normally LOVE political intrigue. But this was boring). Then we end the novel by joining in some Central Europe land warfare against Napoleon. I appreciated getting back into military alternate history and tactics. And I did gasp a few times at the role that Lien plays with Napoleon. And it was definitely more interesting than just being stuck in Istanbul. But it also slogged on a bit. It was all perfectly fine, but I wasn’t emotionally nor narratively gripped. Pages turned just to pass the time, not because I Had to know what happens next.