Summer Reading Continues!

Throne of Jade: Temeraire Book 2 by Naomi Novik. Fantasy. 432 pages. 2006.

The continuing adventures of Captain Laurence and his charming dragon Temeraire. Although I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the first, it was still a very intriguing historical fantasy. In this volume, the Chinese Emperor has discovered that England captured the dragon egg (the one that Temeraire hatched from) intended for Napoleon, and they insist that Temeraire be returned to China. Of course Temeraire and Laurence refuse to be parted and an elaborate plan for them to travel to China while smoothing over the political relationship between the two nations is hatched (hee, get it? hatched?). Although the middle section dragged a bit for me, the descriptions of the dragons and the Imperial Chinese society were very well done, and this book started to draw parallels between the human slave trade and the way dragons are treated in Novik's England. I'm looking forward to the next volume in this unique and entertaining series.