World Famous Comics: Victory of Eagles (Temeraire, Book 5)
Victory of Eagles (Temeraire, Book 5)
By: Naomi Novik Publisher: Del Rey Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Del Rey Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 342 Publication Date: July 08, 2008 Release Date: July 08, 2008
Product Description: Naomi Novik’s triumphant debut, His Majesty’s Dragon, introduced a dynamic new pair of heroes to the annals of fantasy fiction: the noble fighting dragon Temeraire and his master and commander, Capt. Will Laurence, who serves Britain’s peerless Aerial Corps in the thick of the raging Napoleonic Wars. Now, in the latest novel of this dazzling series, they soar to new heights of breathtaking action and brilliant imagination.
It is a grim time for the dragon Temeraire. On the heels of his mission to Africa, seeking the cure for a deadly contagion, he has been removed from military service–and his captain, Will Laurence, has been condemned to death for treason.
For Britain, conditions are grimmer still: Napoleon’s resurgent forces have breached the Channel and successfully invaded English soil. Napoleon’s prime objective: the occupation of London.
Separated by their own government and threatened at every turn by Napoleon’s forces, Laurence and Temeraire must struggle to find each other amid the turmoil of war and to aid the resistance against the invasion before Napoleon’s foothold on England’s shores can become a stranglehold.
If only they can be reunited, master and dragon might rally Britain’s scattered forces and take the fight to the enemy as never before–for king and country, and for their own liberty. But can the French aggressors be well and truly routed, or will a treacherous alliance deliver Britain into the hands of her would-be conquerors?
Nice, but not great I've enjoyed all of Novik's Temeraire novels, but I think she's fallen int a trap of her own making. By creating a period piece set in a fantasy universe version of the Penninsular War, she's inviting comparison to books like Cornwell's Sharpe series, Forester's Hornblower, and O'Brian's Aubrey, among others.
These books take real, historical situations and inject fictional characters and events. They also tell fairly action-oriented stories that, while self-contained, lead us through the history of the time.
Novik's trap is that she isn't willing to tell a self-contained story. Oh, each book, including War of Eagles, does tell a story, but she appears to be posing more questions for future books than answering them within this one. I found Victory of Eagles enjoyable, but ultimately unsatisfying. I want to find out more about the characters of Novik's world, and what's going on there, and I want to anticipate enjoying the next book in the series BECAUSE of these characters and situations, not because the author has left me hanging.
Yes, I would recommend this book, and the entire series, to anyone who asks, but I would like to see Novik more confidently tell stories knowing she doesn't have to hold back to keep her audience for the next novel.
Temeraire: Victory of Eagles
The first few books in the series were great, and volume four seemed to be a peak. This fifth installment is perhaps not as good, but still enjoyable and interesting. The war finally hits England, and Lawrence and Temeraire struggle through their own difficulties during the melee. We see a lot of the dragons here as Temeraire makes some headway with fighting for dragon rights, and the over-all story of the series moves on as the Napoleonic war swings right across Britain and back again.
Some of the reviews on Amazon are very negative, and I wish I could disagree with most of what they are saying. The story is not as strong as some of the other volumes, leaving it feeling a bit like an "inbetweener" novel. Fans of books 1-4 will still enjoy it, and it's a worthwhile read.
VICTORY OF EAGLES BY NAOMI NOVIK VERY ENJOYABLE BOOK AS ALL THE ONES BEFORE IT HAS PROVEN. ARRIVED PROMPTLY AND IN EXCELLENT CONDITION. WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK HIGHLY TO EVERYONE THAT ENJOYS SCIENCE FICTION. D.SHERRILL
Victory of eagles The entire series is excellent. Very engrossing. I cant wait for each new book to come out. Naomi Novic cant write fast enough for me.
I can has copyeditor? I love this series, and I love this addition to it.
But somehow, for me, this book felt quite disjointed in comparison to the last ones - I won't go into details about the plot (which itself was everything I could have hoped), and regardless, it was the execution that bothered me.
From odd changes in perspective to the myriad of spelling, grammatical and punctuation errors (I have never seen so many in a published work previously), I have to wonder whether Ms Novik or the publisher fired their copyeditor. The errors just served to jar me out of an otherwise gripping story.
I hope this is corrected in the paperback version, but as it stands, the print quality of the UK hardback is appalling.
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