Novik once again produced an enjoyable adventure, on par with the rest of the series.

The exploration of the African continent and culture is exciting and fresh. As an action, adventure story these books are very good, but not for someone looking for complex plot, politics, or magic.

With the glimpse of French culture and the influences Lien is having there at the end of this book, it is obvious that there is still a great deal to be explored and great opportunities for the character development of Temeraire and Laurence.

It is similar to the previous novels in that it reaches the anticipated climax early and contains a secondary resolution story at the end.

This series is recommended for moderate readers interested in fantasy with a historic flair. No complex prose or questionable content, so the novels are suitable for younger readers too. The writing is good, the story is good, and after the fourth book I am still dying to read more! ( )

Summary: Temeraire, Laurence, and his crew return to England following the battle in Prussia, only to find the reason that no support had come from the British aviators: a terrible consumptive disease has ravaged the ranks of British dragons, leaving most of Temeraire's friends unable to fly, let alone fight. When circumstances indicate that a cure may be found in Africa, several of the dragons take transport to Capetown. However, they must press into the interior forests in order to find what they seek, and face the unknowable dangers that lurk in the heart of the Dark Continent.

Review: There are some books that are safe to pick up to read for half an hour before bedtime. This is not one of them. I should have known better than to pick it up when I needed to be sleeping in the first place, but I got so sucked into the last 150 pages that I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish it... and it ends on such a cliffhanger that it took a major force of will not to dive immediately into Victory of Eagles.

While the first book of the series remains my favorite, this one is running a close second. It's packed with exciting adventures, compelling peril, lovable characters, thought-provoking treatment of issues like slavery and colonialism, and plenty of humor and charm. It improves on the previous volume in two ways: first, no big battles (plenty of fighting, but no endless descriptions of troop movements and military strategics.) Second, it's less episodic than previous novels; or, rather, it's still episodic, but the pieces flow together much more smoothly than they did in Black Powder War. The language is wonderful as always, mimicking period style while somehow remaining much easier to read... which is a good thing when you find yourself compulsively reading into the wee hours of the morning. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: The series as a whole is becoming a must-read for fantasy fans, and a must-try for historical fiction fans. I can't really recommend reading them out of order or as standalones, but it's nice to see that the series isn't declining in quality, as can happen so often in longer fantasy series. ( )

I really enjoyed the first two books in this series, but am not enjoying the later volumes as much. This book sees aviator Laurence and dragon Temeraire journeying to Africa. It is interesting to see how Novik imagines Africa in the early 1800s, in this alternate world where dragons exist. But for most of the book I just didn’t have the same connection to the characters, nor the same level of concern with their dilemmas. Developments in the final section of the book, however, did remind me of the reasons why I was drawn to this series in the first place, and I am keen to see where Novik goes from here ... ( )

While not as good as Throne of Jade, the second and best of the Temeraire series, Empire of Ivory is still a page-turner with depth. Temeraire and Laurence journey through Africa and confront a civilization in which Africans view dragons as their ancestors. In their efforts to find a cure for the fatal illness that is plaguing England's dragons, Temeraire and Laurence and their crew find themselves in mortal danger from this African civilization. As the book ends, Novik causes her heroes to make a moral decision that will leave them in a no-win situation and motivate the reader to turn to the next and newest of the series, Victory of Eagles. ( )

Laurence and Temeraire return home to find that all of England's other dragons are dying. Free from the illness, they are sent to Africa to find the cure, where their nation's participation in the slave trade will have dire consequences for the dragons and their captains.
This is so far the best in the series. It makes me wish I knew a little more about the history of the time period to see the differences that have happened .

Empire of Ivory is the fourth novel in Novik's series, after His Majesty's Dragon, Throne of Jade and Black Powder War. Like all of the books in this series, the action follows fairly closely on the heels of the previous novel. And like all of the previous novels save the first, reading the novels that come before it is essential to understanding what is going on.

In a nutshell, this is an alternate world/alternate history set in a 19th century where men are learning to breed and tame dragons for use in the military. Napoleon is still threatening to conquer Europe and his machinations have, ironically, brought the egg of, and later the hatched egg of a powerful Chinese dragon, Temeraire, to the hands of the English, and the bonding of Temeraire to Captain Will Laurence. Formerly a naval officer, the novels, at their best, have explored his "culture shock" in the dragon corps.

In this fourth novel, after reverses on the continent against Napoleon's army, the English are licking their wounds and dreading a cross-Channel invasion when a new wrinkle and complication occurs--a strange, debilitating illness which is devastating the entire dragon corps of England. The loss of the dragons would leave England at the mercy of Napoleon's forces.

The only clue is that Temeraire had a brief illness of his own on his journey to China (in Throne of Jade), and recovered while in South Africa. And so, in the search for a cure to save England's dragons leads Temeraire and Laurence into the dark of Africa...

I think I mentioned in previous reviews that I felt that Throne of Jade and Black Powder War did not recapture the magic and deft touch that His Majesty's Dragon did. Novik seemed to take the wrong lessons from the success of that first novel, and so the second and third novels, while not bad novels, just didn't hit on all the cylinders the first one did.

This fourth novel, while still not quite capturing the magic of His Majesty's Dragon, seems to be more more in the vein of the first novel, and less of the problems of the second and third novels. The characters develop, we do get some travelogue, we get development of the history and politics of the world, and things occur. Pacing is good, and at 400 pages, the novel is of a goodly and not-padded length to tell the story it wants to tell.

And it ends with an obvious cliffhanger. The actions Laurence and Temeraire take at the end of the novel are shocking and surprising on face value, but they grow naturally from the events starting in the first novel. Novik does not break the character. Indeed, if the characters did not take their actions, that would have been a betrayal of their characters.

I enjoyed it, and look forward to the MMPB version of the fifth novel, Victory of Eagles. ( )

I should have learned to expect more form Naomi Novik than a standard tale of "darkest Africa," but I still came into this fearing the worst. Never mind. It isn't so much that this is some kind of remarkable work of anti-racist fiction - it isn't - as that it's a rollicking good adventure story that deals with Africa in an non-stereotypical way.Besides... I still kind of want a dragon. ( )

I should have learned to expect more form Naomi Novik than a standard tale of "darkest Africa," but I still came into this fearing the worst. Never mind. It isn't so much that this is some kind of remarkable work of anti-racist fiction - it isn't - as that it's a rollicking good adventure story that deals with Africa in an non-stereotypical way.Besides... I still kind of want a dragon. ( )

This books starts in the middle. The problem is that it is the middle of last book, not this one. I have nothing against series per se, but I prefer the book in a series to be read without having to reread the last one. The first twenty or so pages didn't belong in this book, and dragged the book as a whole down. When it gets started it is all right. But at it end it stop ah, let me guess - about 20 pages from the end, and that is as annoying as the beginning.

Verdict: All right - except the misaligned 20 pages, which is a major annoyance. ( )

slow start, but once it got going there were things i just had to love. not as good overall as Jo Walton's Tooth and Claw, but stuff like the trip into the heart of Africa, the detail on the dragons themselves, the changing mores in the field (on slavery, on women) made for a sprightly and interesting read. and the non-Euclidean dragon mathematics created on the fly because Euclid's premise so amused them? priceless.... in short, guess i'll have to read them all. ( )

Good return to form in the series: Temeraire and Laurence continue to be fascinating characters. ( )

While not as good as Throne of Jade, the second and best of the Temeraire series, Empire of Ivory is still a page-turner with depth. Temeraire and Laurence journey through Africa and confront a civilization in which Africans view dragons as their ancestors. In their efforts to find a cure for the fatal illness that is plaguing England's dragons, Temeraire and Laurence and their crew find themselves in mortal danger from this African civilization. As the book ends, Novik causes her heroes to make a moral decision that will leave them in a no-win situation and motivate the reader to turn to the next and newest of the series, Victory of Eagles. ( )

OK, this is more like it. These events are directly related to the dragons, and didn't happen in our world (at least, I never heard of anything like the disasters in Africa!). Temeraire's actions and reactions, and those of the other dragons, ring true to me in this story (as they didn't quite in Jade), and there's not such a feeling of inside jokes as there was in Black Powder War. Exciting events, cultural dissonances, physical and non-physical culture clashes, a reasonable danger and a reasonable (if desperate) effort to solve it. This one's as good as the first. ( )

The fourth installment in the Temeraire series starts off slowly but ends with a bang and on a cliffhanger than almost made me glad I waited so long to read this one. (The fifth installment hits bookstores next week).

Lawrence and Temeraire reutrn from China to find Britian's dragon population suffering a terrible plague that is weakening and threatening to kill them. The problem is complicated by Napolean's attempts and threats to cross the channel and invade the heart of the British Empire.

Temeraire, back from China and having seen the attitude show toward dragons there, comes back wanting to generate more respect for his dragon brothers and sisters. Lawrence's family induces him to use his new-found celebrity becuase of his work with Temeraire to become the front man for an anti-slavery movement with the British empire. Lawrence is not happy about this and only reluctantly agrees, seeing that the way the slaves are treated is much as how dragons are treated in his own country.

Temeraire is immune to the disease, leading to the hope that the African contintent contains a cure. Lawrence lead an expedition to find a cure and save the British fleet before Napolean invades.

And that's just the first half of the story. The first half of the novel seems a bit slow until you get to the second half and Novik begins reap what she's sown in the first half of the story. The last half of this book flew by in one sitting as Lawrence and Temeraire are forced to make a series of choices based on their conscience, leading to a lot of jaw-dropping moments and a genuine series-changing decision in the final hundred or so page. The book also ends on a cliffhanger, which Novik says was just where the story told her to stop and wasn't an attempt to sell more of her next story. I believe her because the central conflict of this story is over and to rush the consequences of decisions made here would be to short-change readers and fans.

It does, however, make for one of the best cliffhangers to a book I've read in a long time.

After two novels that while good, weren't quite as great as His Majesty's Dragon, Empire of Ivory is a return to form for this series. ( )

Empire Ivory is the fourth book in the series and if you have not read the first three then I highly recommend you do before reading this book. The series continues on from one book to the other and is an alternate history of the Napoleonic war with Britain.

In this book we see the return of Temeraire and Laurance to England where they discover a deadly dragon flu has gripped the Arial corps. The only dragons left to defend England is Temeraire, the unpredictable ferals lead by Arkandy and the volatile Iskerinda. Temeraire is sent on a mission to Africa to find the cure which is more dangerous then previously imagined.

A fantastic read with good pacing of the action and story line. I enjoy Iskerinda and was a little disappointed that she did not get more "book time" in this one. However we got to be reunited with some old friends. I was fascinated to see the affects of slave trading and dragons being separated from their pilots being explored in this book.

My only criticism is that the middle of the book did seem to slow a bit and almost had an end type feel to it. However bare with the author she knows what she is doing and the story takes an amazing twist from there on in.

I can not wait for the next book. ( )

The fourth book in the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik. When last we left Laurence and Temeraire they were in Europe, now they’re headed home to England. But as soon as they arrive, they discover that almost all of the English dragons have come down with a horribly fatal disease. All of them except Temeraire. Now they must travel to Africa to search for a cure for the disease, before Napoleon takes advantage of their condition. Not only this but Temeraire’s desire for dragon equality and fair treatment rears its head again, and may end up costing them more than they could imagine. ( )

Novik Continues to add Meat to the Bones of this Alternate History Series with Dragons

Empire of Ivory, the fourth book in the Temeraire series, picks up shortly after Black Powder War and the fall of the Prussians to Napoleon with Temeraire, Captain Will Laurence and crew, and the feral dragons they picked up along the way returning to an England in dire straits: an unknown disease has stricken the entirity of England's Ariel Dragon Corps. The defense of England is left to Temeraire and his untrained feral groupies as they try to prevent France from learning of the sad condition of the Isles' defenses.

When it is determined that the disease originated in Africa and is similar to what ailed Temeraire as the round the Cape in Throne of Jade, Temeraire and Laurence are sent with a handful of ailing dragons to Africa to look for the cure that nursed Temeraire back to health.

What ensues is an adventure to the Dark Continent that really adds new dimensions to this alternate Earth where Dragons walk among men and not always as its equal or subordinate. Temeraire grows even more as a character and Captain Will Laurence faces his toughest test as an officer when he must face the horrific intentions of his superiors and the future of England and the World's Dragons.

This is another excellent installment in a fantastic and original series from Naomi Novik!

(One bone to pick with the publisher: once you have started a series in paperback, DO NO start releasing hardcovers after four books! With book five slated as a hardcover release, and my library now sporting four paperbacks in this series, I am NOT going to mix formats.) ( )

Novik has been dealing with race, culture and gender in all of these books with more or less success. I gritted my teeth through various parts of the second book and its literal "dragon lady" stereotype, but when I came to the noble, dignified black missionary and his wife, and the deepest, darkest Africa complete with evil tribesmen I had to stop reading. Novik may be trying to deal with the stereotypes as they existed at the time, but I just couldn't stomach it any more. ( )

I could say a lot about this book - especially about the way she dares to write a Victorian-style "adventure in darkest Africa" with open eyes - but I'm just going to stick with the image that stole my heart:

Seven dragons, curled up miserably together on the deck of a sailing ship running down the slave coast, and *independently deriving non-Euclidean geometry*. For the fun of it. ( )

I'll start out by saying that these are really fun books, especially if you're a fan of historical fantasy. Novik conveys the period and culture perfectly through her characters and dialog, and I find the dragons--especially Temeraire--absolutely charming, even if it seemed odd at first that they spoke aloud.
That said, the reason this and the previous volume (Black Powder War) didn't get a higher rating from me was because of a bit of a pacing issue in the middle of each where the story just didn't seem to be moving along. I kept going (though very tempted to skim), and things did eventually pick up again.
All in all, this series is a worthwhile read if you're looking for something fairly light but with nice character development. ( )

Personally I didn't like this one as much as the first three. Maybe the "uniqueness" has worn off. ( )

http://www.lonelymountain.net/books/o... ( )

The moments of glory for Will Laurence and his friends and associates have been coming at longer and longer intervals and this book continues the trend with a vengeance. By the end of this installment in her epic, Ms. Novik will have detonated some very big bombs that will apparently leave Captain Laurence impaled on the conflicting demands of duty, of integrity, and of humanity; how she resolves the tragedy of it all will be very interesting to see. It's also the case that this story is becoming more than a rerun of the Napoleonic wars with dragons, as her history really starts to go off the rails. ( )

Captain Lawrence and his dragon have returned to England after witnessing first hand what Napoleon can achieve with armies of disciplined dragons at his call. England’s need for dragons is great, as their own dragons have fallen ill to some mysterious disease...
http://icantstopreading.blogspot.com/... ( )