Summary: Laurence and his dragon Temeraire are still in China following the adventures of Throne of Jade when they receive an urgent message from the British Admirality: There are three dragon eggs that have been purchased from the Turkish Empire, and Laurence and his crew must retrieve them and bring them back to England. After an accident in port means they must make the journey to Istanbul over land, they must face the dangers of travel through the harsh deserts, only to meet with treachery at the Turkish court - because the Chinese dragon Lien has flown ahead of them. Lien blames Temeraire for her own master's death, and will do whatever it takes to bring him low... even allying herself with the French forces.

Review: A truth about myself that I learned long ago: I do not particularly enjoy reading about battles. Even if they're well-written, I just have a hard time visualizing large-scale battles, troop movements, maneuvers, etc., and so I typically just wind up skimming. This comes as somewhat of a hinderance, as epic fantasy and historical fiction (two of my favorite genres), both tend to feature big battles. And, as the Temeraire books are a hybrid of the two, it was really only a matter of time before we actually got to the battle parts of the Napoleonic war.

The first half, or even two thirds, of the book, is quite good - adventures in the desert, treachery, exotic locations, feral dragons, Temeraire being as charming as usual - all the good stuff. It's a little episodic and hence somewhat disjointed, but it moves along at a good clip and kept me interested. Unfortunately, the last part of the book is a lot more typical war stuff - troops moving here and there, supply issues, scouting and skirmishing and the dreaded big battles... and I'm sorry to say, I did find myself skimming. Totally a matter of personal preference, though; folks who enjoy battle scenes more than I do will probably find the land war an exciting addition. As for me, though, while it was still a fun read, I didn't like it quite as much as the previous two.

Recommendation: I still think the series as a whole is good for fantasy or historical fiction fans who are looking to branch out. While this volume hasn't been my favorite, I'm still looking forward to the rest of the series. ( )

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While still a very good read, you can definitely tell that this book takes place in the middle of a series.

In this third book of the Temeraire series, Laurence and his dragon are ordered from China to Istanbul, to collect three dragon eggs that are about to be hatched. I wasn’t as engrossed in the plot this time, but still very much enjoyed the characterisation. ( )

Laurence and Temeraire are ordered to Turkey to claim some dragon eggs which are promised to England. Becalmed, they decide to make the voyage overland, despite the dangers.
I liked this a little more than Throne of Jade - although I liked to see the characters experiencing new places, I was glad they were on their way home Tharkay I'm as confused about as Laurence, though I was happy to see Granby get a dragon, particularly such an awesome one.