‘Victory of Eagles’ – Naomi Novik (Del Rey)

Ever since I picked up a copy of ‘His Majesty’s Dragon’ (pretty much on a whim, the best way to pick up books sometimes) I’ve been a big fan of Naomi Novik’s ‘Temeraire’ series and get all excited whenever it starts to get close to a new book being published.
However, upon finishing ‘Empire of Ivory’ I was a little concerned that there was the danger of things getting a little stale. I felt the storyline was becoming formulaic and, as such, you could tell what was going to happen next. The cliff-hanger (at the end of ‘Empire of Ivory’) was enough, however, to persuade me to keep on with the tale and I have to say that I’m glad that I did. It’s not without it’s faults but, for me, ‘Victory of Eagles’ was a real departure from what I had come to expect from this series and I’m eagerly awaiting whatever comes next…

At the end of ‘Empire of Ivory’, Captain William Laurence was jailed for treason and Temeraire sent into captivity in the breeding grounds of Wales. However, Napoleon’s long planned invasion of England finally takes place and fate conspires to set the two friends on their way towards a reunion and a chance to take the fight back to the French. Napoleon’s tactics mean that the British army (and the Dragon Corps) must adopt an entirely new approach to warfare if they are to keep the Royal Family out of French clutches and regain control of England…

‘Victory of Eagles’ is a tale of occupation and guerrilla warfare which means that Novik is unable to pursue the usual course of taking Temeraire and Laurence to a ‘country of the day’ and have them introduced to a new breed of dragon. What the reader gets instead is quite a dark tale where desperate times call for desperate measures and everyone has to question their conscience and honour. As such; ‘Victory of Eagles’ becomes a character study of various people (mostly Laurence and Temeraire) through their reactions and deeds which throws up some interesting points… Temeraire uses the outbreak of war to advance his own plans for the equal recognition of dragons in English society. He has some success but his naivety becomes apparent in the cost that Laurence has to bear. This makes for some really touching scenes where Temeraire realises that he has hurt Laurence but doesn’t know how he did it or what he can do to make things right again.
Laurence, on the other hand, must make decisions knowing that he is already damned as a traitor but still wants to do his duty for his country. The book really hammers home the fact that Laurence is vilified by everyone and it is a credit to Novik how she uses this to make Laurence and Temeraire’s friendship stronger than ever.
The supporting cast get their fair share of page time as well with my favourites being Laurence’s former second in command Granby and his dragon Iskierka.
Iskierka really got on my nerves with her constant disregard for orders but this did make for some entertaining passages…

‘Victory of Eagles’ isn’t just about its characters though. There are plenty of exciting plot elements that will keep fans (like me!) entertained ranging from pitched aerial combat to daring covert rescue missions. The climatic battle is worth the admission price as far as I’m concerned with the Chinese dragon Lien showing another use for the awesome power of the Celestial dragon…

That’s not to say everything is all rosy in the garden though. It’s not really spoiling anything to say that Laurence and Temeraire are reunited so I’ll have a bit of a moan about how this happens. In a nutshell I thought this happened far too early on in the book when there was plenty of scope for this to be stretched to incorporate situations that would ramp up the tension and make for an even more exciting read. Instead it felt like everyone knew a reunion was going to happen so it was dealt with as quickly as possible.
I’m not going to spoil the ending for anyone who hasn’t read it but the nature of it has me a little concerned that things are about to go back to the regular formula… I hope not and, to be fair, there’s every chance that this won’t be the case. We’ll have to wait and see…

‘Victory of Eagles’ should be a welcome arrival for fans of the series, it certainly was for me. I’m now settling down to wait for Book Six…

Eight and Three Quarters out of Ten

Click Here for my review of 'Empire of Ivory'.

Leviathan Rising - Jonathan Green (Abaddon Books)

Lets set the scene... I´ve gone on holiday but have somehow managed to bring the British weather along with me (how do I keep managing to do this?) What I´m after is a book that will keep me entertained while the weather is bad but that I can put down the second the sun comes out. It´s a good job then that I bought Abaddon´s latest Pax Britannia adventure along with me!
Ulysses Quicksilver is back and ready to do his duty for Queen and Country; this time it`s on board the Neptune, a luxury submarine that boasts an eighty day trip round the world... in style! The voyage is only a few days old though when disaster strikes and renders Ulysses´ mission pointless. A brutal murder is followed by an act of sabotage that sends the Neptune crashing to the bottom of the sea. Not only must Ulysses, and the other passengers, make their escape but they must also deal with what`s waiting for them outside...
´Leviathan Rising´is the ideal book for that rainy day in the hotel or if you´re stuck on the runway waiting to take off. There´s so much happening on every page along with a mystery that kept me gussing pretty much until the end. Everything is larger than life and that very much includes the monsters! The heroes are dashing, the villains are evil and everything else is pretty much as you would expect from either a nineteenth century penny dreadful or an Abaddon Book. It´s entertaining and good fun, a marvelous piece of escapism into a world that could almost be our own (if it wasnºt for the dinosaurs and a 160 year old Queen Elizabeth!)
Here´s the thing though, if you´re looking for something a bit more deep and meaningful then you may want to pick another book! This is fun for fun´s sake and nothing else. I lost count of all the ´pop culture´references, including Jaws and Doctor Who amongst others, and this may irritate those who are after something more original. ´Leviathan Rising´is also your stereotypical ´murder mystery whodunnit´ and if you´re a fan of these then you will guess the ending straight away... The whole point of these books though is that they´re not meant to be original, just good ´leave your brains at the door´fun. I loved ´Leviathan Rising´but you may want to bear this in mind before you pick it up yourself...

Eight out of Ten

‘Empire of Ivory’ – Naomi Novik (Del Rey Books)

I’m not really a fan of the ‘alternate history’ genre. I find it really hard to get interested in things like ‘what would have happened if the American Indians had been armed with machine guns’ or ‘what if Hitler had tried to invade Australia’, it just reminds me of a really dull history lesson. So a book that asks how aerial warfare would have influenced the outcome of the Napoleonic War didn’t get my heart racing, until I found out that dragons were involved. That was a year ago and Naomi Novik’s books have now reached ‘must have’ status for me. Novik had already written the first three ‘Temeraire’ books so they were all published within a short space of time, ‘Empire of Ivory’ is the first book that fans have had to wait any length of time for and I for one was eager to get reading as soon as I got my little hands on it! Which reminds me; thanks go to Aidan for popping a copy in the post. I owe you one!
‘Empire of Ivory’ picks up the action just as Captain William Laurence and Temeraire return to England following the events of ‘Black Powder War’. Laurence is informed that the dragon population, in England is being decimated by illness and the race is on to find a cure while at the same time holding back ever bolder sorties from Napoleon’s forces. A possible cure may be found in Africa but will Laurence and Temeraire survive the trip? And if they do, what will be waiting for them when they return?
‘Empire of Ivory’ is a welcome addition to the series but every now and then I got the feeling that Novik was coasting with this one and not really trying to do anything new. Okay, if the formula works then why change it but we’re now four books into a six book series and it would have been nice to see her take some risks in terms of plot structure. What we get is basically the same plot as the other books; ‘Laurence/Temeraire’ journey to a foreign country and we get to see how dragons live there’. To be fair, Novik ends the book on a real cliff-hanger (which I think is the real reason we don’t get a teaser of the next book) but for me this came far too late to redeem the rest of the book. Having said all that though, an argument could be made that by repeating the formula Novik is gradually building an impressive picture of a world full of different customs where dragons are concerned. If this is what she is doing then I for one would say it’s a success.
I don’t know about anyone else but the main reason I read these books is for the evolving relationship between Laurence and Temeraire. I’ve been there ever since Temeraire’s egg hatched and have seen their partnership evolve with a sensitivity and poignancy that I don’t think I’ve ever seen in any other ‘dragon’ book. There is a great deal of love between them and to see that grow gradually has been a real defining feature of the series so far. Laurence teaches Temeraire a lot about society but the dragon’s constant questioning of what he sees is starting to teach Laurence to do the same thing. I think Novik handles this well; she avoids the trap of projecting her opinions onto her characters but raises important questions at the same time.
Supporting characters don’t get the same kind of focus as Laurence/Temeraire but they’re not just cardboard cut-outs either, I’d say Novik treats them appropriately as the story demands. I’m also in awe of the research Novik has obviously done and the knowledge she displays about the Napoleonic era. If you took the dragons out of the picture you’d be left with a perfectly good historical novel. I’m glad Novik included dragons though!
Despite my own perceived shortcomings of the novel, ‘Empire of Ivory’ is a very good addition to the series as it stands. I’m hoping the cliff-hanger ending will mean a change in approach for the next book as this could really take the series onto another level.

Eight out of Ten

‘El Sombra’ – Al Ewing (Abaddon Books)

I’ve had a few books from Abaddon and my favourite so far has to be ‘Unnatural History’, the first in the ‘Pax Brittania’ series. I really enjoyed the darker take on Colonial Britain so was very pleased when ‘El Sombra’ popped through the letterbox (more of the same, hopefully)…
‘Magna Brittania’ is still the ultimate world power but Germany’s ‘Ultimate Reich’ is snapping at it’s heels and has it’s own designs on world domination. Nazi robots are far inferior to the British kind so the sleepy Mexican village of Pasito is overrun, by the steam driven wings of the Luftwaffe, and it’s inhabitants used as test subjects in a vile experiment. Not everyone is captured though… Out of agony and the darkest humiliation is born a hero who will take the fight back to the Nazis with a flashing sword and a laugh in the night, El Sombra!
Did you like the first Zorro film (the one with Antonio Banderas)? I’ll bet you watched the second one and thought, “not as good as the first one…” Read ‘El Sombra’ and have your faith restored in simple tales of swashbuckling heroism. We know how the story’s going to end but that’s not the point, it’s the journey that’s important and it’s a journey filled with brash heroes, evil villains and sultry women. Oh yes, and lots of sword fights! The action doesn’t let up for a minute and you could see this either being made into a movie or (in true ‘pulp’ style) becoming one of those Saturday serials like Flash Gordon or (funnily enough) Zorro. I liked the ‘pop culture’ reference to Marvel comics and the introduction of Hitler himself hints that there will be more ‘El Sombra’ stories to follow. I hope so anyway.
I would have liked to have seen some dates mentioned so I could see how it matched up with the tale of Ulysses Quicksilver. I also found it odd that the supporting cast of Nazi soldiers had more attention paid to their background stories than El Sombra did (how did he spend all that time in the desert?) The ‘enigmatic hero’ thing was handled well but didn’t quite feel right when compared to a detailed biography of every single faceless soldier.
On the whole though, ‘El Sombra’ was an entertaining read that kept my interest the whole time. It’s a definite ‘holiday read’ and while it won’t make you think weighty thoughts it will make you think “he took out six soldiers at once!?!” and “serves you right, you evil Nazi…”

Eight out of Ten

‘Unnatural History’ – Jonathan Green (Review and Give-away!)

The year is 1997 but all isn’t as you would expect. In two months time, the Great British Empire (on Earth, the Moon and Mars) will be celebrating 160 glorious years of Queen Victoria’s reign, a life support machine powered by quantum clockwork is a wonderful thing! All is not well in the Empire however. The death of a night watchman (in the Natural History Museum) may not seem like much in the scheme of things but when a train crash unleashes the dinosaurs of London Zoo it becomes clear that the events are connected and that foul play is at hand. Enter Ulysses Quicksilver; ladies man, patron of the arts and gentleman adventurer. Ulysses is employed by the government to investigate the case of the murdered watchman and is soon in a race against time to stop anarchists unleashing chaos on the streets of London. Or is he? It soon becomes apparent that the fate of the British Empire is at stake….
Take a little bit of Sherlock Holmes, sprinkle with a dash of James Bond (adding some Indiana Jones for spice) and you have Abaddon Book’s foray into the genre of alternate history, the good news is that there are two more sequels planned. This is an unashamed romp through a dark and brooding London populated with every pulp cliché you can think of. Dashing secret agents, evil anarchists, devious professors and beautiful women; they can all be found doing what they do best in an entertaining read that I think anyone will enjoy. References to historical figures (and cameo appearances) also lend the book an authentic, yet intentionally surreal, air.
The action and the intrigue never stop and the reader is swept along to a gripping conclusion that is slightly undone by the overindulgence of cliché. Things are signposted a little too clearly and the reader may work out what’s going on too early. For me though, the fun was definitely in the journey and not the destination, the future of the Empire is safe in the hands of Ulysses Quicksilver and I’m looking forward to seeing what evil schemes are thrown at him next…

Eight and a Half out of Ten


Who wants a copy of ‘Unnatural History’?

I reckon you do and I happen to have two copies to give away (thanks to Abaddon Books). Getting hold of one could not be easier. Email me at graemesfantasybookreview@(no-spam)yahoo.co.uk (remove the ‘no-spam’ bit) and tell me who you are, where you’re from and if you frequent any particular forums. I’ll let you know who won next Tuesday…
Good luck!

'The Execution Channel' - Ken Macleod

Thanks to George Walkley (Orbit Books) for sending me this book.
The world of (not too long after) tomorrow lurches from one crisis to another. War is rife in the Middle and Far East as the oil supplies run dry. America is covered with refugee camps as it suffers multiple climate-change disasters. Conspiracy theories abound, most of which are spread by government agencies of misinformation, and killings from around the world are broadcast twenty-four hours a day on the ‘Execution Channel’.
Roisin Travis is a protestor at a US Airbase in Scotland; she receives a coded message from her brother (serving in Afghanistan) to leave the area immediately. Minutes later, a mysterious object, on the airbase, detonates with the force of an atomic bomb. Her father, James Travis, has troubles of his own. His cover (as an agent working for the French Secret Service) has been blown; he also sees the coded message and makes for Scotland and Roisin. Events reach their conclusion as both Roisin and James Travis fight to stay free of various agencies trying to track them down for the information they carry. No one can be trusted and the price of failure is a guest slot on the Execution Channel…
There are speculative elements in this book but at heart it’s a good old-fashioned political thriller. I don’t read these very often (and have never read anything by Ken Macleod who’s more well known for his science fiction works) so was interested to see what it was like. On the whole this was an entertaining book to read and Macleod certainly ticked all the right boxes with regards making this a book that I wanted to finish. Macleod treats all his characters equally in that each one of them is as well rounded as the next. This effectively means that there are no supporting characters, each of them has something valid and important to add to the plot. The plot itself is also (for the most part) handled well in a book that is only 306 pages long. The scene is set and the plot progresses to its conclusion in a well-ordered fashion with no unnecessary meandering along the way.
However, for me, the shortness of the book is also its greatest downfall. Macleod packs a lot of information into a short space and sometimes this means that plot points which need expanding (in order to make sense in the context of the book) are cut short. Oblique references to Heim theory don’t really connect to the rest of the story and this robs the climax of some of its power. Perhaps Macleod’s attempts to play off conspiracy theories against each other merely result in the story itself being swamped.
A good premise that maybe needed another hundred pages to make a great book.

Five out of Ten