Victory of Eagles (Temeraire) Mass Market Paperback – May 19, 2009

I came late to the Temeraire series, downloading the free - Her Majesty's Dragon a little over a week ago and reading the entire series as if one big book in the last 7 days.First the positive: I love most of the ideals of the series, freedom, respect, self determination, honor dignity, responsibility and loyalty regardless of race, creed, color or in this case species. I actually cried when Levitas looked up at his captain the heartless Rankin and said with his dying breath, "you came". I tear up thinking about that moment, as I write this review. I love the different perspective the series presents again and again, seeing issues from the "other side" forces me to think outside my own paradigms. I enjoy that rather than a stereotypic presentation of Napoleon, the author instead chooses to focus on his need to influence, strategic decision making and subtle stabs ie: knowing that by sparing Lord Allendale's home he pushes Laurence further away from the Lordship and military leaders of England. I enjoyed the introduction of Percitia who refused to fight and instead used her intellect despite the fear of being labeled a coward. I enjoyed the idea that the Dragons would finally recognize their right to free will.Now to what ultimately left me unfulfilled.1. As amazed as I am to say this, I'm getting tired, no bored of William Laurence. Laurence takes great pride in his honor and resulting self sacrifice, but again and again is willing to potentially put Temeraire in a position of a century(s) of misery only to serve his now ridiculous sense of honor (there is no honor or duty in genocide). First by returning to England after providing a cure to the Dragon Plague, and then again at the end of this book by accepting a life sentence of hard labor for both of them instead of offending his sense of honor and defending his right to freedom based on the promise provided during the invasion. While he obviously has good intent, but if he truly believed Dragons to be equal creatures then he should feel less guilty for preventing genocide. He should be more willing to argue his case, "honorable" or not. Strangely, if Laurence were to die the prime emotional kick in the gut would be how it would effect Temeraire, a bad sign. Laurence should be able to stand on his own as a character and if he's going to, he needs to stop being so dark, always.2. They are never happy. I'm finding that the lack of ebb and flow in their happiness is inoculating me when things go bad, things are always going bad. At some point Temeraire/Laurence need to be happy so when that happiness is disturbed it actually feels like a loss.3. Little incongruities in ideals mentioned above in the positives. The author goes to great lengths to present the idea that Percitia (who is slow, small and will not fight) still has great value to the war cause and dragons in general. Percitia comes up with a idea that likley saves the day, yet without much thought their pay scale is set on the size of each Dragon, reducing them again to livestock, and they agree?? The whole idea of having a smallish dragon attend the negotiations was to ensure equal payment/treatment, then they agree to a livestock weight/pay agreement?4. Lien/Temeraire - I don't mind that they don't meet in battle, I just wish the author would allow Temeraire to grow a little and be more strategic, not continually outwitted by Lien. Its the dragon version of the Laurence problem. If Lien is never (2 books), disappointed and always ahead, it's no surprise when she again outsmarts Temeraire and his group. Even in this book, the trap was fallen into not by Lien but by Napoleon. The repeated Lien escapes would be more rewarding if there was ever even the smallest sense of risk for her.5. This is my final criticism. I'm going to buy the next book and the first thing I'm going to do is turn to the back page. If Laurence or Temerarie are *again* in chains, arrested, injured and dying, or otherwise in dire straights it will be the last, of a series I love. There are far better ways to provide a bridge to the next book than to have every book end with some unresolved bad situation, that starts to feel like a comic book after awhile.So how did I give this book 4 stars?The author has an excellent ability to get you to understand the characters and their motivations. The stories are interesting and have enough history embedded so you almost feel compelled to review the historical subject matter after the fact.And most important, Temeraire is the kind of companion anyone would love to have by their side, whatever species.

In this volume, Novik expands our knowledge about almost everyone she has introduced so far in the series, both dragon and human. We also get to know many of Temeraire's dragon comrades and learn about their hierarchy. Tharkay and Roland return as well as Lady Allendale, Edith, General Wellesley and the war ministers. It's fascinating to see Britain from Scotland to the Channel as it might have been with dragons and a Napoleonic invasion. Even more fascinating (and humorous) is the uprising and development of a troop of dragon irregulars, led (of course) by Temeraire.

Just when I think the interpersonal relationships have been fully explored, the author finds new depths. The seriousness of the plot intermixed with just the right amount of humor is the perfect recipe for a great reading experience.

In Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik, Laurence and Teremaire pay a heavy irreversible price for saving the dragons.Laurence, disgraced and convicted of treason, awaits his execution. Teremaire, exiled to the breeding grounds, finds himself in worse circumstances than ever before.Bonaparte invades England. British leaders would be crazy not to use Teremaire to help them repel the invasion. Since they aren't crazy, Laurence and his dragon are enlisted in the war, but that doesn't mean things are looking up.Laurence is in dire circumstances, has lost the respect of his men, and faces death.Then there are the breeding grounds. If Teremaire thought things were bad in general, dragons in the breeding ground have a terrible life.Pretty much everyone is, to some degree, angry with Laurence. Even Jane, his ex-lover, barely speaks to him. Many of his men don't respect him.Napolean's character is larger than life, and Novik captures his commanding presence and his influence.Although he doesn't regret saving the sick dragons, Laurence's personal losses and heartaches travel with him throughout this book. Perhaps one of the most poignant moments is when they come to his father's estate, and it's untouched.It's both a relief and a burden for Napolean singles him out and commands that his family is not to be touched. More fuel for those who despise him.I wasn't sure how Novik would get our heroes out of the mess they created. She did two things that I thought were brilliant: first, she made the punishment fit the crime and didn't sugar coat anything, and second, she created a realistic and believable way for Laurance to sidestep execution.That said, the future doesn't look brilliant for Laurence and Teremaire. I was okay with this because the story unfolded realistically.

The friendship between the dragons and their captains, the relationships between the dragons, the Napoleonic naval and air battles….I am a fan. I love these stories with pure escapist joy.

After the distressing ending to the last book, this one opens with Temeraire and Laurence separated. But when Napoleon finally lands in England, our adventurous twosome are reunited - but is it only a temprary respite?I adore this series and just can't get enough of these books. Unlike some of the other reviewers here, I thought this was one of the best to date: it allows our two protagonists to develop separately, and melds character and exciting plot in a seamless way.Temeraire's politicisation and increasingly radical stance is wonderful, and I laughed out loud at some of his naive-but-true remarks. This was offset by the emotional depth of some of the scenes and I have to admit I cried when Temeraire finally realised that Laurence wasn't dead.Novik keeps all her plot strands clear and tight, and I liked the way our characters have changed as a result of circumstances - Laurence's crisis of conscience, for example, felt absolutely right to me.So I can't praise these books enough - highly recommended.

The earlier books in this series roughly follow historical events, albeit with dragons adding an extra dimension to the battles. There are some deviances from history, but they tend to be fairly minor. The blurb for this one, however, makes it clear that it deviates significantly from history, as Napoleon invades Britain.I wasn't sure that I would enjoy this one, since I liked the close matching of history, but  Empire of Ivory: Bk. 4 (Temeraire 4)  was left on a cliff-hanger, and I wanted to know what happened. I needn't have worried - the story is excellent, possibly the best in the series so far. It's exciting and well told, and the historical figures that appear (notably Arthur Wellesley, later Duke of Wellington) appear to be accurately portrayed.The story easily warranted at least four, and probably five stars. I've only given it three because of the lack of editing and proof-reading in the Kindle edition. I noted in my review of Empire of Ivory that the standard of editing and proof-reading was not up to par, but I think it may have been even worse in Victory of Eagles.Ms Novik's work deserves to be shown in a much better light than this. The errors that I found are listed here: [...] At least some of them are also present in the paperback edition. Empire of Ivory: Bk. 4 (Temeraire 4)

I really like both fantasy novels and historical ones, so this series seemed to be a perfect fit and I have not been disappointed. A simple premise (that dragons exist and always have done) set within the era of Napoleon and the age of exploration.I've been buying these on both Audible and Kindle so that I can continue the story wherever I am. Brilliant.

I enjoyed this quite a lot. It felt like the strands really came to a head after all the set up. Liked the tension and the conflict, felt meatier. I mean, Novik could always write. But here she spread her wings.

After reading many negative reviews of this book, I almost left the series before reading it. I'm glad I didn't. This book really is outstanding, all the characters are introduced or expanded upon brilliantly, and the book is filled with action as well as the more political aspects of the story. I'm interested to see if It can get any better in the next book - I'm going to to download it now!