Temeraire Discussion starter 1) The story

RichardAbbott

Did you like the story? Its pace? Length? Plot twists? Writing style?

NeilNjae

I was reminded of the advice given to new authors on how to start a story: write the story as you would want to do it, then go back and remove the first chapter or two. Those are often the equivalent to throat-clearing and preparation for the actual story to be told.

I felt that this book was equivalent to the first chapters of throat-clearing. We could have started the saga of Temeraire and Laurence with them already in the RAC after some service, with the "origin story" of how this came about handled with some little exposition and flashbacks. I'm reminded of how the first Hornblower book written was The Happy Return, with Hornblower an already experienced captain; how that came to be was filled out in later-written books.

Despite that, the book itself was a fun read. Novik writes well and the book is a fun romp. The plot was somewhat formulaic, but it hit the major points well. We get some characters set up for return in later books, with some allies and some powerful enemies made.

RichardAbbott

I hadn't come across that before but it's nice advice. Good point about the chronologically first Hornblower book.

Apocryphal

Yeah, at the 2/3 mark I was speculating that the napoleonic dragon battle had better show up quickly. When it did I was a bit surprised how soon it was over, and the lack of detail. I concluded the author wasn’t really all that interested in the battle parts. But during the time I was expecting this to be napoleonic military fiction, I also kept thinking this felt like the preamble. Now I’m not so sure. Now I suspect this was really the story she wanted to tell all along.

clash_bowley

Having read far into the series when they were released, I can confirm Apocryphal's insight. Novik is a great fan of both the Maturin-Aubrey naval series, and the Jane Austen books.