A.J. Maguire

Tag: Naomi Novik

  • Book Review – Uprooted by Naomi Novik

    Our family has been a fan of Ms. Novik since the dragon Temeraire chose William Laurence as his Captain, so I’m not sure why it took so long for me to start Uprooted. I will make a brief note that this book has a small section that is not terribly appropriate for younger readers, so reading this was a private affair instead of a shared experience.

    That’s just fine by me. I read faster on my own.

    I will say that I deeply enjoyed this novel. It is the first book that made me frustrated with my Kindle when the battery alarm dinged at me. And I suppose that’s one of the better arguments for physical books instead of the digital format, but I could also pick up right where I left off on my phone, so I did have a backup.

    Agnieszka and the Dragon were great fun to watch as they prickled at each other, and the threat of the Wood was terrifying. I don’t do spoilers, you’ll have to read the novel yourself, but the magic system and the political boundaries were all very well done without imposing a ton of information on the reader. I will say that there is a lot within this novel that is left unexplored and I would love to see more novels in future. (I don’t think the author is planning to do that presently, but insofar as my mind goes, she always has that option.)

    All in all, I closed the book satisfied and rate it 5 of 5 – with that warning again that younger readers likely shouldn’t thumb through it.

  • Book Review – Black Powder War by Naomi Novik

    Our family started the Temeraire series on the road trip to New England and we were excited to see where the story went in this third book. Laurence and Temeraire are now staples in our household, to the point that we’ve taken to nicknaming our cats after the dragons.

    (Nicknames only, because to me they will always be Pest – for constantly sitting on the back of my chair while I’m typing – and Nuisance – for his equally disruptive behavior while I am writing with pen and paper.)

    It is particularly delightful to see my ten-year-old son getting involved in the narrative. He enjoys Temeraire’s confusion with humanity, and more important to this novel, his conversations with Lawrence regarding the treatment of dragons in human society.

    There wasn’t as much battle in this one, but the tension is still there. Without spoiling the novel, there was a lot of flying to be done and intrigues that had to be averted as the greater war against Napoleon took a huge step forward.

    We’ve already snagged the fourth book and will be starting it soon. If you’re a family that enjoys reading, and particularly reading together, then this is a series I highly recommend. The narrative is beautiful and the characters are memorable.

    Plus, dragons.