A satisfying conclusion to an excellent series. 

A minor detail I love is Perscitia's continued efforts in politics! Dragons tend to be portrayed in th series as battle-hungry, and to see her pivot, and be accepted for it, is a great follow up from book 5.

Are you telling me that

Tharkay invited Laurence to live with him? Fruit.

Oh my god! Oh my god. Ohhhhh my god. 

What a book. I'm speechless! The poetry in itself is stellar, the story it tells - even more so. 

Another banger from the Temeraire series! I love the amnesia plot (because I am a fanfiction reader, derogatory), and I'm Russian and Ukrainian myself, so it was interesting to see my country included (I've been fascinated by the way dragons are kept in each nation, reflective of its history and culture, and this extremely fits).

Pumped for the final installment, years and years but still here!

After the (still good, and very deliberate) slog of Tongues of Serpents, this book picks up the pace again. We're reunited with Hammond (my blorbo...), and Temeraire et Crew are tasked with going to Brazil. What follows is another adventure during which Laurence must dismantle yet more biases. Fun!

I liked this one less than some of the previous books in the series, but it was still very fun (if by fun you were to mean palpably dismal, in a fun way). Nobody had a good time in this book, I don't think, and Novik crafted this sense of aimlessness masterfully - after all, Laurence is struggling with his sense of duty, his status as a traitor, and the circumstances of his imprisonment besides. 

This book destroyed me. I've had it on my TBR for a good ten years, recommended by an old high school acquaintance, and didn't get to it until now. And oh, man.

The pacing, the many buildups and payoffs, the plot that kept me guessing, all of it speaks to masterful writing. What a well-crafted book! 

I think this is one of my favourites in the series so far, next to the first book. Maybe it's the Temeraire pov, maybe it's the new cohort of dragons we get to meet (Perscitia I love you), maybe it's the Laurence Angst, but something about this book checked all the right boxes for me.

Laurence struggles with yet more moral dilemmas. The world keeps getting more and more fleshed out and I am HOOKED. I love the trope, if one can call it that, of the portrayal of a nation previously thought 'barbaric' as more sophisticated in some way (in this case, in the treatment of dragons) than England. 

These two need a win though, seriously.

I'm practically inhaling this series. With every book, the world feels yet more immersive, the characters - more fleshed out. 

I can't wait for the next one! 

I enjoyed this book a ton - though I do have some gripes with the pacing.

Make no mistake, I disagree with the reviews claiming the journey portion of the book was boring or unnecessary. I myself am in a D&D game right now where an in-game 6month journey is taking us two years of biweekly playing to finish. Things happen during travel; character development and growth chief among them. We would not, as the reader, hold the same affection for Laurence and Temeraire, had we not spent this time with them.

My issue was mainly with how quickly things got resolved at the end. I'm surprised the intrigue just... Stops abruptly. Still, a great follow up to the first book, and I'm excited to see where things go next!