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Empire of Ivory (Temeraire series book 4): 4 | 
 enlarge | Author: Naomi Novik
Publisher: Del Rey Books
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
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Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 259172
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 416
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 0345496876
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780345496874
ASIN: 0345496876
Publication Date: October 1, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
Temeraire: Empire of Ivory April 29, 2008
David Brookes (Sheffield, UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"Temeraire: Empire of Ivory"
It's wonderful to see that even after three novels the author is still on form as the series progresses. This fourth book shows us a little more of the world that Novik has created, including the depths of the dark continent of Africa and their practices concerning dragons, as well as a glimpse of other areas of England and Scotland. The writing is concise and beautiful, bordering at times on poetry, and the dialogue is some of the best I've ever read.
Novik has managed to keep the story ongoing and compelling without merely writing "the adventures of...", ensuring that each novel expands upon the continuity without simply throwing in new situations or characters. The characters themselves here are wonderfully written, and although there has been less of the interaction between the dragon Temeraire and his captain Laurence during the last few instalments, we see a reinstatement of their close blond and the promise of further development.
With a great storyline and a killer ending, this is definitely worth picking up if you've read the first three novels.
8.5/10
Almost as good as the first one February 18, 2008
L. Hogan (Ireland)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Novik is back on form with the fourth book in the Temeraire series. The pace is great at the beginning and end of the book but lags a bit in the middle. The cliffhanger ending left me frustrated, mostly because I'm impatient and want to know what happens next.
This is a great series of books. The period detail is fantastic and I love the fact that the characters interact with real historical figures such as Nelson and Napolean. The manners and way of speaking seem very authentic to me. If you've read any Austen or Hardy you will be familiar with the strict etiquette and precise language of the time.
I recently started a friend on these books who is a great fan of the Patrick o Brien books (Master and Commander etc.), which are set in the same era and he loved them so its not just a book for fantasy fans!
Into the heart of matters January 4, 2008
Patrick Mullane (Cork, Ireland)
Firstly this novel is a positive continuation of the Temeraire series. The action continues nearly immediately from the end of the book 3 and after this initial adrenalin rush, it moves into a more sedate pace to Regency politics before the main journey to the Cape colony begins. The author develops some new characters, Lord Nelson and Mrs. Erasmus whilst of course the dragons are as engaging as always. Also the alternative history has really started to deviate from ours with very interesting twists.
However, Mrs. Novik seems unable to resist the urge to write cliff-hanger endings. As well, she seems to be trying to mould the character of Capt. Laurence from an 18th century sea/dragon-farer to a more post-modern ethical character, which I might question. But in summary, I am counting down to the release of the next book of dragon adventures.
Not His Majesty's Dragon... but still a forced to be reckoned with December 28, 2007
Ms. M. Guillemot (London)
In terms of writing, I would rank it either on the same level or slightly below Black Powder War. Better than Throne of Jade but nowhere near Temeraire. It does feel rushed, then first part was mostly me yelling at the characters for being so thick and there was a lot of repetition. Out of a four hundred page book, it took them more than 100 pages for them to actually get the Africa, meaning that a sea voyage of several months had to be cut to barley 15 pages. In comparison it's better than the hundreds of pages dwelling on that in Throne of Jade, but I do think it should have been longer, dwelling more on Harcourt and Riley's relationship, and the tension between Lawrence and Riley, and perhaps developing Erasmus' character a bit more.
The Africa chapters were pretty good on the other hand, the search for the mushroom was well done, giving a sense of tension without taking so long as to get dull. I liked that finding the mushroom wasn't even half the struggle, that they still needed to find more, and how the cave full of mushrooms was turned into a plot point. I thought some of the confrontations were a bit rushed, but the ideas in that blew the book straight out of the doldrums. They was incredible. I loved how the dragons had been incorperated so seamlessly into African culture, and the little fragment at the back of the book was wonderful. Equally, the mention that the Inca empire is still alive and well due to the dragons has me squeeing.
Once again, I deeply admire how Novik makes every character that Lawrence and Temeraire come into conflict with so believably sympathetic. I am a bit annoyed that al the characters she kills are those that won't be missed. However, she does at least kill them realistically and it's always a shock.
And once again, I love how Novik deals with the problems of a Nepoleonic setting, the institutionalised rascism and sexism, by making them part of the plot. The inclusion of the Abolitionalists in this book not only enrich the setting, but also provide a nice comparison with Dragon Rights that were rather neglected in BPW.
Oh Lawrence, Lawrence, you brave, honourable idiot. Like Temeraire, I want to hug you and kick you in equal amounts. *hugs*
All in all, a fairly good book, getting better and better as you go along. The first part is mediocer, the second part is good but with some drawbacks, and the third is just plain fantastic. It's not mistake that the third is also the shortest. Novik needs to learn not to pad her writing too much.
 Close to Perfection December 6, 2007
C. Green (Faringdon, Oxon, UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Empire of Ivory is fourth book in Naomi Novik's series of novels set in an alternative world where dragons not only exist but are intelligent creatures that live, to varying degrees, in anything from relative harmony to equality with mankind. As with the books that precede it, Empire of Ivory once again follows the continuing adventures of `Celestial' Dragon Temeraire and his Captain, Lawrence, of the British Royal Flying Corp during the Napoleonic Wars.
Picking up where the duo's last adventure, `Black Powder Wars' ended (indeed chapter one of the new book is a repeat of the final chapter of `Wars'), Ivory finds the British Flying Corps decimated by a mysterious disease that threatens to kill every dragon. Leaving only a few `feral' dragons, recruited to the cause during the adventures of the previous book, to defend the skies above Britain Temeraire, Lawrence and a small group of friends are dispatched to Africa in search of a cure for the disease before time runs out.
So having previously covered China, central Asia, Turkey and both Western and Eastern Europe, Novik now turns her attention to the Dark Continent. In doing so she not only expands the alternative reality she has created geographically, but she also allows it to evolve in new and extremely interesting ways.
One of the criticisms leveled by reviews of the previous Temeraire novels had been that despite the presence of enormous dragons the historical record of the world they inhabited differed very little from our own. European history at least seemed to pretty much follow a recognised path, with the outcome of battles such as Trafalgar and other `real' events unaltered by contribution of the dragons. Even the development of wider society seemed to be pretty much unaffected by the presence of the huge creatures, with Georgian England and Napoleonic France very much as they were in our own reality.
With Black Powder War Naomi Novik had begun to address such issues. The China she portrayed, whilst recognizable, was considerably altered by the enlightened attitude of the Chinese towards Dragons. Furthermore she allowed events of her fictional Napoleonic War to begin to diverge from those of our own, and hinted at other differences stemming from the use of dragons such as the survival of the Incas in South America (a topic for a future adventure one would hope).
With Empire of Ivory she takes these sorts of ideas and runs with them properly for the first time, allowing the world of her imagination to differ in even greater ways from our own. The Africa she creates during the middle section of the book, whilst having some similarities to the real world that provide useful and familiar points of reference, is primarily a place of pure invention. It's also a richly detailed place; one that is both stunning and surprising and affords the opportunity for Temeraire, Lawrence and a number of other by now familiar characters to experience their most exciting and dangerous adventure yet. If readers thought the previous books were filled with scenes of wonder and action then they have experienced nothing until they have read Empire of Ivory. It takes the series to a whole new level.
Of course a book is the sum of its parts and one superb section, even one that takes up almost half its length, does not necessarily result in a classic novel. In the past Naomi Novik has been criticised by some (although not I) for including some lengthy and less than exciting passages in the Temeraire series amongst all the high adventure; I'm thinking specifically of the long sea journey to China in Throne of Jade. In Empire of Ivory however, such criticism would be undeserved as she bookends the central African adventure with two equally excellent passages. Whilst not as incident packed as the middle section, these are as equally enjoyable for other reasons. Opening the book back in Britain, she gives readers further insight into her version of Georgian England and adds further depth to existing characters. She also introduces `real' characters such as Admiral Nelson (his having survived Trafalgar in this world) and slave abolitionist William Wilberforce, whilst taking the opportunity to develop a number of interesting themes and future subplots.
One of these comes quickly to fruition in the closing chapters of the book, which is the equal of everything that precedes it. Just the story seems to be coming to a gentle conclusion, the author throws in a turn of events that is totally unexpected, surprising and yet wholly logical. This leads to a fantastic cliff hanger that leaves the reader wanting more without being dissatisfied with the unresolved ending; a balancing act that is difficult to pull off.
All this, combined with the sort of intelligent, detailed characterization of everyone encountered, major or minor, human or dragon, that readers have come to expect, the usual well written action, a flare for atmosphere and strong sense of place make Empire of Ivory a vast improvement on the previous books where none was really necessary. If there was any justice it should also serve to earn the Temeraire series the classic status that it now quite definitely deserves.
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