Empire of Ivory

Temeraire, Book 4

De: Naomi Novik

Narrado por: Simon Vance

Tragedy has struck His Majesty’s Aerial Corps, whose magnificent fleet of fighting dragons and their human captains valiantly defend England’s shores against the encroaching armies of Napoleon Bonaparte. An epidemic of unknown origin and no known cure is decimating the noble dragons’ ranks - forcing the hopelessly stricken into quarantine. Now only Temeraire and a pack of newly recruited dragons remain uninfected - and stand as the only means of an airborne defense against France’s ever bolder sorties.

Bonaparte’s dragons are already harrowing Britain’s ships at sea. Only one recourse remains: Temeraire and his captain, Will Laurence, must take wing to Africa, whose shores may hold the cure to the mysterious and deadly contagion. On this mission there is no time to waste, and no telling what lies in store beyond the horizon or for those left behind to wait, hope, and hold the line.

Dragon tales: don't miss the rest of the Temeraire series.©2007 Naomi Novik (P)2007 Books on Tape

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Engrossing." (Publishers Weekly)

Unexpected turn of events in this book.

I enjoyed the story line very much. It was refreshing and uniquely interesting. I will get more books from this author.

Great Series

Enjoy the relationship between the humans and dragons as well as ethical issues which arise.

To Africa!

I hope the title was not a spoiler. This book is one of the best in the series. It sets up a chain of events that will glue you to your headset. Once again, Simon Vance delivers an amazing oratory performance, giving life to all the characters. I recommend this book.

Continues to deliver

I like where the story has brought us and I look forward to the next one.

Can't get enough!

This is the best series in a while . Two of my favorite genres combined!! Wow. I love the authors brilliant ability to place dragons in a place of history!!! Thank you!!!!

greatness even more than first book

love it. the sincere moral dilemmas, the adventures abroad, main characters everybody needs to have as a reminder in daily shady life.

The Philosophy

The book made me think about things not thought about in my daily life. I laughed and cried and wondered about climbing about on a dragon.

Slow start, then gets awesome

I have to say, I figured out what the McGuffin was really early, and then had to wait and wait for Laurence to figure it out, too. That was annoying.

But, once they got going, Africa is her best world yet, and their desperate search for said McGuffin is exciting, their plight afterwards is cool, the British Government thoroughly despicable and Laurence's patriotism and Christianity conflict in a way that is totally in line with his character, creating very real tension and no sense of "manufacture" that most series have by this point.

Vivid and well-paced

"It's a kind of consumption," Lord Lenton said tiredly, turning to the window.

“How widespread—?” Laurence asked.

“Everywhere,” Lenton said. “Dover, Portsmouth, Middlesbrough. The breeding grounds in Wales and Halifax; Gibraltar; everywhere the couriers went on their rounds; everywhere.” He turned away from the windows and took his chair again. “We were inexpressibly stupid; we thought it was only a cold, you see.”

Narrated superbly by Simon Vance. I've listened to the series. This book is among the best. It rocks, even despite the cliffhanger conclusion.

The story begins in England, 1807, then to Africa via the Gold Coast (slaving forts or "castles") to the Cape, then back home.

Perfectly paced, with action scenes nicely spaced by restful times (not quite enough happy bonding times). Some surprising twists in both plot and characterization. (Pastor Erasmus and his wife, Hannah, especially.) I felt the characters more deeply -- their inner turmoil as they made tough decisions, mourned losses, faced death, etc. I found the plot quite absorbing, partly because Novik offers such a wonderful picture of how slavery might have been abolished, in Africa.

Plot threads:

Dragons are dying of some sort of deadly flu, so Temeraires and others journey to Africa for the cure -- stinky mushrooms. Big ones. They wind up in Capetown. From there, into the interior, to Tswana territory, Botswana, home of Moshueshue, prince of the Tswana tribe and leader of the Tswana-Sotho alliance of sub-Saharan African tribes. (Somehow, I think he is Shaka Zulu. Or related to him.)

Across the chapters, some characters die, some new characters sign up, alliances formed and broken, a special "egg" conceived. Towards the end of the book, Laurence and Tem are forced to make a tough decision.

Back home in England, Wilberforce and Allendale strive to prohibit slavery, despite Lord Nelson.

On the continent, Napoleon continues to attack, planning to invade England.

Oh, and in Dover, Arkady and the new band of feral dragons settle in. Somewhat.

Temeraires still wants a nice pavilion, just as he saw in Peking.

Cliff: What will become of Laurence and Temeraire? What will come of the two African boys, Demane and his little brother Sipho?

I read that a movie may be in the making. Peter Jackson?

As expected, extraordinary

Nothing less than I expected from the continuation of Tamaraire and Lawrence's story. Another captivating and compelling reading with a stellar performance by Vance.