Throne of Jade

Temeraire, Book 2

By: Naomi Novik

Narrated by: Simon Vance

When Britain intercepted a French ship and its precious cargo, an unhatched dragon's egg, Captain Will Laurence of HMS Reliant unexpectedly became master and commander of the noble dragon he named Temeraire. As new recruits in Britain's Aerial Corps, man and dragon soon proved their mettle in daring combat against Bonaparte's invading forces.

Now China has discovered that its rare gift, intended for Napoleon, has fallen into British hands, and an angry Chinese delegation vows to reclaim the remarkable beast. But Laurence refuses to cooperate. Facing the gallows for his defiance, Laurence has no choice but to accompany Temeraire back to the Far East, a long voyage fraught with peril, intrigue, and the untold terrors of the deep. Yet once the pair reaches the court of the Chinese emperor, even more shocking discoveries and darker dangers await.

Dragon tales: don't miss the rest of the Temeraire series, including Book 1: His Majesty's Dragon and Book 3: Black Powder War.©2006 Naomi Novik (P)2007 Random House Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House Inc.

Critic reviews

• Locus Award, 2007

"Throne of Jade is a solid second entry in what is shaping up to be an intriguing series." (Bookmarks Magazine)

Entertaining Story

Again I enjoyed this author and the story she wrote. I enjoyed it enough to listen to book 1 & 2 of the series. I do not believe I will continue to follow the remainder of the series though.

This is a great 2nd book

If you could sum up Throne of Jade in three words, what would they be?

Dragons, War, History

Who was your favorite character and why?

Temeraire, he's fun and entertaining

Have you listened to any of Simon Vance’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

yes, he's one of my favorite narrators and this was a knockout performance

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes, but life and work got in the way. It's a good thing I have to drive a lot for work

Slightly tedious but necessary

His Majesty's Dragon was delightful, and Black Powder War (the next book) is great. This one is a bridge. The long sea journey is dull and forced, and I could not keep all the Chinese characters straight at all. But Temeraire and Lawrence do some very important growing-up and the book is certainly not BAD, just not quite as good as the other two. Just be patient and you will be thoroughly rewarded by the next books in the series.

fantastic story

love a good dragon story, love them more when the dragons are intelligent, even more so when they can talk. The way the english and French use them militarily, and the Chinese in the way they pamper them...

Great story

I love this story but they need to re-record this. Some times the narrator uses the wrong accent for characters and it’s a huge mistake to have missed.

Great book. Slightly dragged out, but was needed.

Slightly dragged out compared to first book. But was much needed as the two of them needed this time to understand one another better. Overall was a great book, can’t wait to see what happens in the third.

fast forward part 2

Loved the book, just thought I'd point out an issue with the recording. Part 2 of the download for me started about 40 minutes from the end of the book! by trial and error I discovered that the part 'begins' about 1 hour and 9 minutes after hitting play. So, if you have no idea what's going on when you start part 2, fast forward and give it another try as this is an excellent series.

Exceptional plot and performance

Insightful depiction of two cultures and the path to change. Valid perspectives in any time line .

Good for a sequel

It wasn't as good as the first book, but it was very interesting and entertaining.

Fearful that they won't make it back.

This book isn't as action packed as the first one, but there's still plenty of action in it. The story focus more on Temeraire and Lorance's loyalty towards each other. There's a lot of suspense that makes one wonder if they will come back home.