Tongues of Serpents
A Novel of Temeraire
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4.3 • 136 Ratings
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
From the New York Times bestselling author of A Deadly Education comes the sixth volume of the Temeraire series, as Will Laurence and Temeraire are exiled to Australia in the ever expanding war between Napoleon and Britain.
“Temeraire and his fellow dragons are surely Novik’s finest accomplishment.”—BookPage
Convicted of treason despite their heroic defense against Napoleon’s invasion of England, Temeraire and Captain Will Laurence have been transported to a prison colony in distant Australia—and into a hornet’s nest of fresh complications. The colony is in turmoil after the overthrow of military governor William Bligh—aka Captain Bligh, late of HMS Bounty. And when Bligh tries to enlist them in his bid to regain office, the dragon and his captain are caught in the middle of a political power struggle. Their only chance to escape the fray is accepting a mission to blaze a route through the forbidding Blue Mountains and into the interior of Australia.
But the theft of a precious dragon egg turns their expedition into a desperate recovery operation—leading to a shocking discovery and a dangerous new complication in the global war between Britain and Napoleon.
Don’t miss any of Naomi Novik’s magical Temeraire series
HIS MAJESTY’S DRAGON • THRONE OF JADE • BLACK POWDER WAR • EMPIRE OF IVORY • VICTORY OF EAGLES • TONGUES OF SERPENTS • CRUCIBLE OF GOLD • BLOOD OF TYRANTS • LEAGUE OF DRAGONS
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The somber sixth installment (after 2008's Victory of Eagles) of the Napoleonic era adventures of Capt. Will Laurence and Chinese-British dragon Temeraire opens with the pair exiled to New South Wales for saving French dragons from a plague while England and France were at war. The government of the colony is hotly disputed, and both the deposed royal governor and the insurrectionists hope to ally with Laurence and his draconic companions. When a dragon egg is kidnapped, an expedition over the Blue Mountains turns into a frantic hunt for the culprits. Novik fans will be glad to see their old favorite characters growing and changing yet still very much themselves, but the lack of significant interaction with native Australian humans or dragons leaves a certain emptiness at the heart of the story, exacerbated by long stretches of travel through physical and emotional desolation.
Customer Reviews
Australian Mutinies plus DRAGONS.
Naomi Novik is able to continuously press historical events like the various mutinies in Australia together with dragons, and create amazing work after amazing work. I had commented to a friend a deep appreciation for how she’s handled the concepts of Napoleonic warfare, logistics, and strategy, and now see an accurate and reasonable portrayal of economics in the age of mercantilism, and it is incredible to witness.