That and This

[selenak]

Be away for a week and there's tons of mail. On the bright side of things, there are also tons of new books to read and movies to watch. Among these was Venus, about which rozk wrote a magnificent review a while ago to which I can't add anything. Other than, you know, do what I did when you've missed it on the big screen or your country, like mine, hasn't shown it there - go watch the DVD!

Also, between tube and air plane and Munich underground I read Throne of Jade and Black Powder War (after having read Temeraire last year) by naominovik, and it continues to be a superb series. I especially appreciate that it manages to be that rarity, an Age of Sails novel without any bashing of the French. The whole dragons' rights subplot just fits the age as well, and I appreciated touches like Temeraire being called a Jacobin by one of Laurence's superiors and the obvious mirroring of the Wilberforce & abolitionist debates when Laurence points out to Temeraire that due to the Napoleonic threat, it would be selfish to demand dragon rights now. (This was, of course, the argument by which the outlawing of slavery was delayed.) With Lien, we get our first dragon villain, and so far she's impressive and given understandable motivations. Napoleon's cameo in Black Powder War was tantalizing, with a relationship hinted at between him and Lien that mirrors the one between Laurence and Temeraire.

Lastly, a Doctor Who story of the wonderfully creepy kind: Man in the Blue Box. Read it and shiver.

Comments

[nolivingman.livejournal.com]

I love Lien, because yes she's ostensibly a villain, but I think the book makes it clear that she's not evil; she's just had a terrible thing happen to her and she's chosen a different side than Temeraire/Laurence. I don't know; she's so broken-hearted that I feel sympathy for her even when maybe I'm supposed to consider her evil by the rules of fiction.

I love Temeraire's innocent questioning of the status quo, and the eye-opening that they all had when they went to China and saw how dragons were treated there. We're so used to the the "heroes" being the unquestionable moral leaders that this was a wonderful turnabout.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

As I don't automatically equate the English side of these wars with "good", I don't think of Lien as evil, either.

Re: China, that was so refreshing, because I was afraid that what would happen would be Temeraire for a time blinded by luxury and then realizing British moral superiority, and instead, you had Laurence coming to the conclusion that if dragons get treated this way in China, then maybe there is something wrong with the status quo in England.
br>BTW, I noticed the occasional reference to negotations with the Inca - I take it Pisarro didn't win in this universe...

[nolivingman.livejournal.com]

I remember seeing the Inca thing mentioned, but I didn't really think it through. That's cool. She did such a great job building an alternate world that takes the dragons into account.

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

I'm very fond of the Temeraire series. I'm not especially into the more epic kind of fantasy, so I usually try to avoid anything with dragons, but these books really manage to take the idea and put it into a very compelling context. Plus, between this, and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, the Napoleonic Wars are definitely beginning to interest me as an era.