TONGUES OF SERPENTS is the sixth novel by Naomi Novik involving dragons set in the Napoleonic Wars. My least favorite book of the six thus far--but the first five set a very high bar--this book is still on its own merits an enjoyable read; this series has become one of my favorite in fantasy.
Novik states in a note at the end that she prefers to only alter the historical timeline from the point Temeraire, the central dragon in her tales, arrives on the scene. So although Novik's world is already a very different place than ours from the first book, with dragons having made their mark since Roman times, the world of the series is also in other ways very familiar with such historical figures as Napoleon, Wellington and Nelson as well as landmark battles such as Trafalgar and Jena featured. In this novel, Bligh of Bounty fame makes an appearance.
The dragons serve in Britain's Aerial Corps, by which Novik contrives to send Temeraire the dragon and his human captain Laurence globetrotting throughout the series. After this novel set in Australia, the only continents left to visit will be the Americas and Antarctica. That has been one of the series' charms--visiting Britain, China, Turkey, Austria, Prussia, Southern Africa and France and seeing these alternate societies different relations with dragons.
For Novik's dragons aren't like those of McKinley, Lackey, McCaffrey or those featured in other works of fantasy I've read. They're not beasts; they're nothing akin to pets. They're people. Temeraire himself displays an intellect that at times overmatches that of his human partner. The dragons in this series and book have personalities and characters that move the action along as much as any human. Because of dragon sentience and the setting at the dawn of the British Empire, issues of freedom, rights and autonomy are particularly important in this series.
With Temeraire and Laurence cut off in Australia though, both have far less scope for involvement in the world's affairs, and the issues Novik has delineated throughout the series are less sharp in this novel. The previous books were more involving to me because more was at stake right from the beginning of the various books, not just for Temeraire and Laurence, but also for their comrades and country. Each book before this also advanced the case (and cause) for dragons fully integrating into human society and thereby cast interesting lights on everything from women's roles, the slave trade and various forms of imperialism. However, the wider world, or even Australia's aborigines, doesn't impinge much on this book until the last few chapters--about half the book is taken up with a trek into the Outback I was at times impatient to see end.
And though Novik does manage to have Tharkay, Granby, Emily and a few other familiar characters come along with Laurence and Temeraire to "the far side of the world," I miss a lot of the characters, human and draconic, from the other books left behind--like Jane. (And could have done without Iskierka--Temeraire would agree--though as with him, she did grow on me by the end of the book…a bit).
So no, I didn't love this one quite as much as the other Temeraire books: Not as moving as HIS MAJESTY'S DRAGON or as engrossing as THRONE OF JADE or as thrilling an adventure as BLACK POWDER WAR or with the high emotional stakes and action-filled events of EMPIRE OF IVORY or VICTORY OF EAGLES.
Despite all that, I did enjoy the TONGUE OF SERPENTS, and more than anything that's due to Laurence and Temeraire. As in the last novel, in this one Temeraire gets to share the point of view with Laurence (who had been the sole point of view in the first four books). Temeraire is like a precocious child that asks the embarrassing questions and who has a disconcerting ability to think outside proscribed lines, and his point of view is always engaging.
Laurence has changed quite a bit in the course of the books because of Temeraire, and their mutual affection and devotion is still endearing. I do love Laurence's character arc in this book, where he winds up intellectually and emotionally at the end. At one point in this book Laurence reflects that Temeraire's "habits of free-thinking" are supposed by the other aviators to be due to Laurence's influence--when it is quite the reverse.
The Laurence/Temeraire relationship is a lot of what makes these novels such addicting reads. I'll certainly be eager to follow them through their seventh book--even if they wind up in Antarctica.
