[email protected] reviewed Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik
Skip this Filler Episode
2 stars
Tongues of Serpents unfortunately has to follow the climatic Victory of Eagles, which was the culmination of multiple novels of build-up resulting in Britain and Napoleonic France clashing in all-out war. Our heroes are moved to the penal colony of Australia, and the author reverts back to her buddy-adventure style of writing. It's a dramatic change in tempo, a lowering of suspense and tension, and highlights all the weaknesses of the series without any of the upsides.
At the heart of the matter is that Lawrence remains depressed: his narration, his attitude, and his actions are all lethargic and indecisive. This means that the buddy-adventure is not fun. Temeraire remains positive but as we are removed from Britain, the cast of characters is shrunk and he is forced to spend most of his time brooding about Lawrence. Add to this the passive-aggressive attitudes of Age of Sail Britain, whereby …
Tongues of Serpents unfortunately has to follow the climatic Victory of Eagles, which was the culmination of multiple novels of build-up resulting in Britain and Napoleonic France clashing in all-out war. Our heroes are moved to the penal colony of Australia, and the author reverts back to her buddy-adventure style of writing. It's a dramatic change in tempo, a lowering of suspense and tension, and highlights all the weaknesses of the series without any of the upsides.
At the heart of the matter is that Lawrence remains depressed: his narration, his attitude, and his actions are all lethargic and indecisive. This means that the buddy-adventure is not fun. Temeraire remains positive but as we are removed from Britain, the cast of characters is shrunk and he is forced to spend most of his time brooding about Lawrence. Add to this the passive-aggressive attitudes of Age of Sail Britain, whereby people never resolve relationship problems but spend their days insulting each other as slyly as possible, and you have the emotional atmosphere of this adventure: not fun.
Then let's all be reminded that Tongues of Serpents is on the heels of a novel that saw the fate of Europe decided. We switch to incredibly small stakes... not even the outcome of New South Wales, but an adventure inland to recover a dragon egg that we are not emotionally attached to. They literally wander across the countryside lost in the vast wilderness in a rehash of their journey along the silk road, except this time it's for the majority of the book.
I can't express what a disappointment that is after Victory of Eagles. It stops being a fun adventure between two companions, drops the tempo and suspense of the Napoleonic Wars, and gives us bickering and avoidance.
Not recommended. I'm sure the next novel will summarize the changes in this novel.