For those unfamiliar with the book or the series, Crucible of Gold is part of Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, which can be described as being an alternate history of what the Napoleonic wars would have looked like if all sides had access to dragons. Before anybody raises an eyebrow at that, Novik’s a good writer with a decent working knowledge of the time period, plus – more importantly – a fundamental respect for that time period. That’s kind of needed for good historical fiction: if you treat the inhabitants of a particular era as either overgrown children, or people from your culture wearing funny clothes, you’re doing it wrong. Patrick O’Brian probably would have liked this series, God rest his soul.
Check it out. You can start the series with In His Majesty’s Service: Three Novels of Temeraire (His Majesty’s Service, Throne of Jade, and Black Powder War). They’re great fun.
is Naomi Novik’s latest entry in the Temeraire series, and it’s coming out in a week. Personally, I’d love to review it ahead of time, but since nobody sends me science fiction or fantasy books to review…
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as Book of the Week. And more oddly than the respective book covers might suggest.
with Naomi Novik’s 
, which has finally come out in paperback. It’s the latest in the 
series, so read the other books first.
and 
series, and enjoying it muchly). And then, of course, there’s George MacDonald Fraser’s 
, which is required reading for anybody who loves old Hollywood swashbucklers (and who doesn’t). So I guess I’m explaining why this is going on the blogroll…