Empire of Ivory: Mixed results

Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik

When last we left our characters, they were trapped with the Prussian Army running for their lives in the face of Napoleon’s Army. Returning home they are confronted by a disaster of cataclysmic proportions as an illness is rapidly decimating the dragon populace of England. Harrowing stuff…

Empire of Ivory takes quite a while to get going and is more compelling in its depiction of events than characters. The main character remains almost cardboard for most of the book, which leaves me uninterested in him. The reader can’t really relate to his internal conflict. By the end of Empire of Ivory, things begin to improve, but still he just seems too cold by half. The dragons have more personality than most of the characters.

Temerarie has lots of potential if the characters improve.

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JOHN HULET is a member of the Utah Army National Guard. John’s experiences have often left a great void that has been filled by countless hours spent between the pages of a book lost in the words and images of the authors he admires. During a 12 month tour of Iraq, he spent well over $1000 on books and found sanity in the process. John lives in Utah and works slavishly to prepare soldiers to serve their country with the honor and distinction that Sturm Brightblade or Arithon s’Ffalenn would be proud of.

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