Well that felt quite accurate. Hostile environment indeed. Actually was surprised only one guy got bit by something venomous 😂
The version of the bunyips in this was interesting. Honestly I thought they were getting done in by crocs but crocs aren’t an inland thing so that makes sense.
I was impressed by the respect given to the portrayal of the indigenous Australians. The names didn’t seem out of place, they were presented as the very resourceful peoples that they are and Temeraire’s assessment on how they had been occupying the land for many more years than the British was very true.
Caesar is a funny addition to the dragon cast 🤣 Very different personality to Iskierka yet still very difficult haha. So sly, the way he plays Rankin and the fact that MacArthur knows this and makes use of it is so entertaining. Roland now being a teenager could make things interesting… I laughed at her description of Laurence being so ‘churchy’ 😆
It *was* very nice to see Laurence and Demane’s decision to keep Kulingile alive vindicated. Kulingile seems to have a very simple personality although maybe that’s because at the moment he is 95% hunger lol. It’s a bit of a shame Tharunka hatched away from the group and decided not to return with them. A shame because she seemed to be a very reasonable dragon. But great that she is being allowed to make her own choices.
The shipping methodology employed by the Chinese was very inventive. As was their means of defense… I may be biased but it was kinda nice that MacArthur and co staged their second (third?) rebellion since they are right about common sense and how the rigid British ways and ideas just don’t mesh well with the reality of the outback/new settlement. But I’m sure Laurence won’t be able to peacefully develop his covert lol. Although his pardon probably will be upheld somehow which won’t sit well with him 😝
While I enjoyed this book, it was a bit mundane in that most of it was made up of them searching for the stolen eggs. And in general I don’t really enjoy stories of attrition, where things just keep getting worse and worse for the characters. At least it’s not like manga where it starts to become unbelievable that the characters can still keep going/winning, but this series has very abrupt changes in fortune as a norm anyway, so it wasn’t a continuous descent into more and more dire straits.
Categories: Book Reviews
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