April's Book: Throne of Jade

Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik

Fantasy (2007 - 398 pp.)

Throne of Jade is the second book in Naomi Novik's epic Temeraire series, starring Napoleonic-era Royal Navy Captain Will Laurence and his trusty dragon Temeraire. In the first book, His Majesty's Dragon, Laurence captures a French ship carrying priceless cargo from China: a dragon egg, from which sprouts our lovable living tank Temeraire. In Throne of Jade, a Chinese prince demands Temeraire be returned to China, leading Laurence and crew on a perilous voyage in which a Chinese prince threatens to separate our two main characters. Throne of Jade takes place in 1806, in the aftermath of Trafalgar and Austerlitz (163-164), at a time when Napoleon was becoming weaker at sea while stronger on land. The British, though, control the air.

The voyage leads the Allegiance and its crew, headed by Laurence, past Madeira, the Cape of Good Hope, and what is now Indonesia, to its destination at Macao. The intervening cultures are little discussed except that they provide a true transition from a European to an Asian setting. The characters' behaviours follow suit. One of the first joint English-Chinese dinners on board is a suckling pig (141-142), whereas later on Temeraire discovers his love for highly spiced Chinese and Southeast Asian food. Laurence bemoans the frequent sullying of his military uniform, which is inevitable considering the sheer frequency of battle scenes in Throne of Jade (approximately one every twenty pages), yet he is relieved when he finds his new Chinese clothes cleaner than anything he had worn in months. Still, Laurence cannot accept the presence of so much bribery in Chinese markets (315), nor can he go any farther than bow to the Emperor. (270-271)

Temeraire is a pet of sorts, but it's tough to call him a true pet when he understands poetry better than the highly educated Laurence, has a charming British wit, and is capable of sinking entire warships by himself. Temeraire is more of a familiar spirit, specifically a divinatory animal, which fits perfectly with historical British mythology and with the importance of dragons in Chinese culture. He therefore ends up as an outsider wherever he goes, equally frustrated by the lack of women in the British armed forces despite the gender-blind military purposing of dragons and his inability to write before the dragons in China show him how. When Laurence explains female dragon aviators being the only English women allowed to serve, Temeraire notes that "I do not understand in the least, why ought it make any difference at all? Lily is female, and she can fight as well as I can, or almost". (205) Upon hearing a poem composed by a Chinese dragon, Temeraire laments that "I might like to try, but I do not see how I would ever put it down; I do not think I could hold a pen." (145) Above all, Temeraire's loyalty to Laurence is both British military camaraderie and Chinese filial piety; Temeraire is at once Laurence's army buddy and his son.*

As with His Majesty's Dragon, another high point is how realistically Throne of Jade presents the characters' surroundings. Novik has clearly researched the period, down to the characters' wording choices and clothing. Although a book starring a talking dragon is clearly not meant to be realistic, Novik suspends the reader's disbelief on the dragon point well, and keeps the rest Earthly.** When the heroes are still yet to embark, a European dragon battle happens, yet with the humans using realistic Napoleonic-era guns. (102-103) Likewise, what should have been a wholly unrealistic fight scene on deck during a storm ends up becoming a gripping description of the wind, clouds, mist and fog that decide Laurence's fate. (231) The Scientific American article linked earlier in this paragraph applies to the experience of reading the series:

Being transported emotionally into an alternative reality helps us to invest more completely in a piece of fiction, no matter how unbelievable.

As with fantasy novels in general, Throne of Jade could have used some reining in on the third-person omniscient narrator's commentary. If I had a PDF of Throne of Jade, I could Ctrl+F the word "almost" and probably find dozens of extraneous examples, such as "Her hand tightened almost painfully on his arm" (12) - why not just "Her hand tightened painfully on his arm"? or even "Her hand tightened on his arm"? Novik uses the word "only" much the same way, as in "He turned only reluctantly" (10) - why not just "He turned reluctantly"? A proverbially thorough thinning of the adjective and adverb soup would have been useful here. That's on the editor(s) more than Novik.

I read His Majesty's Dragon back in February 2016 - although I had 29 days to read it - and found Throne of Jade an appendage rather than a separate story. I therefore had to spend much of the first 50 or so pages reminding myself who all the characters are, making Throne of Jade a nearly impossible read for someone who hasn't read His Majesty's Dragon.*** For example, Catherine Harcourt and Admiral Lenton, two characters from His Majesty's Dragon, rarely appear in Throne of Jade but are mentioned semi-frequently by both Laurence and Temeraire. (190) Novik's books are so widely available, and such quick reads, this shouldn't be a major issue. Someone interested in Napoleonic-era British captains and their dragons should simply read the books in order.

Ease of Reading: 9

Educational Content: 2

*This has potentially awkward implications when Temeraire is able to meet his mother but not his father. Or it's just fitting.

**The phrase "willing suspension of disbelief" having been coined by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1817, only eleven years after Throne of Jade is set.

**Whether unintentionally waiting from 2016 until 2019 is an unintentional example of the Book One Effect is debatable. The third book, Black Powder War, will probably not take so long for me to start.