Captain Will Laurence has been sentenced to death for treason. He will continue to live only so long as Temeraire, banished to the Welsh breeding grounds, continues to cooperate. With British dragondom badly depleted by sickness, Napoleon seizes his chance to invade. Can our boys earn their freedom in defence of King and country?
Category Archive: Read-Alongs
Welcome to the second week of the @SFFReadalong of A Closed and Common Orbit. This week, we find Sidra struggling to adapt to her new existence as she searches for a way to come to terms with the kit. In the past, Jane must face her fears if she is to survive in the shuttle.
It’s time to dive back into deep space with the read-along for A Closed and Common Orbit, the much-anticipated sequel to last year’s break-out debut The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet. This week we’re hosted by Lisa from Over the Effing Rainbow – we’ll be reading through December so if you’re interested in participating, hop on over to the SF/F Read-Along group to join the discussion.
I was recently burrowing deep down a rabbit hole as I attempted to write a review, and I found myself discussing characters in terms of their Hogwarts houses. I wasn’t meant to be writing about Harry Potter, but (no surprises) it was far too much fun not to. How would you sort your favourite characters from other worlds?
Laurence and Temeraire return home to discover that British dragons are dying of a fatal illness. The Aerial Corps is grounded, leaving the country exposed to Napoleon and Lien. A belated insight dispatches the boys and their ailing friends to Africa in the hope of finding a cure – but nobody has ever returned from an expedition to the interior…
Temeraire and Laurence are becalmed in Macau when new orders arrive, bidding them hasten to Istanbul to collect much-needed eggs. Our boys have a desperate choice: to dare the dangerous overland route or go by sea and risk arriving months too late for the hatching. Will they make it in time?
In Espara, the game has run its course: can the Bastards stage a play and get away with murder? In Karthain, it’s time for truth and consequences: who is Locke Lamora – and what is Patience’s true game?
Locke and Sabetha get a lot of practice at being star-crossed lovers this week. In Espara, Baron Boulidazi unwittingly comes between his ‘noble cousins’ at every opportunity. In Karthain, Patience would rather the would-be lovers kept their mind solely on the Five-Year Game. Will the pair ever find a time and a place to put aside their tempers and pursue their passion?
I’ve done a reasonable job of staying on top of my NetGalley eARCs, but I have quite a haul direct from authors and publishers that are prickling my conscience. And that look amazing. So hooray for ARC August, the perfect time to get on top of them. My goal is to read 4, because I’ve got other commitments too (not to mention a lot on at work!) with a stretch goal of 6.
As the new Duchess of Londinium recovers from the Rosa attack, she is faced with a fresh threat from the Agency. Working with Max the Arbiter, she realises just how dangerous an enemy she has made. But Max has bigger fish to fry – the Sorcerers of Albion are going to war…
Aboard a ship with an excellent chef and some well-made manacles, Locke and Jean must figure out a way to get back to Karthain. Some years earlier, the Gentleman Bastards get their first taste of false-facing as nobility when they discover their contact Moncraine has been imprisoned. Can Locke and Sabetha find a way to beguile the angry nobleman who holds the key to his freedom?
And I thought last week was tricky to summarise without spoilers. Much is resolved in this action-packed finale. But are we on the edge of exciting new developments or will the powers behind the status quo crush all hope of a freer future?
In past and present, Locke must confront his feelings for Sabetha. In simpler times in Camorr, Chains sets an unexpected test for his protegées; whereas the complexity of working for the Bondsmagi may be dwarfed by the traps Sabetha has had time to set for her fellow Bastards in Karthain…
It’s all go this week – all the simmering plots boil over at once as Cathy persuades Max to hunt down the missing members of the book club; Margritte realises she may not have the stomach to take revenge; and Sam gets the biggest surprise of anyone. Over half way through the third book it seems a little redundant to say this, but: expect spoilers.
Revealed as a Chinese Celestial, Temeraire has become an international incident: the Chinese have sent a delegation to bring him home, and the Admiralty are minded to agree in the interests of diplomatic relations. Will our boys be separated?
