Crucible of Gold

Temeraire, Book 7

By: Naomi Novik

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Naomi Novik’s beloved series returns, with Capt. Will Laurence and his fighting dragon Temeraire once again taking to the air against the broadsides of Napoleon’s forces and the friendly—and sometimes not-so-friendly—fire of British soldiers and politicians who continue to suspect them of divided loyalties, if not outright treason.

Laurence and Temeraire—joined by the egotistical fire-breather Iskierka and the still-growing Kulingile, who has already surpassed Temeraire in size—embark for Brazil, only to meet with a string of unmitigated disasters that leave the dragons and their human friends forced to make an unexpected landing in the hostile territory of the Inca empire, where they face new unanticipated dangers.

Now with the success of the mission balanced on a razor’s edge, and failure looking more likely by the minute, the unexpected arrival of an old enemy will tip the scales toward ruin. Yet even in the midst of disaster, opportunity may lurk—for one bold enough to grasp it.

©2012 Temeraire LLC (P)2012 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

“Novik’s influences run the gamut from Jane Austen to Patrick O’ Brian, with a side trip through Anne McCaffrey. Her books are completely involving and probably addictive, their central conceit explored in clever detail with a great deal of wit and historical insight.” ( San Francisco Chronicle)

“These are beautifully written novels: not only fresh, original, and fast-paced, but full of wonderful characters with real heart.” (Peter Jackson)

“A gripping adventure full of rich detail and the impossible wonder of gilded fantasy.” ( Entertainment Weekly)

A struggle for survival admits dragons in Brazil

Would recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy, travel, military novels. I would also recommend to anyone reading the second to last entry in the series to reread / listen to all the prior entries before Part 3 (you will understand why when you take up that book and read about Lawrence's latest "condition")

Excellent addition

Excellent addition to the series. I have enjoyed listening to the books and look forward to more installments.

another fine addition to the Temperature saga

I have read this book in the printed book form and now enjoying the audio formats. I must say that Simon Vance is doing a spectacular job with this performance. I am looking forward to the next book and highly recommend the entire series.

Back to Basics

A good addition to the Temeraire series.

As always, Simon Vance does an amazing job with the narration. All the characters have distinct and recognizable voices. Furthermore, those voices have not changed from the first book until now (which can be an issue with long series; listen to the Wheel of Time books, voices and pronunciations change several times despite the same narrators).

This book has more of the "Captain and Dragon; Buddy Adventure" feel from the first few books rather than the "I'm super depressed that I'm a traitor" theme that has dominated the past two books. There is some really nice character development for the dragons in this book, mostly regarding Temeraire and Iskierka, but also the new member of the gang: Kulingile.

If you didn't enjoy the last two books quite as much as the first few, this book puts the series back on the more upbeat and optimistic tone set in the beginning of the series.

Great book in the series- but not the best

Would you consider the audio edition of Crucible of Gold to be better than the print version?

I have both the audio and the the paper version of this book (the audiobook was released quite late) and the audiobook is a great way to enjoy this text.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Crucible of Gold?

This book had a lot of good twists. Novik's discussion of how dragons fit into the different cultures of the world is always interesting.

Which character – as performed by Simon Vance – was your favorite?

Kulingile. He is just such a funny character without being the overly "Scrappy Doo" that is Iskierka. Vance does an excellent job of giving each character voice without sounding silly or making a mockery of the plot.

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed the book. I wouldn't count this as the top book in the series. That's definitely Victory of Eagles. But, it's a great listen and it continues the major plot arcs nicely. Novic does an excellent job of mixing world wars, politics, cultures, and dragons into one great story.

Wonderful Tale and Lots of Plot abound

Where does Crucible of Gold rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the better books I've listened to

What other book might you compare Crucible of Gold to and why?

Comparable to the rest of the series, well written, engaging, humourous at times, especially with Iskierka and Temeraire playing off each other.

What about Simon Vance’s performance did you like?

Clear and enunciated, easy to understand

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I would have loved nothing more than to listen to the entire book from beginning to end without stopping

Got to listen

I really like Novik's books and I really like Vance's readin of them. This one like book 6 was not her best but I did enjoy the story.

At this point her books move very quickly and sometime something is lost. They are often a whirlwind of action and some depth to her stories are lost.

I await her next Temeraire book and will listen.

One of my all time favorite series

What made the experience of listening to Crucible of Gold the most enjoyable?

I love the series, writer and narrator, so there was a lot for me to enjoy

Who was your favorite character and why?

Temeraire, he's been around the entire series and seems like the only one with a good head on his shoulders at times

What does Simon Vance bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He's an amazing narrator, he truly is. He's highly entertaining and make the entire experience for me

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes

Pointless

*Spoiler Free Review*
The bad: The book was well written and tolerably interesting. However, in a stark contrast to the previous books in the series, the story progresses centimeters at a time, ending without having gone much further than where it began. The book spends the vast majority of its time maneuvering pieces into new positions, without allowing a single piece to accomplish anything that could be considered significant in the slightest. Furthermore, the things that are achieved were all of the obvious nature that were all but a necessity in order to continue the story at all. Every major occurrence in this entry could have been predicted loosely after reading the previous entry in the series.

The Good: Naomi Novik is an excellent author, and managed to write the story in an engaging, if not enthralling, manner. While I didn't find myself absorbed in the story as I had in the case of previous entries to the series, I did nevertheless enjoy myself while reading. I could have safely skipped half the book and missed very little of material consequence to the plot, but I am pleasantly surprised that Novik managed to make the story interesting with so little actually occurring.

Synopsis: worth the read, but if I had to read it again, i would have skipped portions liberally and missed very little. Enjoyable, but disappointing in that so little actually happened.

Another great Temeraire adventure

Naomi Kovak delivers another extensive chapter in the Temeraire saga. This is the 6th book of the series. If you love adventure, thrills, dragons armys commandeered by human pilots, and unexpected twists to the story, you will love this series.