Crucible of Gold: Temeraire, Book 7

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.

Better than the previous couple of books in the series; how's that for praise?
This time Laurence and his beloved Chinese Celestial dragon Temeraire are freed from transportation in Australia and reinstated for a diplomatic mission to Brazil, to intercept Napoleon's envoys .
Are they too late? Will England now stand alone in the world against Napoleon? Will the supercilious dragon squabbling defeat their own mission?

Novik nicely adds some Incan history and geography, as well as a Patrick O'Brien-esque sailor flavour to their long voyage to South America and overland. According to the author's blog, there will be two more in the series; perhaps north to Captain Vancouver's Island next?

Simon Vance is an excellent narrator, and a joy to listen to: hopefully he can also complete the complete/unabridged O'Brian series.

The Temeraire Series is fresh and original. The writing is well done and Simon Vance is splendid as always. Great series which builds upon history but with a twist. Highly recommend!

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.

Lots of action and predicaments for Temeraire and crew to escape from.

Simon Vance is a master--he has so many voices that are perfect for each character! His "accents" are great.

It made me frustrated when I got to the end. I wasn't ready for it to be over, and I wanted to read more about the next adventures! It is one of those books where one says "Oh no! It's over?"

Can hardly wait for the next Temeraire book.

Love this series, but this one sort of plods along and then just suddenly ends. Almost felt like... "ok, reached page 325 and everything else goes into next book"

Since it is part of a series, in its place, absolutely.

Because of the common theme of dragons and riders bonding so deeply, the Dragon Riders of Pern series (Anne McCaffrey).

His readings are musical in their cadence and intonation, rendering a listener readily engaged and easily lost in the experience.

If hanging on every word is an extreme reaction, then yes.

I would recommend this audiobook to any who are a fan of Temeraire and Lawrence.

Was not pleased with the way it ended.

Simon did an excellent job. I like his voice, timber and pace.

When the South American dragon's revealed their relationship with the humans.

Not a bad way to revisit old friends.

Book 6 had really dragged for me. Was sort of black and depressing all the way thru. This one had more action and more going on but just left you with a big "too be continued". I think a book should reach some sort of a conclusion before you need to advance to the next book.

I dont think the story is bad but the setup of the the first 3 to 4 books is tenuous at best in The last two books. It could be because i read a lot of military fiction and she has gone away from that.