Black Powder War

By: Naomi Novik

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Temeraire * Book 3

After their fateful adventure in China, Capt. Will Laurence of His Majesty’s Aerial Corps and his extraordinary dragon, Temeraire, are waylaid by a mysterious envoy bearing urgent new orders from Britain. Three valuable dragon eggs have been purchased from the Ottoman Empire, and Laurence and Temeraire must detour to Istanbul to escort the precious cargo back to England. Time is of the essence if the eggs are to be borne home before hatching.

Yet disaster threatens the mission at every turn–thanks to the diabolical machinations of the Chinese dragon Lien, who blames Temeraire for her master’s death and vows to ally herself with Napoleon and take vengeance. Then, faced with shattering betrayal in an unexpected place, Laurence, Temeraire, and their squad must launch a daring offensive. But what chance do they have against the massed forces of Bonaparte’s implacable army?©2006 Naomi Novik; (P)2007 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

“Naomi Novik has done for the Napoleonic Wars what Anne McCaffrey did for science fiction: constructed an alternate reality in which dragons are real in a saga that is impressively original, fully developed, and peopled with characters you care about.”—David Weber, author of the Honor Harrington series

Praise for the novels of Temeraire

“[Naomi Novik] is soaring on the wings of a dragon.”—The New York Times

“Novik has accomplished something singular with her Temeraire series. . . . At its heart, it’s a story about friendship that transcends not only time and class, but species.”—NPR

“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

Exciting adventure across Europe

This series of books are wonderful with mixing history and fantasy. With Simon's voice added into it just makes the characters come that much more to life.

Dragons and Simon Vance!

The stories are fun as well as thought provoking, the characters well drawn and again Simon Vance. Nothing else needs to be said.

Good continues

Interesting to see where the story goes based on historical Napoleonic record. Looking forward to the next chapters.

Characters, narrative, and language all glow!

If you could sum up Black Powder War in three words, what would they be?

Characters, imagination, relationships

What was one of the most memorable moments of Black Powder War?

Being within feet of Napoleon - and not killing him

What about Simon Vance’s performance did you like?

His vocal resonance underlined the sheer delight of the language.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me intensely sympathetic with the characters, and want to see more.

Any additional comments?

The comparison between the treatment of dragons in China and England is a mainspring that powers the book, given additional power by the character of the dragons themselves.

Great book, bad accents

Where does Black Powder War rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is the third book in the series and it's on par with the rest of them, fairly good.

Any additional comments?

Then narrator does a good job of reading but his accents are absolutely awful. EVERYTHING that isn't British sounds like a bad 1950's Charlie Chan movie.