I loved the book to pieces. The Inca society was really interesting and I also adored the coca addicted Hammond
And personally I liked Granby's arc a lot in this book. Yeah, the poor guy had to endure a lot in this book, but I loved it that he outed himself to Laurence and that he finally stood up to Iskierka.
I mean he basically lost the arm to her vanity and it was really neat how he finally put a stop to it with the hook.
I also found the whole subplot with the sailors wonderfully done. I mean after the mutiny it's really quite hard not to want to sell them off to get along to Brazil.
That's true, the arm plot definitely provided a way to rein Iskierka in, which REALLY had to happen. I felt like I shouldn't have been surprised that she was in the middle of a war and STILL managed to find a gold hook for Granby, and yet - still flabbergasted.
I still think they should have sold the gits. They totally deserved it!
This book... Well, 'twas so much better than Tongues of Serpents. Things actually happened!
I also found the Inca society yet another contrast to how dragons are integrated (or not) in Europe, and even in China. Granby losing most of his arm was... unexpected, I was certain they'd find a way to make it better and then they didn't, but then, it also seemed somewhat unlikely for the entire cast to go through yet another book without escaping serious injury (sans Riley, poor guy).
That said, the entire 2-3 chapters covering their time spent in the Empress' company were utterly hysterical, both Granby's extreme reluctance and Iskierka's unstoppable enthusiasm and using the ambassador's obvious attraction to her both to help the party and to spite/encourage poor Temeraire. Even if Napoleon's suddenly arriving all the way from France just in time to disrupt the Granby plans seemed somewhat random and suspect, it just made things even sillier. And, Iskierka finally got a chance to try to make that super-egg she wants so badly, even
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It was way way WAY better than Tongues, no question. I ADORED the Incas, and Hammond sort of getting his own dragon was priceless. Hah! Let's see how he likes it!
I really didn't understand what happened to the boat, how it suddenly blew up like that. And I do get that there have to be injuries, I just thought it was kind of dubious how it happened to the one gay character. I mean, if she wanted to be really tragic, bad things could have happened to, say, Ferris, because that would REALLY have made me wail - that poor kid has been through way too much already!
Then again the previous commenter did point out that it was the perfect way to finally stand up to Iskierka and get her to behave a bit better...
I just loved Hammond getting stuck with his own dragon :D
Oh heavens I toootally forgot to mention poor Hammond. xD That dragon is obsessed with him!
As far as the ship, I inferred that the fire wasn't being managed well, that it was spreading faster than they really were aware, and that it eventually reached the powder-magazine for the cannons and fire + gunpowder ≠ ship.
I absolutely loved this book, mostly because of all the focus on Granby, who's my favourite character by far. I'm not all that surprised that he lost his arm, though. I mean, he's been almost dying so many times that it was bound to leave a lasting mark sooner or later. What I don't get is how much of his arm that was actually cut off. As I understood it, the original injury was in the shoulder, but then it seems like there's a rot or blood poisoning or somthing in the elbow, which is the reason why they have to take it off. In that case it would make sense to take the arm off above the elbow, but then he wouldn't be able to wear a hook, would he? At least not without some sort of prostetic arm as well and there is no mention of that. Did I miss something
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Tharkay/Laurence is my otp, so yeah, I missed him too. And there were a few o.0? moments with this book. I wasn't sure about how much of the arm was lost either, OR how exactly the boat blew up. But I do think it was a very good book, much much MUCH better than the previous one.
And yeah. I've become convinced that the arm thing needed to happen to make Iskierka see sense!
When they're spying on the Tswana dragons, Laurence puts a hand on Granby's elbow, just above the straps that hold on the hook. So I'm guessing it's the forearm that's been lost, and he's retained the elbow joint.
As for the ship blowing up, at a guess the powder caught fire. Naval history is full of such incidents. Don't forget the armaments that they would have had aboard. I think she was attempting to illustrate the suddenness and unexpectedness of it, but it didn't quite work for me. I had to reread that bit a couple of times to make sure that I hadn't missed something. Shocking explosions that come from nowhere without any warning (which is exactly what that would have been) are very difficult things to put into a narrative, though.
But if the straps for the hook ends on/just under the elbow he must still have most of his forearm, because any larger peice of prostetic arm would surely need longer straps to stay in place? It still sounds to me like they just cut off his hand.
I was a bit confused about the explotion as well, but as it was written from Temeraire's point of view I figured that was just how he percieved it; first the ship is there and the next it's gone.
I loved this book. It might even rival "Black Powder Wars" as my favourite of the series. Some nice voyaging about the place, meeting interesting characters on the way, and a scattering of good battle scenes too - everything that was missing from the last one, really. Some excellent comedy moments, too. Iskierka planning to round up women for Granby to have babies with was hysterical, and then her attempts to marry him off to an empress was great too. She and Granby are far and away my favourite characters, so I loved how prominent they both were this time, And yes, Granby lost an arm (or part of one). He didn't lose it because he's gay, though! He lost it because it nearly got dragged off a ship by a cannon. He's damned lucky that the whole arm didn't get ripped off at the time. That he would lose some of it was pretty much signposted then, I thought. Not sure what there is to feel uncomfortable about, unless gay characters are supposed to be protected from all harm? Anyway, nearly killng Granby is tradition
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Anyway, nearly killng Granby is tradition. ;) It definitely is! TBH, I'm kind of surprised that this is the first physically permanent bad thing to happen to him, considering that he's spent the last four or five years getting shot, stabbed, kidnapped, buried in avalanches, falling off dragons, being dragged around by a quasi-piratical dragon, and probabl some other stuff that I'm forgetting. XD
And the surgeon getting beheaded by an alligator just before operating on Granby was another favourite moment. Same! It was just the last in a long, long string of Bad Things Happening to Granby, which are only very rarely not funny, so their only surgeon getting messily eaten moments before he could operate, on top of everything else that had happened, was hilarious!
I was rather hoping we'd travel north and get us a Western, with dragons and Native Americans and cowboys. Wow, Temeraire in the Old West: now there's something I'd like to see!
In the grand tradition of odd-numbered books being awesome, and even-numbered books being just sorta okay, Crucible of Gold was great! Tharkay was sorely missed, of course (was I the only one who expected him to just show up at the Inca court?), as was Jane, Perscitia, Gentius, etc., but overall, I loved it. Granby was a good mix of comedy and tragedy, and his long-awaited verbal smackdown of Iskierka was cathartic, and Iskierka the diplomat was hilariously awful. I'm glad Naomi waited for Granby coming out to be an actual plot point, and I like how in-character Laurence's reaction is: like pretty much everything else to do with the aviators he seems more perplexed and embarrassed, albeit fondly so, than anything else. I tend to like poor, flaily Hammond, so Churki taking such a shine to him, to the point that she was willing to leave her homeland and risk her life for him, was really sweet, especially because I'm pretty sure that inspiring that level of loyalty (or, in fact, any loyalty at all) is kind of an new thing for him
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I think you're right about Granby's arm; he couldn't really wear a hook unless he had at least some of his forearm left. So, I'd guess they amputated somewhere close to the wrist. (That's how I read it, anyway.)
Crucible of Gold was seriously the best Temeraire book in a while, IMO. I read it so fast! XD And now it's going to be torture waiting for the next one. (Two years or so, if she keeps to her usual frequency.)
The fact that England is now shown to be pretty much the only world power that treats their dragons like, well, animals, instead of citizens, is interesting, especially as it re-tests Laurence's allegiance.
I hadn't thought of it that way, but you're right (at least with the countries that we've seen so far). It'll be interesting to see if it prompts any change of allegiance with the various lifelong aviators as well. Laurence has always thought a little differently, but the ones who have been raised in the Corps may have a harder time making up their minds on the issue. I'm thinking mainly of Granby I suppose, but Roland, etc, as well.
Also, Granby/Little: past or present?
Either way they're pretty comfortable around each other (or were in this book). I loved how Little went to sit next to Granby, and poor Laurence had to pretend there was nothing happening. :D
I loved how Little went to sit next to Granby, and poor Laurence had to pretend there was nothing happening. :D This was probably my favorite funny moment in the whole book! I loved how he was all "LALALALALA I DON'T SEE ANYTHING LALALALALA" XD
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And personally I liked Granby's arc a lot in this book. Yeah, the poor guy had to endure a lot in this book, but I loved it that he outed himself to Laurence and that he finally stood up to Iskierka.
I mean he basically lost the arm to her vanity and it was really neat how he finally put a stop to it with the hook.
I also found the whole subplot with the sailors wonderfully done. I mean after the mutiny it's really quite hard not to want to sell them off to get along to Brazil.
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I still think they should have sold the gits. They totally deserved it!
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I also found the Inca society yet another contrast to how dragons are integrated (or not) in Europe, and even in China. Granby losing most of his arm was... unexpected, I was certain they'd find a way to make it better and then they didn't, but then, it also seemed somewhat unlikely for the entire cast to go through yet another book without escaping serious injury (sans Riley, poor guy).
That said, the entire 2-3 chapters covering their time spent in the Empress' company were utterly hysterical, both Granby's extreme reluctance and Iskierka's unstoppable enthusiasm and using the ambassador's obvious attraction to her both to help the party and to spite/encourage poor Temeraire. Even if Napoleon's suddenly arriving all the way from France just in time to disrupt the Granby plans seemed somewhat random and suspect, it just made things even sillier. And, Iskierka finally got a chance to try to make that super-egg she wants so badly, even ( ... )
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I really didn't understand what happened to the boat, how it suddenly blew up like that. And I do get that there have to be injuries, I just thought it was kind of dubious how it happened to the one gay character. I mean, if she wanted to be really tragic, bad things could have happened to, say, Ferris, because that would REALLY have made me wail - that poor kid has been through way too much already!
Then again the previous commenter did point out that it was the perfect way to finally stand up to Iskierka and get her to behave a bit better...
I just loved Hammond getting stuck with his own dragon :D
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As far as the ship, I inferred that the fire wasn't being managed well, that it was spreading faster than they really were aware, and that it eventually reached the powder-magazine for the cannons and fire + gunpowder ≠ ship.
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And yeah. I've become convinced that the arm thing needed to happen to make Iskierka see sense!
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As for the ship blowing up, at a guess the powder caught fire. Naval history is full of such incidents. Don't forget the armaments that they would have had aboard. I think she was attempting to illustrate the suddenness and unexpectedness of it, but it didn't quite work for me. I had to reread that bit a couple of times to make sure that I hadn't missed something. Shocking explosions that come from nowhere without any warning (which is exactly what that would have been) are very difficult things to put into a narrative, though.
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I was a bit confused about the explotion as well, but as it was written from Temeraire's point of view I figured that was just how he percieved it; first the ship is there and the next it's gone.
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It definitely is! TBH, I'm kind of surprised that this is the first physically permanent bad thing to happen to him, considering that he's spent the last four or five years getting shot, stabbed, kidnapped, buried in avalanches, falling off dragons, being dragged around by a quasi-piratical dragon, and probabl some other stuff that I'm forgetting. XD
And the surgeon getting beheaded by an alligator just before operating on Granby was another favourite moment.
Same! It was just the last in a long, long string of Bad Things Happening to Granby, which are only very rarely not funny, so their only surgeon getting messily eaten moments before he could operate, on top of everything else that had happened, was hilarious!
I was rather hoping we'd travel north and get us a Western, with dragons and Native Americans and cowboys.
Wow, Temeraire in the Old West: now there's something I'd like to see!
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I think you're right about Granby's arm; he couldn't really wear a hook unless he had at least some of his forearm left. So, I'd guess they amputated somewhere close to the wrist. (That's how I read it, anyway.)
Crucible of Gold was seriously the best Temeraire book in a while, IMO. I read it so fast! XD And now it's going to be torture waiting for the next one. (Two years or so, if she keeps to her usual frequency.)
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I hadn't thought of it that way, but you're right (at least with the countries that we've seen so far). It'll be interesting to see if it prompts any change of allegiance with the various lifelong aviators as well. Laurence has always thought a little differently, but the ones who have been raised in the Corps may have a harder time making up their minds on the issue. I'm thinking mainly of Granby I suppose, but Roland, etc, as well.
Also, Granby/Little: past or present?
Either way they're pretty comfortable around each other (or were in this book). I loved how Little went to sit next to Granby, and poor Laurence had to pretend there was nothing happening. :D
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This was probably my favorite funny moment in the whole book! I loved how he was all "LALALALALA I DON'T SEE ANYTHING LALALALALA" XD
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