Victory of Eagles, my thoughts.
Jul. 14th, 2009 08:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kippurbirdI finished reading Victory of Eagles last night (book five in Naomi Novik's Temeraire series) and I must say I was thrown for a lovely loop.
The book begins with Laurence and Temeraire separated for having gone to the French side to deliver a cure to the sick dragons. The British government had sent a plague dragon over which would have devastated the entire European dragon populations at the end of the previous book and so by bringing a cure the two of them were traitors. Laurence sentenced to be hanged and Temeraire sent to the breeding grounds. Napoleon invades England, getting all the way into London and since the army needs Temeraire's breath weapon, they take Laurence back so that Temeraire will be willing to fight. However, Temeraire has managed to convince the dragons at the breeding grounds that they should go and fight the French for rewards such as getting paid and lovely pavilions, things that he saw dragons get in China. What ends up happening is Temeraire manages to create a sort of army of dragons, get a commission and negotiate pay for working dragons. Meanwhile they end up sending Napoleon with his tail tucked between his legs back to France. In between all that Laurence is given temporary reprieve from being hanged and he accidentally gets the husband of his childhood sweet heart killed when he goes to rescue a captive captain.
Now what I thought was going to happen is that at the end of the book Laurence would be hailed as a hero -or at least- be pardoned and get his rank as Captain back, Temeraire would be able to continue his march for dragon rights and Laurence would be able to get his childhood sweetheart.He would be reconciled with his family. All will be well and happy and hurrah.
After all, isn't that how these books are supposed to end?
Nope.
Instead the two of them are sent off to Australia (New South Wales) as prisoners. The two of them, because the army doesn't want to have to risk having a dragon with as much independence that Temeraire has as well as one who has his breath abilities. Also, Laurence is still a traitor.
I spent a good minute staring at the last page of the book while my mind went "Wait? What? That's not how its supposed to end."
Then I stared at it some more. Flipped through some pages in the back and saw that there was no hint of an up-coming sixth book (There is, thank God!), stared back at the ending and came to the realization that, that was it.
There was no last minute save or turn to why yes they are heroes with the girl throwing herself into his arms.
They were suffering the consequences of their actions.
This required more staring.
A long feeling of disbelief.
And a realization that yes, that's how it's supposed to be, even if that's not what I expected it to be. Supposed to be in the fact that in this situation it doesn't make sense that there should be a happy ending with the girl throwing herself into his arms.
I don't know if I like it. I don't hate it. It's just left me feeling off balance. My expectations from years of reading has set me up for one particular ending and I didn't get it.
I think it's a good thing, because I've been mulling over it all night. The book ended with the two of them together almost like the two of them started in book one, and neither one having any real regrets as to what happened. They're not happy about having to go to New South Wales, but they're together and that's really what they wanted all in all.
It's a bitter sweet ending because they aren't heroes, but if you think about it, the books aren't about being heroes, it's about the relationship between Laurence and Tememaire. The point is that Laurence didn't want to be 'stuck' with Tememaire in the first place and now can't live without him. The war is just secondary.
So even though they didn't end up Big Damn Heroes, they got what they wanted.
It just wasn't given to us as how the reader was expecting.
Which is something I'd like to try for in my own work.
The book begins with Laurence and Temeraire separated for having gone to the French side to deliver a cure to the sick dragons. The British government had sent a plague dragon over which would have devastated the entire European dragon populations at the end of the previous book and so by bringing a cure the two of them were traitors. Laurence sentenced to be hanged and Temeraire sent to the breeding grounds. Napoleon invades England, getting all the way into London and since the army needs Temeraire's breath weapon, they take Laurence back so that Temeraire will be willing to fight. However, Temeraire has managed to convince the dragons at the breeding grounds that they should go and fight the French for rewards such as getting paid and lovely pavilions, things that he saw dragons get in China. What ends up happening is Temeraire manages to create a sort of army of dragons, get a commission and negotiate pay for working dragons. Meanwhile they end up sending Napoleon with his tail tucked between his legs back to France. In between all that Laurence is given temporary reprieve from being hanged and he accidentally gets the husband of his childhood sweet heart killed when he goes to rescue a captive captain.
Now what I thought was going to happen is that at the end of the book Laurence would be hailed as a hero -or at least- be pardoned and get his rank as Captain back, Temeraire would be able to continue his march for dragon rights and Laurence would be able to get his childhood sweetheart.He would be reconciled with his family. All will be well and happy and hurrah.
After all, isn't that how these books are supposed to end?
Nope.
Instead the two of them are sent off to Australia (New South Wales) as prisoners. The two of them, because the army doesn't want to have to risk having a dragon with as much independence that Temeraire has as well as one who has his breath abilities. Also, Laurence is still a traitor.
I spent a good minute staring at the last page of the book while my mind went "Wait? What? That's not how its supposed to end."
Then I stared at it some more. Flipped through some pages in the back and saw that there was no hint of an up-coming sixth book (There is, thank God!), stared back at the ending and came to the realization that, that was it.
There was no last minute save or turn to why yes they are heroes with the girl throwing herself into his arms.
They were suffering the consequences of their actions.
This required more staring.
A long feeling of disbelief.
And a realization that yes, that's how it's supposed to be, even if that's not what I expected it to be. Supposed to be in the fact that in this situation it doesn't make sense that there should be a happy ending with the girl throwing herself into his arms.
I don't know if I like it. I don't hate it. It's just left me feeling off balance. My expectations from years of reading has set me up for one particular ending and I didn't get it.
I think it's a good thing, because I've been mulling over it all night. The book ended with the two of them together almost like the two of them started in book one, and neither one having any real regrets as to what happened. They're not happy about having to go to New South Wales, but they're together and that's really what they wanted all in all.
It's a bitter sweet ending because they aren't heroes, but if you think about it, the books aren't about being heroes, it's about the relationship between Laurence and Tememaire. The point is that Laurence didn't want to be 'stuck' with Tememaire in the first place and now can't live without him. The war is just secondary.
So even though they didn't end up Big Damn Heroes, they got what they wanted.
It just wasn't given to us as how the reader was expecting.
Which is something I'd like to try for in my own work.
