Naomi Novik’s League of Dragons is the concluding volume to her Temeraire series, and it is is a worthy ending to the series, one that satisfactorily wraps up the various themes introduced by the earlier books.

This had looked implausible at one point, so this is a very welcome development. In retrospect, the key thing is that this book focuses on Europe and Napoleon—the series was always strongest when it was exploring the contrast between Britain and France, and the complicated morality and honor to be had in that war. All the stuff elsewhere in the world is interesting enough, but it’s not the heart of the series, and it shows.

But this book doesn’t totally throw away all the global wanderings of the previous volumes, either—that stuff comes back in ways that matter and turn this European conflict into what might fairly be called a World War, in some ways.

So yeah: Excellent novel, and excellent end to a series. Highly recommended, and my initial enthusiasm for the series (which waned a bit in the middle there) is renewed. If Napoleonic wars fought with dragons, exploring issues of self-governance and human rights and international relations and the morality of war sounds good to you, check this out.

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