It seems to me after a fellow has been mutinied against three or four times, there is something to it besides bad luck.

Convicted of Treason in Napoleonic Era Britain? Where else to go next but… Australia!

It’s another travelog of a book, showing off yet another continent, although this time without much in the way of native dragons at all. We get a lot of very minor politics, a very long chase sequence across much of the continent following a stolen egg, a few interesting newly hatched dragons (probably the highlight of the book honestly). I do miss a lot of the old crew, but it’s something.

Notice anything missing?

There’s painfully little in the way of big Napoleonic battles (with dragons!). Slightly more exploration of Chinese dragons and that end of the world, but not that much more.

In theory, it’s a way for Laurence to deal with his actions in previous books… but we’ve already done a chunk of that in Victory of Eagles and we really don’t get much of it here.

Really, it doesn’t seem quite like something we need.

Onward. Fingers crossed.

I am sick of the quarrels of nations and kings, and I would not give a ha’pence for any empire other than our valley, if that can content your ambition.