Book three of this series has Laurence and his dragon Temeraire flying back from China via Turkey to pick up three promised dragon eggs. The orders don’t make any sense - but seem to be legit - so Laurence hires a dubious guide and away they go. Things begin to go wrong almost immediately: they are attacked by bedouins crossing a desert. The Turks don’t want to hand over the eggs and keep detaining the British envoy while the British embassador, his family, and the money to buy the eggs has disappeared. Laurence and Temeraire hatch a bold plan, steal the eggs and make for Prussia - where they discover Napoleon is about to launch a massive attack. Laurence is forced to chose between helping the British forces in Prussia or to get the eggs back to England as fast as possible.
I found book 3 to be incredibly disappointing on a couple of levels. One, those pesky anachronisms kept popping up - I believe I counted at least 3 by the middle of the book and even I’m not all that familiar with the Napoleonic wars. Two, the plot dragged; you know when you dream and in your dream you are trying to run but your feet just won’t go any faster? It was like that. Luckily, unlike a dream, I could skip ahead. Three, I just stopped caring. I couldn’t sympathize with the main characters any more. And four, yes, there is a four! The battle against Napoleon went. on. forever. Very tedious and tiresome. If I wanted to read about an extended engagement I would pick up a history book.
I’m waffling about reading book 4. Book 1 and 3 were eh. Book 2 was alright - enough that I went and wasted time on 3. Perhaps if I'm in a mood for a light fantasy and if I pick up a used copy, I might try book 4.
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