Tongues of Serpents
First hardcover edition cover
|
|
| Author | Naomi Novik |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Temeraire |
| Genre | Alternate history novel |
| Publisher | Voyager Books |
|
Publication date
|
July 13, 2010 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) e-Book (Kindle, nook) Audio book |
| Pages | 288 |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | Victory of Eagles |
| Followed by | Crucible of Gold |
Tongues of Serpents is the sixth novel in the Temeraire alternate history/fantasy series by American author Naomi Novik. This installment follows William Laurence and his dragon, Temeraire's adventures in Australia.
Tongues of Serpents was released in hardcover and e-Book formats in North America and the United Kingdom on July 13, 2010.
The story begins in New South Wales, where Laurence has been sentenced to "transportation" for his treasonous actions in Empire of Ivory. With him is Temeraire; Captain Granby and his firebreathing Kazilik Iskierka; Tenzing Tharkay, his half-Nepalese friend; Tom Riley, captain of the HMS Allegiance which sailed them hence; and three dragon eggs, sent by Admiral Jane Roland to form the foundation of New South Wales' Aerial Corps.
Dropping by Van Diemen's Land to resupply, the Allegiance discovered William Bligh, late of the HMS Bounty, exiled there after being deposed in a military coup, and have since borne him to Sydney. Bligh wishes for Laurence to restore him to governorship, whereas Col. John Macarthur, architect of the rebellion, wishes them to stay on the sidelines, awaiting a decision from London.
Captain Jeremy Rankin, last seen in His Majesty's Dragon, arrives on a mission to take command of the nascent covert and whichever dragon births first. It turns out to be the child of Arkady and Wringe, two of the Turkish ferals. Temeraire, speaking to the unhatched dragonet through the shell, attempts to convince him to reject Rankin as his handler, citing Rankin's callous mistreatment of his former mount Levitas, but the dragon accepts Rankin on grounds of his great wealth, giving himself the grandiose name of "Caesar" (after rejecting "Conquistador"). Laurence and Granby observe privately that the greedy Caesar and supercilious Rankin deserve each other.
Macarthur sends Laurence on an expedition to find a pass from Sydney through the Blue Mountains, which the aviators readily undertake to stay out of the political fray; they are granted a crew of convicts to provide manual labor. Tharkay asks to join them, eventually revealing that he has been tasked with tracking down a smuggling ring that operates out of China—and not out of Canton, the sole Chinese port open to foreigners. The two missions unite when one of the remaining dragon eggs, a Yellow Reaper, is stolen in the night by aborigines, prompting a frantic pursuit across the continent. The unforgiving Australian desert, the unpredictable weather, and the local fauna, particularly the mythical bunyips, take a dire toll on the crew. While the thieves are obviously familiar with the terrain, the Britons are not, and it soon becomes clear that the bunyips possess the ability to alter the terrain, providing watering holes as bait, and later diverting water to create quicksand beneath Temeraire in the hopes of entrapping him.
...
Wikipedia