Black Powder War
core novel 2006 Temeraire
Record
| First published | 2006 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.91 (44,825 ratings, collected 2026-09-14) |
| Page count | 365 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780345481306 |
| Internal chronology | 3 |
Synopsis
Black Powder War follows Throne of Jade in the Temeraire series, sending Laurence and Temeraire, along with Lieutenant John Granby and their guide Tharkay, from China toward Istanbul to retrieve three dragon eggs the British government has purchased from the Ottoman Empire. On arrival they discover the Sultan has aligned with Napoleon and refuses to honor the sale, forcing the crew to steal the eggs and flee across a hostile route toward Europe. Passing through Prussia, Temeraire is pressed into service against Napoleon's advancing forces, but outdated Prussian tactics for handling dragons lead to a serious military setback, leaving the crew trapped and besieged at the fortress of Danzig. Throughout the journey, Temeraire wrestles with the contrast between Britain's treatment of dragons as servants and the far greater autonomy dragons enjoy in China, a tension that increasingly shapes Laurence's own view of the war effort.
Where it sits
- Universe: Temeraire
- Series: Temeraire core; position 3 of 9 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Naomi Novik
Notes
- From the series record (Temeraire): 9-novel completed historical-fantasy sequence (2006-2016): the Napoleonic Wars in a world where an intelligent-dragon aerial corps supplements every nation's military. One continuous linear narrative; publication order equals in-story order. Unusual debut cadence: the first three novels were all published in 2006 (Del Rey rapid-succession launch).
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.
- Reading order, within the series Temeraire: position 3 of 9: previous Throne of Jade (2006) · next Empire of Ivory (2007)
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temeraire_(series)
- https://www.sfadb.com/Naomi_Novik
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Powder_War
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