Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik

Well, it will come as no surprise to anyone that--finally--Book 4 of the Temeraire series takes on the task of delving into the world of the "feral" dragons of central Africa; let this be a lesson that blatant hints are just that: blatant hints. (And if you didn't catch what I just did, I pity you.)

If I had to summarize the distinguishing characteristic of this book in one word, that word would be "INTENSE." Here's my best oh-damn-shit's-getting-real face:

Because yes, shit gets real in this book. Shit gets so real--it's all over the place. I still can't quite put my finger on what made Book 3's traveling tedious compared to that of Books 2 and 4, but there's definitely a difference. Maybe I'll figure it out by the end of the series.

This is a very eventful book, so I will prevent myself from giving away spoilers by ending my brief review with very little actual insight into the plot. Only know that Book 4 has totally regained the point that I took away from Novik for Book 3. Yeah, it's that good.

~8/10~