Throne of Jade (temeraire, #2)

The second book in Naomi Novik's Temeraire series is set in an alternate history where dragons are real and serve as aerial military forces during the Napoleonic Wars. In the previous novel, Captain William Laurence, a British naval officer, unexpectedly became the companion of Temeraire, a Celestial dragon, a rare Chinese imperial breed traditionally bonded with members of the ruling family. Now China has learned that its gift, originally intended for Napoleon, ended up in British hands, and an imperial delegation has arrived in London to reclaim the dragon.

Prince Yongxing, brother of the Emperor of China, leads the embassy. At a formal meeting at the Admiralty, Lord Barham, the First Lord, pressures Laurence to accept a new dragon and allow Temeraire to return to China. Laurence refuses. Barham reveals a more sinister plan: Laurence was to deceive Temeraire into believing they were assigned to Gibraltar, then get him aboard a transport bound for China before the dragon realized the truth. Laurence has already been separated from Temeraire for two weeks and declares he would sooner hang than participate in such dishonesty.

After the meeting, Laurence confides in Captain Jane Roland, a fellow aviator and intimate companion who commands the Longwing dragon Excidium. She is outraged at the scheme and shares Laurence's grim assessment. Without Temeraire, Laurence's career in Britain's Aerial Corps, the branch of the military devoted to dragon warfare, is finished.

The next morning, while Laurence is at the London covert, a dragon base, an enormous crash shakes the grounds. Temeraire has unleashed the divine wind, a devastating roar unique to Celestials that can shatter wood and stone. Enraged by Barham's lies, the dragon has destroyed trees and a barracks building. Laurence rushes to him, and the two are briefly reunited before Barham attempts to have Laurence arrested. Temeraire snatches Laurence in his claws and flies to Dover, where Admiral Lenton is preparing an aerial attack against a French convoy. Lenton allows them to join the battle, and in the fierce engagement that follows, Temeraire and his crew fight French dragons and repel boarders. Several crewmen are killed, and Laurence is knocked unconscious. He wakes to find his first lieutenant, John Granby, defending him from Barham, who has arrived with Marines to arrest him. Temeraire threatens violence against anyone who approaches.

The crisis is resolved when Yongxing declares that Laurence must accompany Temeraire to China, since the dragon refuses to be separated from him. Barham agrees eagerly. Lenton arranges for Laurence's crew to go as well, and a young diplomat named Arthur Hammond is assigned to the mission. Laurence writes to Captain Thomas Riley, a friend and former subordinate, who secures the captaincy of the dragon transport Allegiance.

The voyage south proves contentious. At a dinner, the Chinese envoy Ye Bing casually reveals that the embassy commandeered four British East India Company ships in Canton, forcing British seamen into service under Imperial edict. The revelation enrages the crew, but Hammond, who already knew, had suppressed the information. Meanwhile, Yongxing begins visiting Temeraire daily, teaching him Chinese language and poetry. Temeraire's enthusiasm for his heritage grows, and Laurence watches with mounting unease. Liu Bao, an older Chinese envoy, gradually befriends Laurence after Laurence helps him recover from severe seasickness.

A nighttime attack by a French Fleur-de-Nuit, a nocturnal dragon breed, and two frigates nearly destroys the ship. Temeraire leaps aloft without harness and uses the divine wind against one frigate, capsizing and sinking her, drowning over three hundred men. A spiked ball strikes Temeraire in the chest, and the surgeon Keynes must extract it and cauterize the wound. Temeraire is grounded for weeks, and the sinking haunts him.

Shipboard conflicts worsen. After the aviator Blythe punches a naval midshipman to protect a fellow officer from a duel challenge, Laurence must order a flogging. Temeraire falls into deep unhappiness that Yongxing exploits, telling him in Chinese that Laurence will be replaced with a worthier companion. Yongxing then privately offers Laurence ten thousand taels of silver to pretend he does not mind the separation. When Laurence refuses, Yongxing offers a permanent British envoy in Peking and Chinese neutrality. Laurence refuses even this. Hammond is paradoxically encouraged; Yongxing's desperation suggests the Emperor may grant better terms.

At Cape Coast, a slave-trading port, Temeraire witnesses enslaved people being loaded onto a ship and is horrified. During a storm, Yongxing's servant Feng Li attacks Laurence with a pry-bar before falling overboard. Hammond forbids any investigation. East of Africa, the Allegiance is attacked by an enormous sea serpent; Temeraire dives underwater and kills it, then is troubled by the possibility the creature was intelligent. This sparks a broader philosophical crisis. Temeraire asks what would happen if he refused to serve in the Aerial Corps. Laurence admits he would not be permitted to live freely. Temeraire concludes bitterly that dragons in England are "just like slaves; only there are fewer of us, and we are much bigger and dangerous, so we are treated generously where they are treated cruelly; but we are still not free" (223).

They reach Macao and proceed by air to Peking, where Laurence discovers a civilization built to accommodate dragons. Dragons walk freely through broad streets, serve in the civil service, and manage their own finances. Hatchlings are communally raised and educated before choosing their own companions. Temeraire meets his mother, Lung Tien Qian, an ancient Celestial. Laurence also encounters Lien, Yongxing's companion, a white Celestial whose albino coloring is considered deeply unlucky. Qian reveals that only eight Celestials exist in China, and Hammond deduces that Temeraire's egg was sent away not as a diplomatic gift but to remove a potential rival claimant to the throne.

Hammond discovers that Yongxing may be plotting to place his protégé, Prince Miankai, on the throne with himself as regent. This explains the attempts on Laurence's life: killing him would leave Temeraire free to be paired with Miankai. One night, Sun Kai, a Chinese envoy who reveals he has spoken fluent English all along, warns Laurence that armed men are coming. Laurence fortifies a pavilion and his small crew fights through the night against over a hundred attackers, losing one man. Temeraire does not come; he was away courting Mei, a dragon attached to the imperial household, and lost track of time entirely.

Crown Prince Mianning takes the British under his protection. At a theatrical performance, an assassin's knife strikes Laurence below the collarbone. Temeraire kills the attacker and turns on Yongxing, but Lien springs to defend her companion. The two Celestials fight savagely until they crash into the stage, which collapses. A jagged splinter strikes Yongxing through the eye, killing him. Lien silently gathers his body and flies away into the darkness.

With Yongxing's faction disgraced, Hammond pursues Liu Bao's earlier suggestion that the Emperor adopt Laurence, satisfying the tradition that a Celestial's companion must belong to the Imperial family. The Emperor approves. Laurence performs the kowtow ceremony, prostrating himself before the Emperor, and undergoes the formal adoption. The Emperor remits all duties on British ships for a year and opens the door to permanent diplomatic relations.

In the final scene, Laurence asks Temeraire whether he would prefer to remain in China. Temeraire acknowledges the freedom and respect given to dragons there but decides to return to England: He cannot enjoy these privileges while his friends Maximus, Lily, and the other British dragons remain ignorant that a better life is possible. Together, they prepare for the journey home.