Tongues of Serpents

About Tongues of Serpents

Tongues of Serpents is the sixth volume in Naomi Novik's Temeraire series, set in colonial Australia following the events of Victory of Eagles. Will Laurence, convicted of treason for releasing the dragon plague cure to Napoleon, and Temeraire have been transported to New South Wales as punishment rather than execution—a form of exile at the edge of the British Empire. Their mission, nominally rehabilitative, involves crossing the Australian interior to establish a route from Sydney to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Novik uses Australia with care: the colony is a site of violence and dispossession, and the novel does not obscure this. Laurence's discomfort with what he observes—the treatment of convicts, the displacement of Indigenous Australians, the self-interested machinations of colonial officials—is consistent with the moral evolution that has been his arc since Empire of Ivory. The political intrigue here is colonial administration at its pettiest and most destructive, a different register from the grand diplomacy of earlier books but no less revealing. The discovery of a cache of dragon eggs in the Australian interior introduces new species and raises questions about what relationship these dragons have with the land and its people—questions Novik handles with sensitivity. Coming-of-age elements persist through the young aviators accompanying Laurence and Temeraire, learning what it means to serve in a military shaped by the empire's particular values. Tongues of Serpents is sometimes cited as one of the quieter entries in the series—the war feels distant, the stakes local—but this is also what makes it interesting as a portrait of empire's margins. For readers committed to the full series, it rewards attention. It is not an ideal entry point, but it is an essential chapter in Laurence's moral evolution.

Tropes & Themes