Laurence and Temeraire's circumstances have dramatically changed, and neither character seems prepared well for it. While Laurence has some growth to do, it seems that Temeraire's personality has been curtailed rather dramatically. Indeed, a renewed fixation on treasure has been implanted as the dragons' motivation, and while that makes a certain amount of lore sense, it cheapens every interaction they have. Likewise, we find ourselves with yet another dragon whose personality is wholly objectionable, in a way that feels like a rather lame repetition of earlier plot points. Likewise, the bulk of the novel is concerned with flying over a bleary and drear landscape that somehow manages to be blanker than the oceans of previous books.

With personal growth flailing, characters generally being annoying, and the plot quite slow to develop, this book is the weakest of the series so-far. Its final quarter redeems it somewhat, however.