After the events of the last book in China, Temeraire and Laurence, and the rest of Temeraire’s crew, receive orders to travel immediately to Istanbul. The British government has bought three dragon eggs there, and Temeraire’s crew are to escort them back to England.
They’re forced to do an overland journey to Istanbul (which is an interesting journey in and of itself), and once there, find the Chinese dragon Lien has travelled there ahead of them – ready to seek vengeance for them having killed her master.
I love these books. Temeraire and Laurence are such fun characters, and the historical detail is wonderfully written, and also fun. I especially liked the part of the book that was in Istanbul – the scene and action were just wonderfully drawn. This has to be one of the best series I’ve recently read.