Hi! I just saw your review for Johnathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, and how it feels like reading Wikipedia when even with the magic added everything in the Napoleonic wars happen exactly the same as it did in history anyways, and I vaguely remember you having read the Temeraire series at some point? Anyways, since I just got through Black Powder War, I was curious about what you thought on how Novik handled The-Napoleonic-Wars-but-with-dragons, and whether it has a similar feel, or if it's handled better.

oh no it's not that it felt like reading wikipedia--I was actually reading Wikipedia and constructing explanations for why Wellington had fucked up such and such to need Strange to do whatever when historically he had, perhaps obviously, not had any magicians.

at any rate: Novik drives me nuts.

it DOES end up derailing fairly dramatically from history (yay!) but then sharply pivots into "in this book we shall examine one Foreign Culture TM and how they interact with dragons and also uncritically praise Britain/condemn Napoleon". which makes me want to eat glass.