The latest installment of Naomi Novik's Temeraire series does exactly what such a volume should: it takes us from the surprising developments of the previous book and carries us through to another crucial cliffhanger with no small measure of adventure, humor, and more fascinating glimpse's of the author's world along the way.It is now the year 1812, and that fact alone should give some hint as to where the action will take us. The first two-thirds of the novel, however, concern the ways and means Captain William Laurence and his dragon Temeraire eventually come to face a certain Corsican in a certain large, cold, winter-ravaged country. The first obstacle to be overcome, however, is the Laurence's shipwreck-induced amnesia that leaves him lost and alone in Japan with the past 8 years of his memory gone. Amnesia is such a tired cliche, a tool of soap opera writers who have run out of ideas, that I found Novik's resort to it initially disappointing. However, it actually may prove a handy device for a reader new to the series to slowly glean details of what has gone before along with Laurence.As always, my favorite parts are those that describe the social and political systems in the various nations and how the existence of sentient dragons and their integration into human society has resulted in differences great and small from the world and history we know. While Britain is no different from the country Jane Austen knew and Russia treats its dragons about as humanely as its human serfs, dragons in China and Japan rule estates and command armies. We get hints in this episode that things may be similar in North America, and as the only inhabited continent as yet unvisited by our protagonists we may see more of the US in the future.After a few slow and uneven early chapters, Blood of Tyrants eventually and inevitably captured and captivated my imagination like its predecessors and I am eagerly awaiting the next installment.