You know what you should read is R. F. Kuang's BABEL: AN ARCANE HISTORY.
Not that THRONE OF JADE is impossible to read due to imperialism or Anglophilia or anything. Novik makes a stab at troubling Laurence's views of the empire, portrays the horrors of slavery, forces him to confront the fact that his misconceptions about China are completely incorrect. But it's just not a very complicated a portrayal of United Kingdom-China relations in the 1800s.
The battle scenes are dramatic, the dragons are lovely. I liked the sea serpent and the stormy weather on the open ocean. I'll probably read the next book in the series--I have read everything else by Novik, so I have to admit I'm a fan.
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