I can't speak for the author, and it may just be that my level of unrecognized privilege is so high that I experience as enlightening what you recognize as racist. But as a white American:
I grew up knowing that the British acted heinously in China. One of the more stomach-turning moments in high school social studies class. (I did not grow up knowing much about the awful things the US did in the Pacific islands, and I didn't find out about sweat shops in the Marianas until I read Al Franken's books.)
The impression I got from reading the series was that European nations were terrified of China and were vying for its favor. I didn't think the trade deal was anything but desired and desirable to China. The integrated human-dragon society was presented as far superior to anything in Europe, and Laurence is quite rightly ashamed of the British system. This is not forgotten by Temeraire or by Laurence, and the series seems to be progressing toward their finding a separate peace somewhere, if not overthrowing the British Empire.
In =Empire of Ivory=, in the captive scenes, I thought that Lawrence was writhing in shame at the complete justice of the King's accusations. He hates having nothing to offer beyond, "Some of us don't like the slave trade, although we've totally failed to get it stopped." As the series continues, the Tswana empire keeps on kicking slaver ass everywhere, and I sure thought the author was cheering it on.
In fact, my impression was that the author was creating a world in which Europe and European colonists doesn't get to commit many of their most heinous crimes, because in this world the indigenous peoples have more firepower. Even the dragon plague may be a counterstrike from the Dakota First Nation against the British. It's like a What If based on =Guns, Germs, and Steel=. One Amazon.com reviewer was so outraged by the idea that European domination was a mere accident of fate that he wrote screen after screen denouncing this "political correctness". He was threatened by the idea that in *another universe*, colonizers might not have had the opportunity to succeed at every horrible enterprise they began.
As I said, this may be a mere confession of my own ignorance and bias, and if it doesn't add to the discussion, you are welcome to remove it.
Temeraire and Western bias
I grew up knowing that the British acted heinously in China. One of the more stomach-turning moments in high school social studies class. (I did not grow up knowing much about the awful things the US did in the Pacific islands, and I didn't find out about sweat shops in the Marianas until I read Al Franken's books.)
The impression I got from reading the series was that European nations were terrified of China and were vying for its favor. I didn't think the trade deal was anything but desired and desirable to China. The integrated human-dragon society was presented as far superior to anything in Europe, and Laurence is quite rightly ashamed of the British system. This is not forgotten by Temeraire or by Laurence, and the series seems to be progressing toward their finding a separate peace somewhere, if not overthrowing the British Empire.
In =Empire of Ivory=, in the captive scenes, I thought that Lawrence was writhing in shame at the complete justice of the King's accusations. He hates having nothing to offer beyond, "Some of us don't like the slave trade, although we've totally failed to get it stopped." As the series continues, the Tswana empire keeps on kicking slaver ass everywhere, and I sure thought the author was cheering it on.
In fact, my impression was that the author was creating a world in which Europe and European colonists doesn't get to commit many of their most heinous crimes, because in this world the indigenous peoples have more firepower. Even the dragon plague may be a counterstrike from the Dakota First Nation against the British. It's like a What If based on =Guns, Germs, and Steel=. One Amazon.com reviewer was so outraged by the idea that European domination was a mere accident of fate that he wrote screen after screen denouncing this "political correctness". He was threatened by the idea that in *another universe*, colonizers might not have had the opportunity to succeed at every horrible enterprise they began.
As I said, this may be a mere confession of my own ignorance and bias, and if it doesn't add to the discussion, you are welcome to remove it.