One thing I enjoyed about this over the first book: there was only one aerial battle scene at the very beginning. As awesome as the idea is, I got so bored with those in the first book and had trouble following them very well. 
 One thing I didn't enjoy about this book: There was hardly any action. Am I contradicting myself? Maybe. I just felt like there was a whole lot of waiting around and doing nothing (the majority of the story is a boat ride to China). When we finally figure out what is going on and things start picking up, the book is over. 
 I also felt like there wasn't enough Temeraire. Yes, he's there through the whole book, but I don't know...it was just missing some of the sparkle of the first book. 
 Definitely an enjoyable read though.