Laurence's capture of and friendship with Temeraire has caused quite a political stir, and since neither of the pair will abandon the other, the only choice is to send them both to China to keep the Chinese from declaring war on England. But intrigue abounds, and Laurence finds himself in deeper water than he expected. 
 I adore Laurence and Temeraire's relationship, and I love the social commentary about slavery, freedom, human rights, and duty to one's country that permeates these books. It is also clear that Novik tried hard to avoid Orientalism--casting China as either sinister or preternaturally civilized--by making sure to write the characters as strongly individual as well as showing the downside of the Chinese treatment of dragons, which is generally better than England's. 
 The pacing of Throne of Jade was a bit odd; most of it is taken up with the sea voyage, and then a chunk with sitting around China waiting for the Emperor to show up, but then at the end everything happens all at once. I didn't find that there was really time in the narrative to come to grips with what the conspiracy was, or who was involved, or how they intended to carry it out, before it was stopped and all was resolved. 
 Throne of Jade took care of a major issue in Temeraire and Laurence's partnership, getting it out of the way for the rest of the series, but I felt it could have been executed better.