I could see the glimmerings of Laurence becoming more enlightened, but he was such a slave to king and country - all very understandable in the age depicted, where duty was all. It's just ... I wanted it to happen more, um, I don't know, distinctly. He allowed so much to happen, especially to Temeraire, that my admiration for him kept slipping away. And despite all the evidence before him, including his own feelings, it was taking him far too long to truly respect Temeraire as a thinking, feeling being, with everything that entails. I wasn't emotionally equipped to deal with how far down it was necessary for him to go before he worked it out. Possibly my problem and not the books'. Maybe. >.>

And yes, there are. Probably not the highlight of great literature.