Yes. Some of the plot elements are fairly traditional romance plotpoints: "I had to step aside because I'm not good enough for you"/"I don't want anyone but you," the fact that a dragon will sacrifice pretty much anything for their handler (and, to some extent, vice versa), the way handlers have children quite literally for their dragon (and the relationship between kid and dragon is privileged over the relationship with the other parent), the way the 'scorned lover' (poor Levitas) suffers and fades, etc. Hell, I think the dragons are even compared to mistresses at one point, albeit not by a very sympathetic character. It's very much a set of romantic tropes.
Interestingly, while it's clearly playing on romantic tropes, and while it's not hard for me to see 'slashy' subtexts in books, I didn't really ping on it that way. I think it's partly the pure physical difference of it (not only is Temeraire not human, he's not humanoid, and he's an order of magnitude bigger than Laurence), but it's mostly that Laurence's role is initially so parental, even though he and Temeraire are on a more equal footing by the end. To some extent the 'I would do anything for you' also seems to tie into a parent/child dynamic -- but one that works both ways; the dragons' mother-bear tendency to get violent in defense of their handlers refutes any interpretation in which the humans always take the parent role.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2009-02-02 06:48 am (UTC)Interestingly, while it's clearly playing on romantic tropes, and while it's not hard for me to see 'slashy' subtexts in books, I didn't really ping on it that way. I think it's partly the pure physical difference of it (not only is Temeraire not human, he's not humanoid, and he's an order of magnitude bigger than Laurence), but it's mostly that Laurence's role is initially so parental, even though he and Temeraire are on a more equal footing by the end. To some extent the 'I would do anything for you' also seems to tie into a parent/child dynamic -- but one that works both ways; the dragons' mother-bear tendency to get violent in defense of their handlers refutes any interpretation in which the humans always take the parent role.