Flashman and the Dragon finds Flashman in China and mixed up in the Taiping Rebellion and the Second Opium War. I think this may be my favorite Flashman book so far. I learned a lot (not the point of these books, I'm sure, but a delightful by-product of Fraser's extensive research) and Flashman just isn't grating on my nerves the way he used to. If I was reading these over, it's possible that I would advise reading them in in-book-chronological order, rather than the order they were published, as it occasionally gets tricky remembering what has and hasn't happened to Flashman yet—the conceit of the novels has Flashman himself writing them at an advanced age and he often refers to events from throughout his life.

FuzzyCo grade: A-