His Majesty's Dragon

British Royal Navy Captain William Laurence is astounded that the little French ship he and his crew have just apprehended is carrying some extremely valuable cargo – a dragon egg. He is even more shocked when, upon hatching, the baby dragon chooses him to be its captain, thus terminating Captain Laurence’s distinguished and relatively long navy career. Laurence names the dragon Temeraire, and together they join the ranks of the elite but unconventional and misunderstood Air Corps. They develop a deep, familial love for each other and learn more about the Air Corps, all while protecting England from the wiles of Napoleon Bonaparte and his more numerous dragons.

It’s one part Jane Austen (Regency-era, with lots of fussing about show more manners, etiquette, social class, rank, and gossip), one part Anne McCaffrey (dragons paired with humans have a deep bond and get shit done), and one part Patrick O’Brian (I assume, as I haven’t ever been able to read more than a few pages of Master and Commander without getting bored). There’s a little something for most everyone. I look forward to reading the sequels. show less

Captain William Laurence and the crew of the HMS Reliant capture a dragon egg from a French frigate during the Napoleonic Wars (early 1800s). In this historical fantasy, dragons are a normal part of life. They serve in the Aerial Corps, where they fly into battle with their aviators and crew. When the dragon hatches, it imprints upon Laurence, forcing him to leave his career in the Navy and join the Aerial Corps. The book follows the deep bonds of friendship forming between Laurence and the dragon, named Temeraire. It is also a military adventure, featuring an alternate history of the Battle of Trafalgar.

The characters in this novel are wonderfully drawn. Laurence is a natural leader, motivated by his inner sense of honor, discipline, show more duty, and courtesy. Temeraire possesses a deep intelligence. He is a quick learner, enjoys reading, and speaks French! As he grows, he exhibits the traits of youth – he can be impetuous and a bit rebellious. He has moments of insecurity and self-doubt. He is just a marvelously well-articulated character.

The various dragon breeds are introduced, and each dragon has a unique personality. The author seamlessly engages in world building through the education of the fledgling dragon. The Aerial Corps includes women, since some breeds of dragon will only bond with a female. The dragons carry full crews into battle. These creative touches bring a depth to the narrative. The story is a bit slow in places and the romance unnecessary (fortunately it is not the focus of the story), but these are minor quibbles.

Fantasy represents a very small portion of my annual reading, so this is a departure from my usual fare. I read this book as part of a group, and I am pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. It contains exciting adventures, aerial battles, and an endearing duo of lead characters. It is pure escapism and lots of fun. show less

I absolutely loved this book. I was trying to decide on a TIOLI challenge book for March (read a book by an LT Author) and I needed something that was more brain candy than anything else, and after reading a couple of other reviews/recommendations of His Majesty's Dragon decided I'd pick up the first book if I found it at the bookstore. Much to my now pleasure, they had a copy and I went ahead and broke my no new book buying rule for about the 100th time this year and picked it up. Needless to say, the next four are on their way from Amazon now.

Novik takes another look at the Napoleonic Wars in this series, one where dragons are an important part of all armies and their fighting forces. The dragons are harnessed at birth (when they show more emerge from their egg) with a human rider who becomes their captain, and together they become a fighting force with an entire crew that works to keep the dragon healthy and safe. When Capt. Laurence captures a French ship carrying a dragon egg, at first he imagines only what his share of the prize money will be, but when it is discovered that the egg will hatch before they reach port, the decision is made to try to harness the dragon right on the ship, something that has never been done before, as the Aerial Corps has always handled all eggs and the subsequent harnessing. Much to his surprise, when the new dragonet hatches, it completely ignores the man whose name was pulled to try the harnessing, and instead speaks directly to Laurence and allows him to do the harnessing. Now Laurence must leave the navy and with the newly named Temeraire, must learn the ways of the Aerial Corps. And I couldn't put the book down from here on out.

I loved the growing relationship between Laurence and Temeraire. Instead of just being mindless beasts bent on destruction, Novik has created intelligent and engaging characters in her dragons, and from the moment that Temeraire speaks to Laurence, I was totally lost in their growing friendship and trust. I think this, above and beyond anything else in the book, was what had me hooked from the beginning. There was just something about the way that Novik had Laurence and Temeraire grow closer that I just found totally mesmerizing. The other side stories were just as equally well-written, but it was the experience of watching Laurence and Temeraire grow into their partnership that held the entire book together so unquestionably. Of course, there is so much more to the story than just their growing relationship; there is also their training and the interactions on both Laurence and Temeraire's parts with their new comrades and the battle at the end of the book where we learn the true nature of Temeraire's breeding. It's just all so well put together, I loved every moment of the book and read it in 2 days.

I always enjoy discovering a new author, but to be able to find a book that I can so easily get lost in as well is a complete treat for me, and I can't recommend His Majesty's Dragon enough. I'm anxiously looked forward to moving on to the second book in the series, Throne of Jade. This will easily be topping my list of favorite books of the year. show less

I had been craving a story about dragons for a while, and this book absolutely delivered on its promise. In this historical setting of the Napoleonic wars, dragons are integrated so realistically into the military that it made the world feel much more real. I loved the idea of the dragons being set in a different role, in that they have a whole crew of riders and ground support, and it felt like a unique point of view on these creatures.

I will admit that I found the intensity of war disturbing at times, but likely realistic, and it made me sad to see these magnificent dragons being handled badly by some of the officers (and in reality, that is what would happen due to some humans being incredible horrible). The contrast of our main show more character captain Laurence, who deeply cares for his dragon and his peers, gave me hope and built a great friendship between species that I enjoyed reading about.

So for me it was an absolutely fascinating story that I wanted to get back to every evening and read a lot quicker than expected, thus an earned five stars. And I still regularly think about Temeraire and Laurence weeks later and could not wait to continue the series. show less

His Majesty’s Dragon takes place during the era of the Napoleonic Wars, and Captain Will Laurence suddenly finds himself chosen to harness a very rare and valuable dragon that Britain desperately needs to add to its fighting ranks. Now, as Laurence and his dragon Temeraire become members of the aerial corps, they must prepare to do battle in the skies against Napoleon’s mighty forces.
The dragons in Novik’s novel are presented as highly intelligent, amiable creatures who enjoy close companionship with their captains. The growing relationship between Laurence and Temeraire is priceless. Far from being mere pets, however, these dragons are trained for battle. In an era without airplanes, the defense of the skies is guarded by the show more dragons and their surprisingly numerous crew members. Each dragon is almost like an airborne ship-of-the-line! I love how Novik combines the mythical and the historical is such a seamless fashion. She makes it all seem entirely plausible. I also appreciate that her main characters value integrity, duty, and loyalty, and yet remain compassionate throughout. The book’s ending will leave you wanting to know more and anxious for the next installment in this wonderful series. show less

In this world there be dragons. Will Laurence, youngest son of Lord Somebody, is a Captain in the Navy, having fairly recently achieved his own ship. However, in the course of capturing a French vessel, they discover an unhatched dragon egg. Dragons imprint, generally, on the first person they lay eyes on -- nota bene the use of 'generally'. The dragon chooses the reluctant Will (not a spoiler as obviously it will happen from the get-go) and he must abandon his Naval career for the Aeronauts who work with, care for and ride the dragons into battle. The English are fending off Napoleon -- also armed with his own dragons. Oh, and of course, this is no ordinary dragon! I loved it. Novik is meticulous, she captures the mode of speech of show more that era beautifully, and the characters are delicious, especially the dragons, and especially Temeraire among the dragon. Through hearsay I understand the books falter a bit in the middle (there are quite a few in this series) and then improve again. We shall see. This one gets a five-star salute as I sneaked off to read it with every chance. ***** show less

I picked this up from the library after seeing lots of rave reviews of the series on LT, for which I thank everyone who mentioned it. I have to agree; this is a great book!

This is the first book in the Temeraire series, and it introduces us to Captain William Laurence, a lieutenant in his majesty's navy at the time that Britain was trying to prevent Napoleon invading. It is, however, an alternate history, in which there are dragons. There are not many, so the animals are valuable, but the men who handle them (aviators) are considered the lowest branch of the armed forces. The book is divided into three parts; the first part introduces us to Laurence, fast rising in the navy - until he inadvertently finds himself in harness to a dragon, show more to whom he gives the name Temeraire. The second part is about the training that Laurence and Temeraire undergo and how they integrate themselves into their new lives as aviator and dragon, and the third part sees them going to war in defence of the realm.

Almost any dragon books written now, I find, will give a nod (unconscious or otherwise) to Anne McCaffery's dragons of Pern; Novik's dragons only have one captain at a time (for the lifetime of that captain), to whom they give their utmost devotion - even through neglect and ill-treatment. However, her dragons are longer-lived than humans, so they will accept a new captain when the present one dies, often one from the same family. They are also much larger than Pernese dragons, who only have one rider (though they can carry several people). Each dragon is, effectively, an air-ship; apart from the captain, they have riflemen, lookouts, signalmen and crew-members on board who are responsible for the weight distribution on the dragon and first-aid in the air.

Temeraire was captured in the egg from the French, and as he is an unknown breed, he and Laurence explore his full potential together. He is highly intelligent (unlike some other dragon breeds) and insatiably curious, as well as dextrous in the air, and as a mid to heavy weight dragon, a valuable fighter. Laurence, a younger son of a lord, is a dedicated naval officer in a career that is just barely respectable in his father's eyes. By doing his duty and reluctantly harnessing a dragon, he has fallen even further and given up all career prospects; but he finds unexpected recompense in joining the Corps and in his relationship with Temeraire.

I found this a compelling story, full of action and easy to read ... very easy to find myself still reading, long past my bedtime. For all that he's as big as a sailing ship of the time, as a dragonet harnessed to Laurence, at times Temeraire reminded me of my children who are growing up and finding their way in the world.

This is a very well written book, with a lot of attention to language. The first part of the novel compares well against Jane Austen and Louisa May Alcott; if it weren't for the dragons, it would be easy to believe, from the language and the behaviour of the characters, that it had been written in the time it is set. Of contemporary books that try to do this, this is the only one I've read that works. However, in the second part, some characters are written more in P.G. Wodehouse-style, and by the third part it flows between Austen-type English and straight description in modern American; but this is merely an observation of mine, and not a criticism.

I've enjoyed this story so thoroughly, I'm giving it 5 stars, and going out to get more.

N.B. (further to my Google research). Laurence named Temeraire (meaning 'bold') after a ship of the Royal Navy. 'The Fighting Temeraire' defended Nelson's ship, HMS Victory, at Trafalgar and was itself named after Third Rate HMS Téméraire, which had been captured from the French and retained its name. Rather appropriate! show less