Temeraire Series

by Naomi Novik

ONE-LINE SUMMARY: A British Naval captain’s life is turned upside-down when he accidentally bonds with a dragon.

I do not normally like historical books, nor is my geography very strong (yes, I get lost driving in my hometown). So I looked at the first page of His Majesty’s Dragon, the first in Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, about five separate times before I actually made it to the second page. Rather surprisingly, I found myself caught up in the plot.

Imagine the war (don’t ask me which war; one with Napoleon) with the usual attacks — by land, sea, and air. Except the air attacks involve captains on dragons carrying large crews armed with guns and bombs.

Most aviators begin training at age 7 or so, but Captain Laurence becomes an aviator only after he has already captained several ships. When he captures a French ship that contains a dragon’s egg on it, however, he becomes the unplanned partner of the dragon Temeraire. In book one of this series, Captain Laurence begins to understand what it means to be an aviator as he and Temeraire join the war.

In book two, Throne of Jade, Laurence and Temeraire journey to China where Temeraire’s egg originated and his species live. The Chinese originally gave Temeraire to the French and Laurence must figure out how to keep from being separated from Temeraire. This proves to be more difficult when he and Temeraire see how well dragons are treated in China, where they are not used as soldiers but exalted and respected.

In book three, Black Powder War, Laurence and Temeraire are about to go home from China when they are suddenly give the task of collecting three dragon eggs from Istanbul and transporting them.

The dragon warfare in all the books is fascinating, but don’t get too attached to any of the ground/air crew — people die like crazy.

I’ve already got book four on request, and book five is on its way later this year. These are books that normally I wouldn’t like, and instead, I’m completely fascinated.

Posted by: ssjane | February 19, 2008 | 4:55 pm
Posted in: Books | Children/Young Adult | Fantasy | Recommended