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His Majesty's Dragon |  | Author: Naomi Novik
Publisher: Del Rey
Category: eBooks
This item is no longer available
Rating:  335 reviews
Sales Rank: 1117
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Pages: 384
Number Of Items: 1
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
ASIN: B000GCFBQA
Publication Date: March 28, 2006
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Product Description
Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleonic Wars as valiant warriors rise to Britain’s defense by taking to the skies . . . not aboard aircraft but atop the mighty backs of fighting dragons.
When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes its precious cargo, an unhatched dragon egg, fate sweeps Capt. Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future–and an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature. Thrust into the rarified world of the Aerial Corps as master of the dragon Temeraire, he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle. For as France’s own dragon-borne forces rally to breach British soil in Bonaparte’s boldest gambit, Laurence and Temeraire must soar into their own baptism of fire.
From the Paperback edition.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 335
 Horatio Hornblower With Dragons September 7, 2010
ahtnamas42 (Charles County, MD)
The briefest, simplest way to describe Novik's Temeraire books is "Horatio Hornblower With Dragons". If you like the books of C.S. Forester and similar authors, especially the Hornblower novels based during the Napoleonic Wars (I read all of these, & enjoyed them, especially the realistic depiction of the British Navy at the time), and don't mind a different angle to your history (the dragons), these are a great read. They have all the flavor of the period, but are a touch less raw than the Hornblower books (far fewer depictions of the harsh discipline common in the British Navy). The war is depicted pretty much as it happened, except for the addition of air battles between the dragon units.
Note that these are not Pernese dragons (Anne McCaffrey's series), joined telepathically to one person, nor are they only one size. The larger dragons (like Temeraire) are up to two-thirds the size of a football field and actually carry a flight crew of a half-dozen or more; they range down to the size of horses, come in all colors, patterns, and abilities, from fire-breathing to hurricane-force blowing abilities, and are found on every continent, both domesticated and wild. To the British and French, they're tools, like military horses, and are not usually the riders' friend. (Temeraire is an exception - he's a very well-drawn characters, as is Lawrence and the main members of his crew.)
The British Navy plus dragons September 6, 2010
David Pruette (USA)
I think it is clear now that Naomi Novik has hit upon a successful formula with her Temeraire books. The sixth book in the series was released in July. His Majesty's Dragon is the one that began it all. We are introduced to Captain Will Laurence of the British Navy as his ship captures a French frigate with an unexpectedly valuable cargo - an unhatched dragon egg. The egg is brought aboard the British ship, it hatches, and the dragon (now named Temeraire) chooses Captain Laurence to be his master. This has ramifications for Laurence for the rest of his life. He leaves the navy to become an aviator. He realizes that he will be unable to marry the woman he loves. In short, he has entered an entirely new world.
The bulk of the book takes us through the development of the relationship between Temeraire and Laurence and gives us an understanding of the training that the dragons and aviators must go through. The plot thickens midway through the book when Temeraire is found to be a Celestial, an extremely rare breed bred only in China. He also has unusual powers that will be very valuable in the war against Napoleon.
The dragons are extremely interesting characters. Temeraire is highly intelligent, expresses himself well, loves to have Laurence read to him, and picks up military strategies very quickly. The bond between Temeraire and Laurence turns out to be immensely strong. I found that I very much enjoyed the dragons and accepted them completely as believable characters.
This first book in the series was great fun to read, and I look forward to the next ones.
Dragon Politics September 1, 2010
Cameron Lee
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Imagine the Napoleonic Era. France vs England. Boats, cavalry, and gunpowder were the order of the day. Britain was hanging on by the skin of its teeth, its only protection the power of its Navy and the support the Arial Corps can give. But all that changes when Captain William Laurence captures the cargo of an enemy ship: an unhatched Dragon egg, a prize more valuable than -
Wait, what?
Author Naomi Novik has created a world where Dragons are a rather prominent reality. These are no beastly creatures; Dragons can talk, have feelings, desires, fears. Like people they can be greedy, or kind, or bored. Like people, Dragons want to protect their country and serve in the military as great winged arial weapons.
Dragons also bond to a specific "pilot", and when baby Temeraire bonds to Captain Laurence, he must quickly learn the ropes of being an Arial Corps Captain. He must gather a crew, learn the art of Dragon-to-Dragon fighting, repelling boarders off of Temeraire, providing support for the Navy, and above all he must learn to trust Temeraire.
Having never been in the Napoleonic Era myself, I can't say how accurate the historical aspects are. The blending of fact and fiction, however, works very well. This isn't "History with Dragons Dumped Into It". Dragons have been around forever, but the general public doesn't know much about them. From Captain Laurence's point of view, we learn about the Arial Corps and Dragons. Everything from getting enough food to feed a fleet of Dragons to convincing the public that Dragons aren't just brutes is touched on.
There is plenty of action in addition to the politics of the book. Imagine sea battles, with the crews of the ships firing cannons and pistols at each other, only now the battles take place far up in the sky and the ships are trying to gouge each other's throats out.
His Majesty's Dragon isn't for everyone. There is a lot of politics and philosophy (are Dragons people? Do they get rights?) alongside the action. But if you don't mind that, or just want to see what a major era of history would have been like with Dragons, this is the book for you.
Simply Brilliant August 27, 2010
Frank L. Thompson III
I just finished this story yesterday and I still being blown away by what a simply great story it was. Far and away the best book I have read since I received a Kindle for my birthday almost three months ago.
The story is excellent, and though billed as historical fiction, I never found the history portion overwhelming. Dragons were blended seamlessly with the world Ms. Novik created, and layered deeply into the workings of society so that as I read I felt that it was simply natural for dragons to exist in the world.
I could not help but notice that another review claimed that the characters were flat. I must whole-heartedly disagree with that assessment. Rather the characters are British, and particularly British at a time in history when breeding, propriety, and honor were of the utmost importance -- anyone familiar with the work of the Bronte sisters, Dickens, Austen, etc. will immediately recognize the style of characters found here.
I could go on for hours about this wonderful work of fiction, but I will end here by saying that if you love dragons, fantasy, or just plain good-old-fashioned great story-telling then you MUST read this book.
 The first of the Novik books about Dragons in Napoleonic Wars August 24, 2010
geoff thomas (MD)
It liked it but now have to think if I liked it enough to spend $6.29 for each of the subsequent books in the series. Ok, I do.
The concept being we are in the middle of the Napoleonic Wars.
And all sides have dragons - the major weapons outside of sailing ships.
And the dragons are smart, in varying degrees - some are puppy dog dumb and some are intellectual tacticians.
But the dragons are almost just like Anne Mccafrey's - they bond with their riders at egg-hatching time and there is no room for a "normal" life.
So we have a story based in England with air wars over the channel between "wings" of dragons.
Very interesting, pretty well written...and I am now committed to reading more.
As an aside: not quite as deep a story as Robin Hobb writes, but not as dark and depressing either.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 335
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