His Majesty's Dragon

Overview

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.

Editorial Reviews

Editorial Reviews for this product are not available at this time.

Author Information

Bio of Naomi Novik

An avid reader of fantasy literature since age six, when she first made her way through The Lord of the Rings, Naomi Novik is also a history buff with a particular interest in the Napoleonic era and a fondness for the work of Patrick O ' Brian and Jane Austen. She studied English literature at Brown University, and did graduate work in computer science at Columbia University before leaving to participate in the design and development of the computer game Neverwinter Nights: Shadow of Undrentide. Over the course of a brief winter sojourn spent working on the game in Edmonton, Canada (accompanied by a truly alarming coat that now lives brooding in the depths of her closet), she realized she preferred writing to programming, and on returning to New York, decided to try her hand at novels. Novik lives in New York City with her husband and six computers. Her website and livejournal are at www.temeraire.org.

Customer Reviews

• Horatio Hornblower and the Dragon

  Posted November 25, 2008 by Karl, Chicago

  Ms. Novik takes a fantasy twist on the alternate history genre, adding dragons to the Napoleonic era tools of war.
  I enjoyed the pacing and plot of this first book in her series. Seems to be much written of dragons lately and those books are not my favorites. However, I am a fan of the Hornblower novels and I found this pleasantly comparable.
  Although there is some swashbuckling adventure, most of the enjoyment for the reader is in the discovery --- we follow our former sea captain come aviator as he finds his way in military service with dragons and forms deep bonds with "his" dragon. There is a good deal of information on the dragon breeds and their uses, but it never goes into the minute details of military armament you find in a Tom Clancy book. The author saves much of the details for an afterward. Overall, the book is well-balanced and enjoyable.
  I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

• Adventure for everyone. At 65, I loved it.

  Posted April 13, 2009 by Marcia, Dallas

  It was difficult to put the book down. I was very involved emotionally with the dragon. It was love at first hatch. He was a perfect being waiting to be fed. His handler did a splendid job giving him the basics for making good decisions. Today, most families are at some degree of dysfunction. This story shows me the importance of explaining the reasons for decisions as soon as possible, before assumptions run crazy.

• Amazing

  Posted May 11, 2009 by Caleb, Omaha

  One of the best books i've ever read

• Entertaining, Well-paced

  Posted July 09, 2009 by Rock, Sunny Florida

  I enjoyed this book quite a lot and have since purchased the follow ups in the series. The writing style is so classicly English you will double-check the publishing date to be sure it was not written by Jane Austen or another contemporary.
  
  A great adventure.

• Good story, terrible punctuation and editing

  Posted July 15, 2009 by cinefyl, Ohio

  I agree with the others that this was a very good story, but I couldn't get past the excessive use of semi-colons and such. For the love of all things holy, the copy editor should get a new job.

• An Intimate Relationship

  Posted July 16, 2009 by VRod Karaf, Rocky Mountains, CO

  This book was a pleasant surprise... While it struggles a tiny bit getting off the ground, it develops quickly as it introduces and develops the main character. Once the dragon enters the story, you are enraptured by the relationship that develops. The military training scenes and battle scenes are written with attention to cinematic details, allowing you to watch the scenes in your mind. But in the end, this is a story about a man and his new best friend, told in a way that you care about both characters and want to continue following in their exploits. Highly recommended.

• Best book in a long time.

  Posted August 10, 2009 by Robert B, Sandia Park N.M.

  This book was very hard to put down. Can't wait to read the next one. Will read and recommend all of Naomi Novik books.

• Great!

  Posted August 11, 2009 by SenseisWife, Jacksonville

  Honestly, I only read this because it was free and there was a note from Stephen King on the front. I loved it, it was captivating from the first sentence!!

• An excellent read for dragon fans.

  Posted September 04, 2009 by Sleepless in Miami Beach, Miami Beach

  This is a well written tale of adventure with the dragon twist. I had always walked past this book and enjoyed its cover art, but it was not until it was offered for free that I actually gave it a chance, and I'm glad that I did. I was hooked within the first 50 pages, and if you enjoy reading books such as Eragon, then you'll like this too. Unlike Eragon, the series matures quite nicely and tackles some very interesting philisophical questions about whether dragons are property or sentient beings with their own rights.

Additional Info

Imprint

Del Rey

Filesize

1.76 MB

Number of Pages

384

eBook ISBN

9780345490728

Awards

• Hugo Awards