Temeraire Quadrology – Naomi Novik

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Naomi Novik

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His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik (Author)

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All hail Naomi Novik for seizing on an entirely different set of literary conventions for her fantasy debut — the dashing Brits-on-ships genre perfected by Patrick O’Brian. In His Majesty’s Dragon, Novik plunks her scaly beasts into the Napoleonic Wars, as members of the Aerial Corps, air cover for the beleaguered Royal Navy as it fends off a French invasion.

The novel begins when the H.M.S. Reliant captures a French ship carrying a dragon egg that is primed to hatch. A substantial prize, it puts Laurence — the Reliant’s captain — and his officers — gentlemen and aspiring gentlemen — in a difficult position: One of them must become the creature’s rider when it hatches. The prize then would become a deadweight, bringing to an end “any semblance of ordinary life. . . .An aviator could not easily manage any sort of estate, nor raise a family, nor go into society to any real extent.” For the one chosen by the hatchling (and a dragon won’t let just anyone harness him), it would mean “the wreck of his career.” Naturally, it is the heroic Capt. Laurence whom the dragon picks.

Books Included:

1. His Majesty’s Dragon
2. Throne Of Jade
3. Black Powder War
4. Empire Of Ivory