Teme 1 review: His Majesty's Dragon
“Look up in the Sky!”
“It’s a bird!”
“It’s a oversized lizard!”
“No, General. It’s a veteran Longwing!”
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William Laurence, captain of the HMS Reliant has successfully captured the French ship Amitie. After searching the board they find a precious dragon egg aboard the ship that is about to hatch. However the dragon that hatches is successfully harnessed by Captain Laurence himself and the baby dragon is named Temeraire. Laurence soon decides to give up his position in the Navy and as Temeraire’s captain begin training as a Aviator to assist in the war effort against Napoleon with his dragon by his side.
Although the summary may give you doubts at first about this story (it is little more than a rewrite of the Napoleonic War with a touch of fantasy) as well its originality compared to books such as Eragon and Master and Commander. Naomi Novik quickly proves the originality and superiority of her book.
The dragons here aren’t glorified but nonetheless valuable to the war effort despite being a burden. They aren’t all powerful compared to their cousins in other books and can be fatally wounded by heavy cannon fire. One welcome change to the dragons would be removal of their fire-breathing powers, in the Temeraire universe only a select few breeds have the ability to breathe fire (Flamme de Gloire). Another change that differentiates her from Eragon is the dragon riders. While in Eragon, the Shur’tugals are glamorously glorified warriors, the Aviators in comparison are persecuted by their fellow military men and are treated as outcast for their relationship with their dragons rather than decorated heroes.
The characterisations are also terrific, especially in the case of Temeraire and his human companion. Temeraire is a well-rounded character who maintains a balance of child-like and infectious enthusiasm, a soldier who anticipates the good fight and a loyal friend who fights alongside his mate (Laurence) in battle. Novik was indeed wise when she made the relationship the core of the series and the companionship each other provide is best seen when Laurence spends a night reading with his draconic friend. The scenes where the two bonds is something that will no doubt put a smile on anyone’s face.
At the same time Naomi has entwined her story with the themes of feminism, animal companionship and war. Both of them are intelligently connected to the dragons which serve as a plot device all three of these. Novik’s character Catherine Harcourt is one of the female characters who serve her duty as a Aviator. She joins the war effort as the specie she captains only accepts female captains. And despite the expectations of the time of a female as well as the dangerous persecution her military service could face if found out. The good and bad of animal companionship are shown in this book.
There is the abused Winchester Levitas who suffers from loneliness due to being ignored by her captain compared to the healthy relationships that exist between the other Aviators and their dragon. The theme of war can be explained for obvious reasons. The setting of the book is in the colourful world of the Napoleonic Wars. The dragons on either side not only provide companionship to their captains but are creatively written by Novik who provide flawless and imaginative descriptions of the different uses of dragons by the French and the British and how they are incorporated into military tactics and strategies.
However this novel is not without its flaws and Novik ruins the experience with her snail-like pace at times. The dragging abilities of Novik is spectacular as she wastes more pages than necessary at a single setting. Having read through 5 chapters of Temeraire’s training for the war at Loch Laggan, I began to wonder if she had decided to leave the action for the next book. When she finally got to the skybourne battle, I had been anticipating she decided to hit the brakes once again and go into another dull, dragging experience. Her abilities as a writer would be complete, if she learnt how not to torture her readers with her horribly slow segue between the 5 star battle scenes. Though, the wait is maybe worth it when she flies into those page-turning and exciting clashes between Boney’s forces and Nelson’s men.
Overall Temeraire is an excellent book despite it’s doubtful description at the back. It is held together by a combination of Novik’s fine portrayal of the war, the relationship between a man and his dragon friend and the numerous other interesting tidbits that leave the writer craving for more. It is a stupendous, page-turning experience that is ruined by the exhaustingly-slow pacing at times. It would have been perfect had it not been for that and as such I’m giving it 7/10 stars.