#7 His Majesty's Dragon- Naomi Novik
Ahh back to school. As much as I enjoy it, it does mean that I have less time to read and less time to update this blog
(I would much prefer to do less of my full time job instead, but I’d probably get fired.) Anyway, here is my review of His Majesty’s Dragon, which I finished earlier this week.
His Majesty’s Dragon begins when the HMS Reliant, a vessel of the English navy serving during the Napoleonic Wars, captures a French ship. While looking through the cargo, the crew finds something both precious and terrifying, a dragon egg that’s about to hatch. They know that once it does hatch, the dragon will end imprinting on one of the crew. That member will have to live a life dedicated to their dragon, away from society, and leave their post in the navy. To make things fair, everyone on the ship, including the Captain, Will Laurence, enters a random drawing for the egg. A sailor is picked, a nervous man with a fear of heights, but the dragon has other ideas. Once it hatches, it attaches itself to the heroic captain Laurence himself. The book leads him on a journey to discover what kind of dragon Temeraire really is, and then off to the Aerial corps will he will have to adapt his military skills and learn to fight in mid air.
His Majesty’s Dragon is a first in a now five book series. I came highly recommended to me by many friends. I got a copy for Christmas in 2007 and for some reason have never actually read it. Recently, I’ve been in the mood for fantasy so this seemed to be a perfect choice. I was not let down. His Majesty’s Dragon is a satisfying book that manages to take a traditional fantasy element (dragon riders) in use them in a new a way. The writing style is rather formal, and can at times feel a bit stiff, but it fits the setting of the Napolonic wars quite well. The style also fits the personality of our hero Laurence, who is an organized military man to the core, except for when interacting with Temeraire. At this time a more human side to him comes out which makes him quite likable. Temeraire is a very good character as well, he is intelligent from the start, but also possesses a child-like innocence and curiosity.
The book is separated into three parts. The first tells of how Laurence and Temeraire meet, and attempt to discover Temeraire’s origin. The second is about their training in the Aerial Corps. The third part brings them straight to war. As someone that knows an alarmingly little about the Napoleonic Wars, I was worried that the historical aspect would not appeal to me, but I was greatly mistaken. You don’t have to be a scholar to enjoy this book. The only complaint I have is, as someone who is used to rather fat fantasy books, I wanted to learn more about the other dragons in their riders. Luckily, I have four more books to read to learn more about them!
Rating: four out of five stars
Length: 356 pages
Source: gift
TBR Pile: 155 books
Similar Books: The Dragon Riders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey
Other books I've read by this author: None! This is the first!
I’m currently reading Inkheart by Cornelia Funke next. My goal was to get it done before seeing the movie, but I don’t have time to read 200 pages before 2PM. Looks like it will be half-read at least!
xposted to bookish and temporaryworlds