Temeraire (Temeraire 1) [a.k.a. His Majesty's Dragon] - Naomi Novik

It's OK but...

Yeah, it's different and most of it is pretty readable but too many things jarred with me somehow. I found it very twee when Lawrence calls the dragon 'my dear' for example. Couldn't get worked up about it I'm afraid.

Fun, but perhaps a little too disposable.

Temeraire is an epic fantasy/alternate history crossbreed novel by Naomi Novik, first published in 2006. Confusingly, it is also the first novel of the Temeraire series, an open-ended series which now encompasses five volumes with several more on the way. In the USA, possibly more sensibly, it is called His Majesty's Dragon.

The Napoleonic Wars are raging across Europe, but this is not the history we are familiar with. Dragons exist in this world and most nations have harnessed them to be used as weapons of war. Captain Will Laurence of the Royal Navy wins a great coup for Britain when he captures a French vessel transporting a rare Chinese dragon egg to Napoleon. The egg hatches and the newborn dragon immediately bonds with Will, to his consternation. Once a dragon has chosen its rider, the bond cannot be severed and Will has to give up his career in the navy to train as a dragon-rider.

The rest of the novel follows Will as he learns the basics of serving in Britain's aerial corps and bonds with the young Temeraire, who rapidly grows to maturity, before taking part in a series of engagements with Napoleon's forces culminating in the Battle of Trafalgar and a French aerial assault on the British coast.

Temeraire is a fun read. It's light but enjoyable. Novik paints her characters with a light touch, and after numerous recent dark and gritty fantasies it's something of a relief to read something that is enjoyable and amusing without being drenched in blood every five pages. Conversely, this makes the book something of a popcorn read: a somewhat disposable product. There's some fairly broad characterisation going on and some of the background doesn't make sense (it's still unclear to me why aviators are considered the scum of the earth compared to soldiers and naval crew), not to mention some fairly wince-inducing, Eddings-esque dialogue between the aviators and their dragons. However, that tends to get forgotten when the muskets start blazing and French and British warships are pounding away at one another with giant lizards battling one another far above, which is all splendidly exciting and well-realised. Given Novik's background in computer programming, it's appropriate to describe the Temeraire concept as an obvious 'killer app', and it's no surprise it was rapidly snapped up for a movie adaption by Peter Jackson (it would be interesting if Smaug in the upcoming Hobbit movie adaption turns out to be a prototype for the dragons in the Temeraire move to follow).

Temeraire (***) may be fluff, but it's fun and easy to read, and I really need to get around to reading the sequels, but as I said with so many other, meatier books around it's easy to forget about this series.

Phenomenal

My title says it all! I had seen this book on bookshop shelves & in libraries, and always just thought it may not have been my cup of tea ... "Historical Fantasy" - hmmm. I finally decided to give it a go two days ago, and have only just managed, metaphorically, to prise my cramped fingers from the book now that I have finished reading it. I was blown away by Ms Novik's skill in introducing us to an era of talking dragons. The historical context provides a rich backdrop for the unfolding story of Captain Will Laurence and the dragon, Temeraire, whom fate has brought together. I don't want to give any spoilers so I won't go into detail about the characters, story, or style. As an avid reader, I enjoy reading three or four books a week (not counting the weekends); for me, Temeraire is that rare book that fuels my passion for the written word and the worlds, experiences, and excitement a good author can introduce us to. I was blown away by Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series, Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series, George R R Martin, Margaret Weiss & Tracy Hickman, Piers Anthony, Orson Scott Card, and my taste in other genres runs to Rachel Caine, Kim Harrison, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Dean Koontz, Lee Child, to name a few. I am thrilled to have stumbled upon another author to add to my list of favourites. I can't wait to embark on the rest of the series and highly recommend Temeraire.

A breath of the divine air

Whenever somebody begins their review of a book by criticising certain aspects of the plot & style and then goes on to insist that the book is nonetheless an absolutely thrilling read, I can never quite bring myself to believe them. If the story is so good surely there can't be enough negative attributes worth mentioning? I always wonder. But with `Temeraire', while you'll undoubtedly agree by the end of the story that it is an absolutely thrilling read, very professionally created by a talented writer, for fans of the genre like myself the author's unique approach to the material and stylistic deviation from the usual fantasy fare will probably give you pause.

I began the book and was quite shocked by the minimal attempts at characterisation- a vague sense of the person is initially given, but I found a real contrast between `Temeraire' and a great many other high-fantasy novels I'd read, which would go to great pains to list physical features, character histories and numerous other attributes in order to provide a vivid and fully engaging sense of a character. As a result I found the story quite simplistic and one-dimensional for the first dozen pages. This was especially true in the depiction of the dragons in the story. Having read a great deal by Raymond Feist and Robin Hobb among others, who create dragons with personalities so alien and habits so foreign that the reader cannot help but regard them with an appropriate amount of awe and fear inherent to the species, I wasn't immediately enamored with Temeraire and his fellows, who behave more like perfectly mannered school children than fantastical, terrifying, awe-inspiring creatures.

I'm currently reading book two `Throne of Jade' and beginning to realise that that's at least in part due to their servitude to humans, so perhaps the limited characterisation of one of the most important groups in the series is intentionally basic and Novik always intended to flesh-out her dragons later in the series, but whatever the reason it will probably come as surprise to ardent fantasy fans in the beginning. However, as the story develops characters come to be defined a great deal more significantly by their actions and that absence becomes virtually irrelevant. Who characters were isn't nearly as relevant as who they are gradually becoming...protagonist Will Laurence and his dragon Temeraire have a gradual but lasting effect on the perceptions of others purely as a result of meeting, becoming fast friends and pooling their not inconsiderable talents.

Novik knows her history. This novel breathes authenticity. Her dialogue is incredibly fluent and 'Temeraire' is an effortlessly enjoyable read. It's as detailed and well-crafted as the `Harry Potter' series, but with a smaller page number feels a lot less oppressive and the style is very reminiscient to me of Lian Hearn, who writes about a similarly unique and absorbing fantasy-land in her `Tales of the Otori' series. As a dramatically more sedate change of pace to the more generic examples of the genre, I loved `Temeraire' and would highly recommend it.

An excellent read

A friend recommended this book to me, so I thought I'd check it out. Well, I ended up staying up till 2am to finish it (probably not the most sensible of things to do when the alarm clock is set for 06:30!) - it's an excellent read, with a well-defined universe, plenty of action, and a main character who has to adjust to a life that is very different to the structured, rigid formality he has known since childhood.

I'm off to add the other books in the series to my wishlist.

It's OK but...

Yeah, it's different and most of it is pretty readable but too many things jarred with me somehow. I found it very twee when Lawrence calls the dragon 'my dear' for example. Couldn't get worked up about it I'm afraid.

Fun, but perhaps a little too disposable.

Temeraire is an epic fantasy/alternate history crossbreed novel by Naomi Novik, first published in 2006. Confusingly, it is also the first novel of the Temeraire series, an open-ended series which now encompasses five volumes with several more on the way. In the USA, possibly more sensibly, it is called His Majesty's Dragon.

The Napoleonic Wars are raging across Europe, but this is not the history we are familiar with. Dragons exist in this world and most nations have harnessed them to be used as weapons of war. Captain Will Laurence of the Royal Navy wins a great coup for Britain when he captures a French vessel transporting a rare Chinese dragon egg to Napoleon. The egg hatches and the newborn dragon immediately bonds with Will, to his consternation. Once a dragon has chosen its rider, the bond cannot be severed and Will has to give up his career in the navy to train as a dragon-rider.

The rest of the novel follows Will as he learns the basics of serving in Britain's aerial corps and bonds with the young Temeraire, who rapidly grows to maturity, before taking part in a series of engagements with Napoleon's forces culminating in the Battle of Trafalgar and a French aerial assault on the British coast.

Temeraire is a fun read. It's light but enjoyable. Novik paints her characters with a light touch, and after numerous recent dark and gritty fantasies it's something of a relief to read something that is enjoyable and amusing without being drenched in blood every five pages. Conversely, this makes the book something of a popcorn read: a somewhat disposable product. There's some fairly broad characterisation going on and some of the background doesn't make sense (it's still unclear to me why aviators are considered the scum of the earth compared to soldiers and naval crew), not to mention some fairly wince-inducing, Eddings-esque dialogue between the aviators and their dragons. However, that tends to get forgotten when the muskets start blazing and French and British warships are pounding away at one another with giant lizards battling one another far above, which is all splendidly exciting and well-realised. Given Novik's background in computer programming, it's appropriate to describe the Temeraire concept as an obvious 'killer app', and it's no surprise it was rapidly snapped up for a movie adaption by Peter Jackson (it would be interesting if Smaug in the upcoming Hobbit movie adaption turns out to be a prototype for the dragons in the Temeraire move to follow).

Temeraire (***) may be fluff, but it's fun and easy to read, and I really need to get around to reading the sequels, but as I said with so many other, meatier books around it's easy to forget about this series.

Phenomenal

My title says it all! I had seen this book on bookshop shelves & in libraries, and always just thought it may not have been my cup of tea ... "Historical Fantasy" - hmmm. I finally decided to give it a go two days ago, and have only just managed, metaphorically, to prise my cramped fingers from the book now that I have finished reading it. I was blown away by Ms Novik's skill in introducing us to an era of talking dragons. The historical context provides a rich backdrop for the unfolding story of Captain Will Laurence and the dragon, Temeraire, whom fate has brought together. I don't want to give any spoilers so I won't go into detail about the characters, story, or style. As an avid reader, I enjoy reading three or four books a week (not counting the weekends); for me, Temeraire is that rare book that fuels my passion for the written word and the worlds, experiences, and excitement a good author can introduce us to. I was blown away by Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series, Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series, George R R Martin, Margaret Weiss & Tracy Hickman, Piers Anthony, Orson Scott Card, and my taste in other genres runs to Rachel Caine, Kim Harrison, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Dean Koontz, Lee Child, to name a few. I am thrilled to have stumbled upon another author to add to my list of favourites. I can't wait to embark on the rest of the series and highly recommend Temeraire.

A breath of the divine air

Whenever somebody begins their review of a book by criticising certain aspects of the plot & style and then goes on to insist that the book is nonetheless an absolutely thrilling read, I can never quite bring myself to believe them. If the story is so good surely there can't be enough negative attributes worth mentioning? I always wonder. But with `Temeraire', while you'll undoubtedly agree by the end of the story that it is an absolutely thrilling read, very professionally created by a talented writer, for fans of the genre like myself the author's unique approach to the material and stylistic deviation from the usual fantasy fare will probably give you pause.

I began the book and was quite shocked by the minimal attempts at characterisation- a vague sense of the person is initially given, but I found a real contrast between `Temeraire' and a great many other high-fantasy novels I'd read, which would go to great pains to list physical features, character histories and numerous other attributes in order to provide a vivid and fully engaging sense of a character. As a result I found the story quite simplistic and one-dimensional for the first dozen pages. This was especially true in the depiction of the dragons in the story. Having read a great deal by Raymond Feist and Robin Hobb among others, who create dragons with personalities so alien and habits so foreign that the reader cannot help but regard them with an appropriate amount of awe and fear inherent to the species, I wasn't immediately enamored with Temeraire and his fellows, who behave more like perfectly mannered school children than fantastical, terrifying, awe-inspiring creatures.

I'm currently reading book two `Throne of Jade' and beginning to realise that that's at least in part due to their servitude to humans, so perhaps the limited characterisation of one of the most important groups in the series is intentionally basic and Novik always intended to flesh-out her dragons later in the series, but whatever the reason it will probably come as surprise to ardent fantasy fans in the beginning. However, as the story develops characters come to be defined a great deal more significantly by their actions and that absence becomes virtually irrelevant. Who characters were isn't nearly as relevant as who they are gradually becoming...protagonist Will Laurence and his dragon Temeraire have a gradual but lasting effect on the perceptions of others purely as a result of meeting, becoming fast friends and pooling their not inconsiderable talents.

Novik knows her history. This novel breathes authenticity. Her dialogue is incredibly fluent and 'Temeraire' is an effortlessly enjoyable read. It's as detailed and well-crafted as the `Harry Potter' series, but with a smaller page number feels a lot less oppressive and the style is very reminiscient to me of Lian Hearn, who writes about a similarly unique and absorbing fantasy-land in her `Tales of the Otori' series. As a dramatically more sedate change of pace to the more generic examples of the genre, I loved `Temeraire' and would highly recommend it.

An excellent read

A friend recommended this book to me, so I thought I'd check it out. Well, I ended up staying up till 2am to finish it (probably not the most sensible of things to do when the alarm clock is set for 06:30!) - it's an excellent read, with a well-defined universe, plenty of action, and a main character who has to adjust to a life that is very different to the structured, rigid formality he has known since childhood.

I'm off to add the other books in the series to my wishlist.

It's OK but...

Yeah, it's different and most of it is pretty readable but too many things jarred with me somehow. I found it very twee when Lawrence calls the dragon 'my dear' for example. Couldn't get worked up about it I'm afraid.

Fun, but perhaps a little too disposable.

Temeraire is an epic fantasy/alternate history crossbreed novel by Naomi Novik, first published in 2006. Confusingly, it is also the first novel of the Temeraire series, an open-ended series which now encompasses five volumes with several more on the way. In the USA, possibly more sensibly, it is called His Majesty's Dragon.

The Napoleonic Wars are raging across Europe, but this is not the history we are familiar with. Dragons exist in this world and most nations have harnessed them to be used as weapons of war. Captain Will Laurence of the Royal Navy wins a great coup for Britain when he captures a French vessel transporting a rare Chinese dragon egg to Napoleon. The egg hatches and the newborn dragon immediately bonds with Will, to his consternation. Once a dragon has chosen its rider, the bond cannot be severed and Will has to give up his career in the navy to train as a dragon-rider.

The rest of the novel follows Will as he learns the basics of serving in Britain's aerial corps and bonds with the young Temeraire, who rapidly grows to maturity, before taking part in a series of engagements with Napoleon's forces culminating in the Battle of Trafalgar and a French aerial assault on the British coast.

Temeraire is a fun read. It's light but enjoyable. Novik paints her characters with a light touch, and after numerous recent dark and gritty fantasies it's something of a relief to read something that is enjoyable and amusing without being drenched in blood every five pages. Conversely, this makes the book something of a popcorn read: a somewhat disposable product. There's some fairly broad characterisation going on and some of the background doesn't make sense (it's still unclear to me why aviators are considered the scum of the earth compared to soldiers and naval crew), not to mention some fairly wince-inducing, Eddings-esque dialogue between the aviators and their dragons. However, that tends to get forgotten when the muskets start blazing and French and British warships are pounding away at one another with giant lizards battling one another far above, which is all splendidly exciting and well-realised. Given Novik's background in computer programming, it's appropriate to describe the Temeraire concept as an obvious 'killer app', and it's no surprise it was rapidly snapped up for a movie adaption by Peter Jackson (it would be interesting if Smaug in the upcoming Hobbit movie adaption turns out to be a prototype for the dragons in the Temeraire move to follow).

Temeraire (***) may be fluff, but it's fun and easy to read, and I really need to get around to reading the sequels, but as I said with so many other, meatier books around it's easy to forget about this series.

Phenomenal

My title says it all! I had seen this book on bookshop shelves & in libraries, and always just thought it may not have been my cup of tea ... "Historical Fantasy" - hmmm. I finally decided to give it a go two days ago, and have only just managed, metaphorically, to prise my cramped fingers from the book now that I have finished reading it. I was blown away by Ms Novik's skill in introducing us to an era of talking dragons. The historical context provides a rich backdrop for the unfolding story of Captain Will Laurence and the dragon, Temeraire, whom fate has brought together. I don't want to give any spoilers so I won't go into detail about the characters, story, or style. As an avid reader, I enjoy reading three or four books a week (not counting the weekends); for me, Temeraire is that rare book that fuels my passion for the written word and the worlds, experiences, and excitement a good author can introduce us to. I was blown away by Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series, Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series, George R R Martin, Margaret Weiss & Tracy Hickman, Piers Anthony, Orson Scott Card, and my taste in other genres runs to Rachel Caine, Kim Harrison, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Dean Koontz, Lee Child, to name a few. I am thrilled to have stumbled upon another author to add to my list of favourites. I can't wait to embark on the rest of the series and highly recommend Temeraire.

A breath of the divine air

Whenever somebody begins their review of a book by criticising certain aspects of the plot & style and then goes on to insist that the book is nonetheless an absolutely thrilling read, I can never quite bring myself to believe them. If the story is so good surely there can't be enough negative attributes worth mentioning? I always wonder. But with `Temeraire', while you'll undoubtedly agree by the end of the story that it is an absolutely thrilling read, very professionally created by a talented writer, for fans of the genre like myself the author's unique approach to the material and stylistic deviation from the usual fantasy fare will probably give you pause.

I began the book and was quite shocked by the minimal attempts at characterisation- a vague sense of the person is initially given, but I found a real contrast between `Temeraire' and a great many other high-fantasy novels I'd read, which would go to great pains to list physical features, character histories and numerous other attributes in order to provide a vivid and fully engaging sense of a character. As a result I found the story quite simplistic and one-dimensional for the first dozen pages. This was especially true in the depiction of the dragons in the story. Having read a great deal by Raymond Feist and Robin Hobb among others, who create dragons with personalities so alien and habits so foreign that the reader cannot help but regard them with an appropriate amount of awe and fear inherent to the species, I wasn't immediately enamored with Temeraire and his fellows, who behave more like perfectly mannered school children than fantastical, terrifying, awe-inspiring creatures.

I'm currently reading book two `Throne of Jade' and beginning to realise that that's at least in part due to their servitude to humans, so perhaps the limited characterisation of one of the most important groups in the series is intentionally basic and Novik always intended to flesh-out her dragons later in the series, but whatever the reason it will probably come as surprise to ardent fantasy fans in the beginning. However, as the story develops characters come to be defined a great deal more significantly by their actions and that absence becomes virtually irrelevant. Who characters were isn't nearly as relevant as who they are gradually becoming...protagonist Will Laurence and his dragon Temeraire have a gradual but lasting effect on the perceptions of others purely as a result of meeting, becoming fast friends and pooling their not inconsiderable talents.

Novik knows her history. This novel breathes authenticity. Her dialogue is incredibly fluent and 'Temeraire' is an effortlessly enjoyable read. It's as detailed and well-crafted as the `Harry Potter' series, but with a smaller page number feels a lot less oppressive and the style is very reminiscient to me of Lian Hearn, who writes about a similarly unique and absorbing fantasy-land in her `Tales of the Otori' series. As a dramatically more sedate change of pace to the more generic examples of the genre, I loved `Temeraire' and would highly recommend it.

An excellent read

A friend recommended this book to me, so I thought I'd check it out. Well, I ended up staying up till 2am to finish it (probably not the most sensible of things to do when the alarm clock is set for 06:30!) - it's an excellent read, with a well-defined universe, plenty of action, and a main character who has to adjust to a life that is very different to the structured, rigid formality he has known since childhood.

I'm off to add the other books in the series to my wishlist.

It's OK but...

Yeah, it's different and most of it is pretty readable but too many things jarred with me somehow. I found it very twee when Lawrence calls the dragon 'my dear' for example. Couldn't get worked up about it I'm afraid.

Fun, but perhaps a little too disposable.

Temeraire is an epic fantasy/alternate history crossbreed novel by Naomi Novik, first published in 2006. Confusingly, it is also the first novel of the Temeraire series, an open-ended series which now encompasses five volumes with several more on the way. In the USA, possibly more sensibly, it is called His Majesty's Dragon.

The Napoleonic Wars are raging across Europe, but this is not the history we are familiar with. Dragons exist in this world and most nations have harnessed them to be used as weapons of war. Captain Will Laurence of the Royal Navy wins a great coup for Britain when he captures a French vessel transporting a rare Chinese dragon egg to Napoleon. The egg hatches and the newborn dragon immediately bonds with Will, to his consternation. Once a dragon has chosen its rider, the bond cannot be severed and Will has to give up his career in the navy to train as a dragon-rider.

The rest of the novel follows Will as he learns the basics of serving in Britain's aerial corps and bonds with the young Temeraire, who rapidly grows to maturity, before taking part in a series of engagements with Napoleon's forces culminating in the Battle of Trafalgar and a French aerial assault on the British coast.

Temeraire is a fun read. It's light but enjoyable. Novik paints her characters with a light touch, and after numerous recent dark and gritty fantasies it's something of a relief to read something that is enjoyable and amusing without being drenched in blood every five pages. Conversely, this makes the book something of a popcorn read: a somewhat disposable product. There's some fairly broad characterisation going on and some of the background doesn't make sense (it's still unclear to me why aviators are considered the scum of the earth compared to soldiers and naval crew), not to mention some fairly wince-inducing, Eddings-esque dialogue between the aviators and their dragons. However, that tends to get forgotten when the muskets start blazing and French and British warships are pounding away at one another with giant lizards battling one another far above, which is all splendidly exciting and well-realised. Given Novik's background in computer programming, it's appropriate to describe the Temeraire concept as an obvious 'killer app', and it's no surprise it was rapidly snapped up for a movie adaption by Peter Jackson (it would be interesting if Smaug in the upcoming Hobbit movie adaption turns out to be a prototype for the dragons in the Temeraire move to follow).

Temeraire (***) may be fluff, but it's fun and easy to read, and I really need to get around to reading the sequels, but as I said with so many other, meatier books around it's easy to forget about this series.

Phenomenal

My title says it all! I had seen this book on bookshop shelves & in libraries, and always just thought it may not have been my cup of tea ... "Historical Fantasy" - hmmm. I finally decided to give it a go two days ago, and have only just managed, metaphorically, to prise my cramped fingers from the book now that I have finished reading it. I was blown away by Ms Novik's skill in introducing us to an era of talking dragons. The historical context provides a rich backdrop for the unfolding story of Captain Will Laurence and the dragon, Temeraire, whom fate has brought together. I don't want to give any spoilers so I won't go into detail about the characters, story, or style. As an avid reader, I enjoy reading three or four books a week (not counting the weekends); for me, Temeraire is that rare book that fuels my passion for the written word and the worlds, experiences, and excitement a good author can introduce us to. I was blown away by Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series, Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series, George R R Martin, Margaret Weiss & Tracy Hickman, Piers Anthony, Orson Scott Card, and my taste in other genres runs to Rachel Caine, Kim Harrison, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Dean Koontz, Lee Child, to name a few. I am thrilled to have stumbled upon another author to add to my list of favourites. I can't wait to embark on the rest of the series and highly recommend Temeraire.

A breath of the divine air

Whenever somebody begins their review of a book by criticising certain aspects of the plot & style and then goes on to insist that the book is nonetheless an absolutely thrilling read, I can never quite bring myself to believe them. If the story is so good surely there can't be enough negative attributes worth mentioning? I always wonder. But with `Temeraire', while you'll undoubtedly agree by the end of the story that it is an absolutely thrilling read, very professionally created by a talented writer, for fans of the genre like myself the author's unique approach to the material and stylistic deviation from the usual fantasy fare will probably give you pause.

I began the book and was quite shocked by the minimal attempts at characterisation- a vague sense of the person is initially given, but I found a real contrast between `Temeraire' and a great many other high-fantasy novels I'd read, which would go to great pains to list physical features, character histories and numerous other attributes in order to provide a vivid and fully engaging sense of a character. As a result I found the story quite simplistic and one-dimensional for the first dozen pages. This was especially true in the depiction of the dragons in the story. Having read a great deal by Raymond Feist and Robin Hobb among others, who create dragons with personalities so alien and habits so foreign that the reader cannot help but regard them with an appropriate amount of awe and fear inherent to the species, I wasn't immediately enamored with Temeraire and his fellows, who behave more like perfectly mannered school children than fantastical, terrifying, awe-inspiring creatures.

I'm currently reading book two `Throne of Jade' and beginning to realise that that's at least in part due to their servitude to humans, so perhaps the limited characterisation of one of the most important groups in the series is intentionally basic and Novik always intended to flesh-out her dragons later in the series, but whatever the reason it will probably come as surprise to ardent fantasy fans in the beginning. However, as the story develops characters come to be defined a great deal more significantly by their actions and that absence becomes virtually irrelevant. Who characters were isn't nearly as relevant as who they are gradually becoming...protagonist Will Laurence and his dragon Temeraire have a gradual but lasting effect on the perceptions of others purely as a result of meeting, becoming fast friends and pooling their not inconsiderable talents.

Novik knows her history. This novel breathes authenticity. Her dialogue is incredibly fluent and 'Temeraire' is an effortlessly enjoyable read. It's as detailed and well-crafted as the `Harry Potter' series, but with a smaller page number feels a lot less oppressive and the style is very reminiscient to me of Lian Hearn, who writes about a similarly unique and absorbing fantasy-land in her `Tales of the Otori' series. As a dramatically more sedate change of pace to the more generic examples of the genre, I loved `Temeraire' and would highly recommend it.

An excellent read

A friend recommended this book to me, so I thought I'd check it out. Well, I ended up staying up till 2am to finish it (probably not the most sensible of things to do when the alarm clock is set for 06:30!) - it's an excellent read, with a well-defined universe, plenty of action, and a main character who has to adjust to a life that is very different to the structured, rigid formality he has known since childhood.

I'm off to add the other books in the series to my wishlist.

It's OK but...

Yeah, it's different and most of it is pretty readable but too many things jarred with me somehow. I found it very twee when Lawrence calls the dragon 'my dear' for example. Couldn't get worked up about it I'm afraid.

Fun, but perhaps a little too disposable.

Temeraire is an epic fantasy/alternate history crossbreed novel by Naomi Novik, first published in 2006. Confusingly, it is also the first novel of the Temeraire series, an open-ended series which now encompasses five volumes with several more on the way. In the USA, possibly more sensibly, it is called His Majesty's Dragon.

The Napoleonic Wars are raging across Europe, but this is not the history we are familiar with. Dragons exist in this world and most nations have harnessed them to be used as weapons of war. Captain Will Laurence of the Royal Navy wins a great coup for Britain when he captures a French vessel transporting a rare Chinese dragon egg to Napoleon. The egg hatches and the newborn dragon immediately bonds with Will, to his consternation. Once a dragon has chosen its rider, the bond cannot be severed and Will has to give up his career in the navy to train as a dragon-rider.

The rest of the novel follows Will as he learns the basics of serving in Britain's aerial corps and bonds with the young Temeraire, who rapidly grows to maturity, before taking part in a series of engagements with Napoleon's forces culminating in the Battle of Trafalgar and a French aerial assault on the British coast.

Temeraire is a fun read. It's light but enjoyable. Novik paints her characters with a light touch, and after numerous recent dark and gritty fantasies it's something of a relief to read something that is enjoyable and amusing without being drenched in blood every five pages. Conversely, this makes the book something of a popcorn read: a somewhat disposable product. There's some fairly broad characterisation going on and some of the background doesn't make sense (it's still unclear to me why aviators are considered the scum of the earth compared to soldiers and naval crew), not to mention some fairly wince-inducing, Eddings-esque dialogue between the aviators and their dragons. However, that tends to get forgotten when the muskets start blazing and French and British warships are pounding away at one another with giant lizards battling one another far above, which is all splendidly exciting and well-realised. Given Novik's background in computer programming, it's appropriate to describe the Temeraire concept as an obvious 'killer app', and it's no surprise it was rapidly snapped up for a movie adaption by Peter Jackson (it would be interesting if Smaug in the upcoming Hobbit movie adaption turns out to be a prototype for the dragons in the Temeraire move to follow).

Temeraire (***) may be fluff, but it's fun and easy to read, and I really need to get around to reading the sequels, but as I said with so many other, meatier books around it's easy to forget about this series.

Phenomenal

My title says it all! I had seen this book on bookshop shelves & in libraries, and always just thought it may not have been my cup of tea ... "Historical Fantasy" - hmmm. I finally decided to give it a go two days ago, and have only just managed, metaphorically, to prise my cramped fingers from the book now that I have finished reading it. I was blown away by Ms Novik's skill in introducing us to an era of talking dragons. The historical context provides a rich backdrop for the unfolding story of Captain Will Laurence and the dragon, Temeraire, whom fate has brought together. I don't want to give any spoilers so I won't go into detail about the characters, story, or style. As an avid reader, I enjoy reading three or four books a week (not counting the weekends); for me, Temeraire is that rare book that fuels my passion for the written word and the worlds, experiences, and excitement a good author can introduce us to. I was blown away by Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series, Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series, George R R Martin, Margaret Weiss & Tracy Hickman, Piers Anthony, Orson Scott Card, and my taste in other genres runs to Rachel Caine, Kim Harrison, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Dean Koontz, Lee Child, to name a few. I am thrilled to have stumbled upon another author to add to my list of favourites. I can't wait to embark on the rest of the series and highly recommend Temeraire.

A breath of the divine air

Whenever somebody begins their review of a book by criticising certain aspects of the plot & style and then goes on to insist that the book is nonetheless an absolutely thrilling read, I can never quite bring myself to believe them. If the story is so good surely there can't be enough negative attributes worth mentioning? I always wonder. But with `Temeraire', while you'll undoubtedly agree by the end of the story that it is an absolutely thrilling read, very professionally created by a talented writer, for fans of the genre like myself the author's unique approach to the material and stylistic deviation from the usual fantasy fare will probably give you pause.

I began the book and was quite shocked by the minimal attempts at characterisation- a vague sense of the person is initially given, but I found a real contrast between `Temeraire' and a great many other high-fantasy novels I'd read, which would go to great pains to list physical features, character histories and numerous other attributes in order to provide a vivid and fully engaging sense of a character. As a result I found the story quite simplistic and one-dimensional for the first dozen pages. This was especially true in the depiction of the dragons in the story. Having read a great deal by Raymond Feist and Robin Hobb among others, who create dragons with personalities so alien and habits so foreign that the reader cannot help but regard them with an appropriate amount of awe and fear inherent to the species, I wasn't immediately enamored with Temeraire and his fellows, who behave more like perfectly mannered school children than fantastical, terrifying, awe-inspiring creatures.

I'm currently reading book two `Throne of Jade' and beginning to realise that that's at least in part due to their servitude to humans, so perhaps the limited characterisation of one of the most important groups in the series is intentionally basic and Novik always intended to flesh-out her dragons later in the series, but whatever the reason it will probably come as surprise to ardent fantasy fans in the beginning. However, as the story develops characters come to be defined a great deal more significantly by their actions and that absence becomes virtually irrelevant. Who characters were isn't nearly as relevant as who they are gradually becoming...protagonist Will Laurence and his dragon Temeraire have a gradual but lasting effect on the perceptions of others purely as a result of meeting, becoming fast friends and pooling their not inconsiderable talents.

Novik knows her history. This novel breathes authenticity. Her dialogue is incredibly fluent and 'Temeraire' is an effortlessly enjoyable read. It's as detailed and well-crafted as the `Harry Potter' series, but with a smaller page number feels a lot less oppressive and the style is very reminiscient to me of Lian Hearn, who writes about a similarly unique and absorbing fantasy-land in her `Tales of the Otori' series. As a dramatically more sedate change of pace to the more generic examples of the genre, I loved `Temeraire' and would highly recommend it.

An excellent read

A friend recommended this book to me, so I thought I'd check it out. Well, I ended up staying up till 2am to finish it (probably not the most sensible of things to do when the alarm clock is set for 06:30!) - it's an excellent read, with a well-defined universe, plenty of action, and a main character who has to adjust to a life that is very different to the structured, rigid formality he has known since childhood.

I'm off to add the other books in the series to my wishlist.

It's OK but...

Yeah, it's different and most of it is pretty readable but too many things jarred with me somehow. I found it very twee when Lawrence calls the dragon 'my dear' for example. Couldn't get worked up about it I'm afraid.

Fun, but perhaps a little too disposable.

Temeraire is an epic fantasy/alternate history crossbreed novel by Naomi Novik, first published in 2006. Confusingly, it is also the first novel of the Temeraire series, an open-ended series which now encompasses five volumes with several more on the way. In the USA, possibly more sensibly, it is called His Majesty's Dragon.

The Napoleonic Wars are raging across Europe, but this is not the history we are familiar with. Dragons exist in this world and most nations have harnessed them to be used as weapons of war. Captain Will Laurence of the Royal Navy wins a great coup for Britain when he captures a French vessel transporting a rare Chinese dragon egg to Napoleon. The egg hatches and the newborn dragon immediately bonds with Will, to his consternation. Once a dragon has chosen its rider, the bond cannot be severed and Will has to give up his career in the navy to train as a dragon-rider.

The rest of the novel follows Will as he learns the basics of serving in Britain's aerial corps and bonds with the young Temeraire, who rapidly grows to maturity, before taking part in a series of engagements with Napoleon's forces culminating in the Battle of Trafalgar and a French aerial assault on the British coast.

Temeraire is a fun read. It's light but enjoyable. Novik paints her characters with a light touch, and after numerous recent dark and gritty fantasies it's something of a relief to read something that is enjoyable and amusing without being drenched in blood every five pages. Conversely, this makes the book something of a popcorn read: a somewhat disposable product. There's some fairly broad characterisation going on and some of the background doesn't make sense (it's still unclear to me why aviators are considered the scum of the earth compared to soldiers and naval crew), not to mention some fairly wince-inducing, Eddings-esque dialogue between the aviators and their dragons. However, that tends to get forgotten when the muskets start blazing and French and British warships are pounding away at one another with giant lizards battling one another far above, which is all splendidly exciting and well-realised. Given Novik's background in computer programming, it's appropriate to describe the Temeraire concept as an obvious 'killer app', and it's no surprise it was rapidly snapped up for a movie adaption by Peter Jackson (it would be interesting if Smaug in the upcoming Hobbit movie adaption turns out to be a prototype for the dragons in the Temeraire move to follow).

Temeraire (***) may be fluff, but it's fun and easy to read, and I really need to get around to reading the sequels, but as I said with so many other, meatier books around it's easy to forget about this series.

Phenomenal

My title says it all! I had seen this book on bookshop shelves & in libraries, and always just thought it may not have been my cup of tea ... "Historical Fantasy" - hmmm. I finally decided to give it a go two days ago, and have only just managed, metaphorically, to prise my cramped fingers from the book now that I have finished reading it. I was blown away by Ms Novik's skill in introducing us to an era of talking dragons. The historical context provides a rich backdrop for the unfolding story of Captain Will Laurence and the dragon, Temeraire, whom fate has brought together. I don't want to give any spoilers so I won't go into detail about the characters, story, or style. As an avid reader, I enjoy reading three or four books a week (not counting the weekends); for me, Temeraire is that rare book that fuels my passion for the written word and the worlds, experiences, and excitement a good author can introduce us to. I was blown away by Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series, Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series, George R R Martin, Margaret Weiss & Tracy Hickman, Piers Anthony, Orson Scott Card, and my taste in other genres runs to Rachel Caine, Kim Harrison, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Dean Koontz, Lee Child, to name a few. I am thrilled to have stumbled upon another author to add to my list of favourites. I can't wait to embark on the rest of the series and highly recommend Temeraire.

A breath of the divine air

Whenever somebody begins their review of a book by criticising certain aspects of the plot & style and then goes on to insist that the book is nonetheless an absolutely thrilling read, I can never quite bring myself to believe them. If the story is so good surely there can't be enough negative attributes worth mentioning? I always wonder. But with `Temeraire', while you'll undoubtedly agree by the end of the story that it is an absolutely thrilling read, very professionally created by a talented writer, for fans of the genre like myself the author's unique approach to the material and stylistic deviation from the usual fantasy fare will probably give you pause.

I began the book and was quite shocked by the minimal attempts at characterisation- a vague sense of the person is initially given, but I found a real contrast between `Temeraire' and a great many other high-fantasy novels I'd read, which would go to great pains to list physical features, character histories and numerous other attributes in order to provide a vivid and fully engaging sense of a character. As a result I found the story quite simplistic and one-dimensional for the first dozen pages. This was especially true in the depiction of the dragons in the story. Having read a great deal by Raymond Feist and Robin Hobb among others, who create dragons with personalities so alien and habits so foreign that the reader cannot help but regard them with an appropriate amount of awe and fear inherent to the species, I wasn't immediately enamored with Temeraire and his fellows, who behave more like perfectly mannered school children than fantastical, terrifying, awe-inspiring creatures.

I'm currently reading book two `Throne of Jade' and beginning to realise that that's at least in part due to their servitude to humans, so perhaps the limited characterisation of one of the most important groups in the series is intentionally basic and Novik always intended to flesh-out her dragons later in the series, but whatever the reason it will probably come as surprise to ardent fantasy fans in the beginning. However, as the story develops characters come to be defined a great deal more significantly by their actions and that absence becomes virtually irrelevant. Who characters were isn't nearly as relevant as who they are gradually becoming...protagonist Will Laurence and his dragon Temeraire have a gradual but lasting effect on the perceptions of others purely as a result of meeting, becoming fast friends and pooling their not inconsiderable talents.

Novik knows her history. This novel breathes authenticity. Her dialogue is incredibly fluent and 'Temeraire' is an effortlessly enjoyable read. It's as detailed and well-crafted as the `Harry Potter' series, but with a smaller page number feels a lot less oppressive and the style is very reminiscient to me of Lian Hearn, who writes about a similarly unique and absorbing fantasy-land in her `Tales of the Otori' series. As a dramatically more sedate change of pace to the more generic examples of the genre, I loved `Temeraire' and would highly recommend it.

An excellent read

A friend recommended this book to me, so I thought I'd check it out. Well, I ended up staying up till 2am to finish it (probably not the most sensible of things to do when the alarm clock is set for 06:30!) - it's an excellent read, with a well-defined universe, plenty of action, and a main character who has to adjust to a life that is very different to the structured, rigid formality he has known since childhood.

I'm off to add the other books in the series to my wishlist.