Book completed
Aug. 22nd, 2023 02:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eve_primeHis Majesty’s Dragon, by Naomi Novik. Reread. I’ve mentioned that I’ve been making a point for my bedtime reading to be something relaxing that I’ve enjoyed in the past, rather than something new and potentially stressful; it seems more conducive to a good night’s sleep to spend some time in a world that’s already comfortable. So I was a little surprised to find myself interested in reading the Temeraire books again, as bedtime reading – I thought it would be too exciting? Actually, it’s quite satisfying.
The short version: The Napoleonic War, with dragons. It’s an alternate history in general, though, where dragons had been known all along – for example, South America is governed by the Inca people, not Spain and Portugal. I think having dragons has given other societies more technological parity with Europe.
This book starts with Will Laurence, captain of The Reliant, which has just defeated a French ship and taken its treasure into its own keeping – a dragon’s egg. Dragons are an essential part of the military, and it’s critical that every dragon be taken into harness immediately upon hatching – the dragon then forms a permanent bond with the person it permits to do the harnessing. Laurence’s dragon hatches a week later, before they’ve been able to make port, and oops, he ends up being the one to do the harnessing, which means he’s lost his captaincy of his ship and now has to join the aviators.
However, his dragon is quite unusual. All dragons learn human speech while in the egg, but Laurence’s dragon, whom he’s named Temeraire, has managed to learn English after only the one week’s exposure. He looks different from the European dragons too, and that’s because he’s actually a Chinese dragon, the only one ever seen in Europe. That would all be interesting enough, but the real selling point is Temeraire’s personality – he’s naïve, being newly hatched, and curious, extremely smart, and really very, very sweet.
This book is the first in a series of nine. They travel throughout the world (except, alas, to North America, and I think not to India either), so we get to experience China, Japan, Central Asia, the coast and heart of Africa, Australia, at least two regions of South America, Russia… hm, and France. And one thing I especially appreciate is that Novik is sensitive to the social justice issues that follow from automatically enlisting every member of an intelligent species into military service from the moment of birth – it’s not initially a main theme, but it’s there, and it matters.
On to the second one!
The short version: The Napoleonic War, with dragons. It’s an alternate history in general, though, where dragons had been known all along – for example, South America is governed by the Inca people, not Spain and Portugal. I think having dragons has given other societies more technological parity with Europe.
This book starts with Will Laurence, captain of The Reliant, which has just defeated a French ship and taken its treasure into its own keeping – a dragon’s egg. Dragons are an essential part of the military, and it’s critical that every dragon be taken into harness immediately upon hatching – the dragon then forms a permanent bond with the person it permits to do the harnessing. Laurence’s dragon hatches a week later, before they’ve been able to make port, and oops, he ends up being the one to do the harnessing, which means he’s lost his captaincy of his ship and now has to join the aviators.
However, his dragon is quite unusual. All dragons learn human speech while in the egg, but Laurence’s dragon, whom he’s named Temeraire, has managed to learn English after only the one week’s exposure. He looks different from the European dragons too, and that’s because he’s actually a Chinese dragon, the only one ever seen in Europe. That would all be interesting enough, but the real selling point is Temeraire’s personality – he’s naïve, being newly hatched, and curious, extremely smart, and really very, very sweet.
This book is the first in a series of nine. They travel throughout the world (except, alas, to North America, and I think not to India either), so we get to experience China, Japan, Central Asia, the coast and heart of Africa, Australia, at least two regions of South America, Russia… hm, and France. And one thing I especially appreciate is that Novik is sensitive to the social justice issues that follow from automatically enlisting every member of an intelligent species into military service from the moment of birth – it’s not initially a main theme, but it’s there, and it matters.
On to the second one!
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Date: 2023-08-24 01:58 pm (UTC)It all started with Puff, the best dragon ever :)
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Date: 2023-08-25 03:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-08-27 09:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-08-28 07:25 am (UTC)