Book Review: His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik

His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

 Book title: His Majesty’s Dragon
Author: Naomi Novik
Genre: Historical fantasy
Published: January 3, 2006
356 pages
My rating: 5/5

“I am afraid I am not rich enough a partner for you; I will not be able to give you a heap of gold to sleep on.”

“I should rather have you than a heap of gold, even if it were very comfortable to sleep on,” Temeraire said.

During the Napoleonic Wars, British sea captain Will Laurence captures a French frigate and seizes its precious cargo, an unhatched Chinese dragon egg. When the dragon Temeraire hatches, he chooses Laurence as his handler, and Laurence must leave his ship behind. He and Temeraire join the Aerial Corps, taking a crash course in aerial battle tactics before Napoleon’s forces threaten to invade Britain.

His Majesty’s Dragon in the first book in Naomi Novik historical fantasy series Temeraire. This was another audio book read for me, and although I wasn’t a huge fan of the audio book narrator, the story eventually won me over.

I loved the focus on the developing companionship between Laurence and Temeraire. However, there isn’t much plot here: majority of the book is spent training for battle and establishing relationships with the other characters and their dragons. There are nine books in the series, and although this book works as a story on its own, there’s clearly more that can happen to the main characters in the future. If you prefer fantasy books with faster pacing and more battles, this book might not be to your liking.

The historical context of the Napoleonic Wars and Regency England added an interesting element to the story. As this is fantasy, I’m not going to complain about anachronisms, but do want to note that Novik seems to have wanted to have her cake and eat it too, at least in her depiction of gender roles. Since some dragon breeds only accept female handlers, the Aerial Corps has a few women whose behavior is at the very least unconventional for the time period. I also found Laurence’s relationship to a female dragon handler dispensable (so dispensable in fact that I can’t even remember the woman’s name).

If you love dragons, historical fantasy set during the Napoleonic Wars, and slower paced stories, you might enjoy His Majesty’s Dragon. I gave it five stars.