His Majesty's Dragon

I had already read the first third of this collection as a stand-alone novel, so this entry represents the second and third parts of the series.

Temeraire is the story of a dragon from which the series takes its name, and his captain, one Will Laurence. Will and his dragon serve the British crown during the Napoleonic wars, fighting first at Dover and then travelling to China, Turkey, and Prussia in an attempt to prevent Napoleon and his dragons from conquering the world.

This was a lot of fun! Very reminiscent of Patrick O'Brien's work, but with less focus on the mechanics of naval travel, and more focus on giant dragons. I also really enjoyed the relationship between Will and Temeraire; in the face of the journies and challenges they faced, it helped to keep the plot grounded and focused.

The one real downside to the series, IMO, is that in Europe, at least, the presence of dragons seems to have had little to no influence on society (or, from what I can tell, the progress of the war). That seems odd to me, and I think it would have been really interesting to see how the evolution of society would have changed if dragons were historical creatures.

I'm puzzled by this novel, which seems in some ways like a children's book, although it gets a bit more adult in its later stages. I don't think it's deliberately aimed at children, though it's hard to be sure. There are references to the sex lives of the aviators, but no sex scenes.

It's a story of bonding between man and dragon in the context of the Napoleonic Wars—an alternative version of the Napoleonic Wars in which all countries have dragons and use them as an air force.

The story makes pleasant enough reading, and I'd normally be willing to give it three stars, but I'm bothered by two gross implausibilities that the author expects us to swallow.

1. Partway through the book, we're told that the dragon Temeraire learned first fluent French and then fluent English by listening to the sounds outside his shell before hatching; so he hatches with full command of both languages. This is not just implausible, it's completely impossible. No-one, not even a dragon, can learn a language just by listening to the sound of it, without ever having seen anything of the world except the inside of an egg. You can't link words to objects and actions when you know nothing of those objects and actions, never having seen them.

2. The dragons clearly have human intelligence, or something very close to it. But they're surprisingly willing to be commanded by humans and to risk their lives in human wars. Temeraire shows traces of scepticism at times, but when needed he goes into battle with the rest. I'd have expected more organization among the dragons in their own interests—a dragon trade union, or perhaps a secret society of dragons, trying to organize a country of their own somewhere.

See my video review on youtube by clicking here

I don't think I'll ever get tired of rereading the Temeraire books. This is my 5th reread and I love it just as much as when I first read it.

The common pitch of the Temeraire books is Napoleonic War plus dragons, which is the setting for these books, but I feel that's not the best way to describe them. Sure they fight some battles, but the story is focused on relationships and we see a lot of the day to day of the characters. In some ways it almost feels like a cozy fantasy. At the same time, it deals with heavy themes, so that might not be the best way to describe it either. Maybe the word I'm looking for is character driven.

At the start of the book we meet a naval captain named Laurence as he captures a French ship and finds a dragon egg aboard.

Laurence has heard that bonding with a dragon from the moment it hatches is very important, and he reluctantly becomes the dragon's companion, which requires him to give up his ship and naval career to join the dragon airforce. The airforce is not well regarded, and Laurance is forced to confront his own negative opinion of the airforce while he grows increasingly fond of his dragon companion, Temeraire.

And what a delightful dragon Temeraire is! Temeraire is enthusiastic and inquisitive and has an almost puppy light energy. He wants to go flying, explore new places, and have his chance in battle, because he finds it all very exciting. He is also an intelligent breed of dragons and convinces Laurence to read to him about science, history, and mathematics. Laurence is not a strong reader, but his love for Temeraire outweighs his dislike of reading.

The bond and friendship between Laurence and Temeraire is really what keeps me coming back to these books. I find them delightful to read about!

Temeraire is also a dragon who is delighted by gold and jewels. One of the most beautiful scenes is where Laurence is commenting to Temeraire that he isn't wealthy enough to provide gold hoards and Temeraire says “I should rather have you than a heap of gold, even if it were very comfortable to sleep on.” And then later Temeraire asks Laurence if he'd rather give up dragon riding and go back to the navy, Laurence responds “I'd rather have you than any ship in the navy.” Gaah! Bookending that plot point with them choosing each other is just so beautiful

Lawrence has a strong sense of duty and patriotism, which is why he agreed to become a dragonrider in the first place - he knows how desperate England is in need of more dragons. But Temeraire does not share this sense of duty, and often questions why they must do things they don't like. This is a theme that continues throughout the series, as Temeraire pushes Laurence to really think about his positions.

To hear my spoiler thoughts, see my video review

• 2.5 ★★☆

𝑀𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑇𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑒.
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Lá vai. A data de 3 anos é uma média mentira. Comecei realmente em 2016 parei, e retomei há dois dias. E, é claro, que pagando uma mensalidade de quase 30 conto no Scribd, eu retomei o livro no audiobook e o terminei hoje, enquanto pesava amostras de Carbonato de Potássio.
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Temeraire ou temerário em si [o dragão] é uma criatura amável, definitivamente em gradual desenvolvimento proporcionado pela autora - o que nos leva a querer ler os próximos volumes da saga. Com inegável
excentricidades, a começar por sua espécie - ainda não determinada pelos avaliadores de dragões, apenas sabe-se que é chinês - ou raça\ninhada, tem a inteligência e gosto pelo conhecimento como suas principais virtudes, embora seja, também, um dragão excepcional nas atividades mais dragonescas que desempenha.
Mesmo ainda sendo um dragão jovem, um bebe, às vezes seus comentários e conclusões ingênuas do entendimento do mundo destoavam do texto, e do cerne de um ser mitológico tão sagaz que fala francês do nada e entende de física quântica embora tenha aprendido como ouvinte [exagero, mas essa é a pinta], e logo em seguida remediado pelo Lawrence.
Motivos estes que me fazem acreditar de verdade que o personagem-tipo se desenvolverá com audácia nos próximos volumes.
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Não podemos nos respaldar no que esperamos que aconteça.
O livro pareceu introdutório demais, e com pressa demais para introduzir um universo riquíssimo onde temos navegadores, corte, dragões de varias etnias e Napoleão implantando o terror vivendo no mesmo ambiente!!
Porém, ao meu ponto de desgosto, as personagens são simples, sem muito aprofundamento psicológico [nem mesmo com Lawrence, e isso porque a historia é praticamente no ponto de vista dele], sem rosto. Os dragões também não são explicados alem do estritamente necessário e nessas... não me apeguei a ninguém.
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Claro que senti pena de algumas das perdas ao longo das batalhas, das feridas, da traição e do traidor evidente, das tomadas de decisão da vida. Mas... e daí? Apegar pode ser uma palavra mimada, no entanto, é o que melhor descreve o que nos faz sentir vontade ou não de voltar a uma historia. O apreço pelas personagens que foram e como estão as que ficaram. Como as coisas ficam agora que x aconteceu?
Terminado Temeraire, não fiz nenhuma pergunta. E esse desapego pela que ocorreu é a razão de estrelinhas tão pequenas, para um livro que tinha tudo para ser massa.
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Leremos os próximos?

Claro. Já comprei a maioria —suspira profundo—