Temeraire

This book was a lot of fun, much more than I expected it to be. It reminded me a lot of the kind of science fiction I read growing up, a very McCaffrey edge to the human/dragon relationship with personal bonds and practical application of dragons. The dragons themselves, though, are a very unique spin on the trope. At first I was a little annoyed by the dragons magically speaking English right out of the shell, but Novik provides at least a nod to explain that particular device.

The alternate history is probably what most people enjoy about this book, but for me that part is a little dry. What I liked watching was the different attitudes of humans and dragons and how they change over the course of the story. Rankin and Levitas are probably the most interesting example, and I wish they'd gotten more screen time. Laurence and Temeraire themselves are maybe a bit too perfect, but I think Novik manages to walk that line between “Soldierly Duty” and “Screw this” pretty well.

The dragons really steal the show and I was happy they never took second stage. I kind of wonder how humans got the dragons into a subservient role to begin with. These are hyper-intelligent creatures which most of the world is convinced are dumb beasts. Just... how does that work? The handler bond is Novik's explanation, but that can't be a biological/evolutionary advantage. Maybe I'm being nitpicky, but having just read Marie Brennan's “A Natural History of Dragons,” I really wanted to learn more about the breeds and how the dragon/human relationships came to be. I hope that we get more alternate science in later books, which I definitely plan on reading.

Overall, this was exactly the kind of book I needed after the slog through Stephenson. It's light and fast-paced with dragons. I am an easy to please creature.

I love it!!!!!! To me a book is a treasure if it has demons, devils, gods and dragons!!!! Legend of Huma was my favorite, then Christopher Rowley's Baz Broketail series and along came Naomi Novik's Tremeraire!!!

Absolutely recommended, the tale simply drags you in, and even after the last page, you simply want to continue, a story of man and dragons, so what is so different about this???? Well the concept was simple 18th century world, but with a twist, here there be Dragons!!!! Always wanted to use that phrase!!! Simple storytelling but the details of the relationship between man and dragon, it's like Ms. Novik truly has a dragon companion, the way they interact, how they go about their daily routine, simple, simple yet effective,you could almost believe it's real!!!

And add to the fact, that we are in Britain!!! Love those accents, imagine Laurence with that accent, his companions, of course Tremeraire English/French, what a book!!!!

Plot, oh you guys can read the summary, curious???? Dive in then, and together we shall fly with Tremeraire, Maximus and Lily and a whole lot more!!!