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.