I’m not exactly a Napoleonic Wars buff, but I am a big fan of books from the Regency and later books set during that time. His Majesty’s Dragon, first of a series by Naomi Novik, is about the Napoleonic Wars – but with dragons. If that’s not enough to get you to read the book, read on.

Captain Will Laurence, at the very beginning of this book, is a captain in His Majesty’s Navy, and he has just captured a French ship. In the storage area of the ship is a dragon egg – a huge one that will probably hatch within a week. Unfortunately, if a dragon doesn’t bond with someone immediately after hatching, it will go feral and be moderately useless. The dragon bond isn’t quite so profound and magical as Anne McCaffrey’s, but it does go pretty deep. Also unfortunate for our captain is the fact that they are still probably three weeks away from shore. The crew draws lots on who should have first dibs on controlling/harnessing the dragon, and Carver is chosen (one of the younger sailors).

Unfortunately, again, for the captain, the hatchling dragon doesn’t really like Carver and chooses him, Captain Laurence, instead. Laurence names the dragon Temeraire and his problems only get worse for a while. First, the country is obviously at war with Napoleon and therefore all dragons are needed immediately for combat. Second, most dragon riders are trained from a very early age in all the things needed to be done to properly care for and fight with a giant beast like this. (Dragons are generally taller than a three-story house with a proportionate wingspan.) Third, Laurence will have to give up his Naval career. Fourth, no one’s quite sure what kind of dragon Temeraire is, and therefore no one’s quite sure what his full size will be, as well as his strengths and weaknesses. Will he be able to blow fire or acid?

This book details Laurence’s quest for acceptance as a dragon captain, within himself as well as society, and Temeraire’s early growth, training period, and self-discovery. The story moves on at quite a good pace; periods of rest (lack of battle) are at least broken up by action, movement, and, at the very least, interpersonal conflict. Characters, especially dragons, are well-detailed and move in and out of the storyline as needed. Temeraire himself is an exceptional creature and highly intelligent, able to speak two languages and having a powerful interest in the sciences, including math and astronomy. Captain Laurence is a bit simpler, being a Navy man and not entirely scholastically inclined. He’s also the third son of a Lord of some flavor (it’s not quite said) and therefore a gentleman. This upbringing certainly colors his relations with people, especially the Dragon Corps. (Some of the captains are women! Gasp!)

While there is a fair amount of fighting, action, training, and military discussions, Novik keeps the interest firmly on the relationship between Laurence and Temeraire. Discussions of strategy are hinted at rather than transcribed word-for-word, and she seems to have struck a good balance between information we need and information we don’t need regarding maneuvers.

There’s quite a bit of dialogue and Novik writes in what seems to be accurate but not overdone period language. The action is written in a 21st century fashion, but the characters use bits of Regency slang among themselves. (“It’d be famous!” is a common phrase.) It’s not difficult to read or strange-sounding at all. Her descriptions are well-done; enough to excite the imagination but not an entire picture-dump at once. I also don’t remember any infodumps on her part; she seems content to let the backstory unfold a bit at a time. Novik has done an amazing job writing, especially for what seems to be a first book. I’d cheerfully recommend this to anyone who likes historical stories, dragons, military stories, books, etc. It gets 4.5/5 stars.