His Majesty's Dragon

His Majesty's Dragon

Author	Naomi Novik
Country	USA
Language	English
Series	Temeraire
Genre	Alternate history, Fantasy novel
Publisher	Del Rey
Publication date	March 28 2006
Media type	Print
Pages	384
ISBN	ISBN 0-345-48128-3
Followed by	Throne of Jade

His Majesty's Dragon, published in the UK as Temeraire, is the first novel in the Temeraire alternate history/fantasy series by American author Naomi Novik first published in 2005.

His Majesty's Dragon won the 2007 Compton Crook Award for best novel in the SF/Fantasy genre during 2006 by a first time author in the genre.

Plot introduction

The story is set during an alternate history version of the Napoleonic Wars, in which dragons not only exist but are used as a staple of aerial warfare in Asia and Europe. The dragons of the story are portrayed as sentient and intelligent, capable of logical thought and human speech. The series centers primarily on events involving Temeraire (the titular dragon) and his handler, Will Laurence. The first book of the series centers on how Laurence, formerly a Captain in the British Royal Navy, becomes Temeraire's handler, and their early training in preparation for battles against Napoleon's aerial fleet.

Plot summary

The dragon Temeraire is one of the series' central characters, as is his "aviator", Will Laurence, a former officer of the the Royal Navy who had taken part in the capture of Temeraire's egg from a French ship while it was in transit to France. Temeraire is later discovered to be of a rare Chinese breed, and his capture by the British is considered a great coup.

Through the course of the book, Captain Laurence adjusts to his new role as an aviator, rather than a naval officer. Through him we learn how dragons are bred, raised, trained, and harnessed in combat. We are also introduced to the society of the aviators, a branch of the military trained to fight while mounted on dragons.

The training of Temeraire and Laurence is rushed so that their unit can assist the navy in preventing a French invasion while the veteran dragon units are sent to assist in the Battle of Trafalgar. Accordingly, the British win that engagement, although Horatio Nelson survives, one of the deviations from our history the series takes. Rather than a tactical blunder, Trafalgar turns out to be a Napoleonic ploy to leave Britain vulnerable to the world's first aerial assault.

Characters

The British

• Royal Navy
  • Personnel
    • Admiral Croft
    • Captain Will Laurence
    • First Lieutenant Gibbs
    • Second Lieutenant Tom Riley
    • Lieutenant Fanshawe
    • Third Lieutenant Wells
    • Midshipman Battersea
    • Midshipman Jonathan Carver
    • Mr. Pollitt - naval surgeon
    • Mr. Rabson - Armorer
    • Gordon - Hand
    • Masterson - Hand
    • Steward Giles
  • Ships
    • HMS Reliant - Captain Will Laurence,
    • HMS Goliath
    • HMS Commendable - Admiral Croft's flagship
• The Aerial Corps
  • Third Division
  • Aviators
    • Captain Will Laurence
    • Harcourt
    • Berkley
    • Rankin
    • Roland
    • Granby
    • James
  • Dragons
    • Temeraire
    • Lily
    • Maximus
    • Levitas
    • Volatilus
• Civilians
  • Edith Galman
• Species of Dragons
  • Yellow Reaper
  • Winchester - 3 ton
  • Celestial
  • Longwing
  • Regal Copper

The French

• The Navy
  • Ships
    • Amitié - Ship Temeraire is captured from, 36 guns
    • Orient - French flagship at the battle of the Nile

Places Mentioned

• Madeira
• Funchal

Books

• Badke's Bestiary

See also

• Temeraire (series)
• Naomi Novik