His Majesty's Fire Riders
His Majesty's Fire Riders (original title: Temeraire ) is a completed fantasy novel series with historical elements by the American writer Naomi Novik . In Germany, the nine volumes in the series were published between summer 2007 and spring 2017.
The Temeraire cycle takes place in a parallel world in which dragons exist and are purposefully bred to serve as air combat units with a crew. The books are set at the time of the Napoleonic Wars and integrate numerous historical personalities into the plot.
The books
Volume 1: Brood of Dragons
(Original title: His Majestys Dragon )
A British naval ship under the command of Captain William Laurence hijacks a French ship and finds a dragon egg in it, which was actually intended for the French Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte . The egg is about to hatch, and so a lot is drawn among the officers to determine who should offer himself to the dragon as captain. Only a dragon harnessed to a human shortly after its birth can be used in combat. A deep bond is created between the kite and the “aviator”, which makes the kite steerable. The young officer who was intended for this task is rejected by the newly hatched dragon. At the last moment, William Laurence succeeds in tying the dragon, which he gives the name Temeraire , to himself. Laurence is initially very unhappy about it, because the aviators have a bad reputation and are not a desirable weapon for a gentleman. Over time, however, a deep bond develops between him and Temeraire, who is believed to be an extremely rare imperial dragon. As he feared, Laurence will be released from his naval service to serve as a member of the British Crown Air Corps. There he had a difficult time at the beginning, as most of the members of the air corps wait many years for the chance to present themselves as captain to a kite and not become a kite rider like Laurence practically overnight. The informal manners in particular are initially a challenge for the extremely formal Laurence. He and Temeraire are subjected to tough training to take their place in a flight formation. However, Laurence managed to earn the respect of most aviators relatively quickly through his care for Temeraire and his bravery in battle. When most of the strong-fighting English heavyweight and acid-spitting dragons were tied up in the Battle of Trafalgar , Napoleon seized the opportunity and tried to conquer England by means of air transporters carried by dragons. The situation is desperate when Temeraire discovers a special ability of himself. The divine wind , a focused and extremely strong sound wave, allows Temeraire to destroy some transporters in the air and thus force the French troops to retreat. As it turns out, Temeraire is a sky dragon, one of the rarest and most noble Chinese breeds. At the end of the first volume, Laurence made friends with his new position and established himself in the air corps.
Volume 2: Prince Dragon
(Original title: Throne of Jade )
The Chinese emperor has sent a delegation demanding that Temeraire be returned. Sky dragons have the status of princes in the empire, and it is unthinkable that one of them should do minor military service on the English side. The Chinese delegation continues to insist that Temeraire return to China. It was originally intended as a gift to Napoleon, and a horseman of non-imperial descent is unacceptable. After several attempts to separate William Laurence and Temeraire have failed, the two and their crew are sent to China. Since the land routes are too unsafe, transport over water is organized. During the voyage there were several attacks on William's life. Due to his excellent language skills, which only sky dragons have, Temeraire learns Chinese within a very short time and begins to be interested in the culture of his homeland. Once at the imperial court, the English not only have to fight with further murder attempts, diplomatic entanglements also lead to problems. France is cleverly trying to weaken England's position in the Middle Kingdom. This plan is supported, among others, by the emperor's brother, Prince Yongxing, who would like to take over the throne himself. Eventually the intrigue is exposed and the traitor is killed. Lien, Yongxing's albino dragon, blames Temeraire for the death of her rider, who died in a fight between the two dragons. She becomes a bitter enemy of Temeraire and Laurence. The Chinese emperor eventually adopts William so he and Temeraire can continue to stay together. William offers his dragon to stay with him in China, since he has noticed how comfortable Temeraire feels there. The social position of the dragons differs fundamentally from the European one, they are treated here as full members of the community. Even "wild" dragons, i.e. those that do not have a rider, have the status of persons and can e.g. B. earn a living as an air taxi. In Europe these kites are mostly kept in breeding enclosures and used for reproduction. Temeraire, however, decides to return to England. On the one hand, he does not want to abandon his comrades in times of war, on the other hand he wants to fight to improve the situation of the dragons in Europe.
Volume 3: Dragon Wrath
(Original title: Black Powder War )
On their way back from China, Captain William Laurence and Temeraire are given the task of bringing three dragon eggs from Istanbul to Great Britain. To save time, choose the overland route. Your guide through the mountains of Central Asia is Tharkay, a very dubious figure at first, but who then turns out to be trustworthy. The group crosses the path of some wild dragons, with whom Temeraire can soon contact due to his language skills. The wild dragons accompany the travelers to Istanbul, but then return to their homeland in Turkmenistan. In Istanbul the British are being cheated of the dragon eggs they had promised, among which is that of a much-needed fire-breathing Kazilik. However, the British manage to steal the promised eggs. On the run, one of the dragons in the eggs and a member of Laurence's team are unfortunately killed. The further journey takes them to Prussia, which is threatened by the Napoleonic troops. The Prussians are desperately waiting for support from the British Air Corps, which inexplicably fails to materialize. Despite the help of Laurence and Temeraire, Prussia is defeated in the battle of Jena and Auerstedt . Napoleon's new ally, the female dragon Lien, who seeks revenge for her slain partner, is revealed. She wants to do this by destroying Temeraire's homeland, England, her allies and friends. In the end, the English managed to escape to Dover, which to their surprise was almost unguarded.
Volume 4: Drachenglanz
(Original title: Empire of Ivory )
The reason for the poor defense of the English coast is a novel plague that has spread rapidly among the dragons. Temeraire suffered from a similar illness while traveling to China, but recovered after a few days. Since he was in Africa at the time, he and Laurence are sent there along with their formation to look for a cure. Although this is found, they involuntarily make acquaintance with the local dragon tribes. Like the Chinese dragons, these live in equal company with the locals. In response to the colonization of Africa and the associated slave trade, the African dragons are destroying every colony on the coast. Laurence and his companions can escape, but can no longer prevent the destruction of the colonies. Fortunately, sufficient quantities of the cure had already been collected and sent to England. Arriving there again, the dismayed Temeraire learns that the French dragons on the European mainland have been deliberately infected with the disease for tactical reasons by leaking a sick animal to them. Temeraire now decides to fly to France himself and bring some samples of the healing mushroom there in order to save the dragons from certain death. Laurence accompanies him, although he is aware that they are committing high treason. Napoléon offers them to stay as heroes in France, but they return to England to face their responsibilities.
Volume 5: Dragon Watch
(Original title: Victory of Eagles )
Will Laurence and Dragon Temeraire return to England and are tried in court-martial for high treason for delivering the cure to the French dragons. Laurence is charged with treason, arrested and locked up on a warship. He is also threatened with execution by the gallows while Temeraire is ordered to a Welsh breeding pen. But then Napoleon's troops attack the ship on which Laurence is imprisoned and sink it. When Temeraire receives news of the ship's destruction, he mistakenly believes that Laurence was killed. Desperate, he persuades all the dragons in the breeding enclosure to follow him into war and recognize him as the leader of the squadron. With this group of dragons and some shepherds, who are supposed to serve him to provide for, he now sets off to the French enemies. Meanwhile, Laurence is ordered to the breeding enclosure to serve with Temeraire again for the course of Napoleon's invasion in the air corps, as the British Admiralty could not do without a sky kite. Once there, he finds an abandoned enclosure. After a desperate search, Laurence finally finds Temeraire and his squadron and together they fight for England. In the end, Laurence and Temeraire get the order to go to Australia.
Volume 6: Dragon Flame
(Original title: Tongues of Serpents )
William Laurence's sentence was changed from the death penalty to exile in Australia because of his special commitment to the defense of England. Together with Iskierka, her crew, Tharkay, three dragon eggs and several other airmen, they are sent to Sydney to establish a new base for the corps. Caesar hatches there, assigned to Rankin of all people, who hates Laurence and has neglected his former dragon. Rankin is given command as he is the longest-serving captain. Rankin, Granby and Laurence are given the task of looking for a suitable location for the base, while Tharkay is supposed to look for a smuggler's route for the East India Company, which would damage the company's business, which is why he accompanies the airmen. While the group was resting in search, one of the eggs was stolen from them. Tharkay thinks the smugglers stole the egg and convinces Rankin to go into pursuit. They fly all over the continent once and keep getting into trouble. On this journey another dragon hatches from the last remaining egg. Because of his meager figure and his apparently low chances of survival, none of the officers who traveled with him wanted to be his captain. That is why Demane, one of the native boys that Laurence brought from Africa, takes the dragon and gives it the name "Kulingile". At Ayers Rock the group meets a kite and follows it to the north coast of Australia. When they reach the sea, they find a Chinese port with the hatched baby dragon of the egg. This port is responsible for contraband in Sydney and is therefore seen by England as a threat to trade, a peaceful agreement seems impossible. Soon after, an English warship appears that is supposed to take the harbor or, if necessary, destroy it. However, this venture is thwarted by sea snakes trained specifically to transport the goods from China. With the help of a trick they are made to attack the ship. Since the English dragons helped repel the sea snakes, they are banished from the Chinese base and therefore fly back to Sydney. There they part ways, Granby travels back to England with Iskierka on the Allegiance .
Volume 7: Dragon Gold
(Original title: Crucible of Gold )
The British diplomat Hammond visits Laurence and Temeraire in their exile in Australia and asks them for their help. They are supposed to help prevent the African Tswana , allies of Napoleon, from invading Brazil. The Tswana strive for the complete liberation of all kidnapped and enslaved Africans. For this, both should be fully rehabilitated. They agree and so Temeraire, Kulingile and Iskierka are to be brought to Brazil with their crews on the Allegiance . As a result of indiscipline, a fire breaks out on board and the ship sinks, with Captain Riley, an old friend of Laurence's being killed. Only a small part of the crew can be saved. The three kites are forced to fly the rest of the way to South America, with thousands of miles of water ahead of them. With the last of their strength, they can save themselves on a ship. This is, of all things, the French triomphe , on which Chrétien-Louis-Joseph de Guignes and Juliette Récamier are on their way to the Inca to start diplomatic negotiations. The English are interned on a small island to be picked up later. However, Laurence and the others can track down old treasure maps on the island, which allows them to fly the rest of the way to the South American continent.
In Inca land they meet rather hostile natives who were decimated by the Spaniards under Francisco Pizarro and smallpox . That is why the native dragons that preside over the ayllus protect the people very particularly and always suspect that they are being taken away from them. Hammond establishes diplomatic contacts with the Inca. It turns out that Anahuarque Inka, the widow of the late Sapa Inka , is being urged by her advisors to remarry as quickly as possible. Iskierka goes out of her way to make her captain Granby her new husband, which would make him a real monarch. Although he himself would hate that, since he is homosexual, as he confesses to Laurence, Granby would be willing to enter into this marriage for the good of England. The marriage to the ruler of the Inca would give England control of their impressive air forces, which would represent a decisive advantage in the fight against Napoleon. But the plans come to nothing: Napoleon himself appears to marry Anahuarque. This game seems more advantageous to the Inca, and the British have to flee to Belém . They move on to Rio de Janeiro , which has meanwhile been taken by the Tswana. Laurence urges Prince João, the ruler of the Portuguese colonies in Brazil, to cooperate with the Tswana and release the slaves, since the colony cannot be defended against the Tswana and Napoleon with the Inca. The slaves are released and brought back to their homeland by the English at the request of the Africans.
In the end, Gong Su, the Chinese chef from Temeraire, reveals that he had been spying on him for Prince Mianning, the Chinese crown prince, and suggests a trip to the imperial court. Hammond sees this as an opportunity for an alliance with China, which is why Temeraire, Kulingile and Iskierka, together with the formation of Lily and Maximus, who have arrived from England, sail to China on the Potentate .
Volume 8: Dragon Enemy
(Original title: Blood of Tyrants )
Off the coast of Japan , the Potentate is shipwrecked and Laurence is washed overboard. He wakes up on land and is rescued by Kaneko, a local who brings him to his house but does not want to let go. Laurence suffers from retrograde amnesia and cannot remember anything that happened after his time as sea captain. Meanwhile, Temeraire is worried sick and insists on going to find Laurence. Hammond forbids this, however, as the Japanese have largely isolated themselves from the outside world and Nagasaki has only opened one port for foreign trade. This is also the reason why Laurence is being held by Kaneko. Foreigners are strictly prohibited from staying outside of Nagasaki. Just by protecting Laurence, Kaneko broke the law and lost his honor. Junichiro, a student of Kaneko, flees to Nagasaki with Laurence to restore his master's honor. Termeraire would not have let himself be deterred by all these rules if Iskierka had not laid an egg that she had received from him and that must be protected.
Finally Laurence and Junichiro manage to get on board the repaired Potentate, which is now lying in the port of Nagasaki . There one is shocked by Laurence's loss of memory. While Temeraire and Laurence get along well again quickly, the other fliers avoid him so as not to upset him with the past. Once in China, Crown Prince Mianning and Laurence barely escape an assassination attempt. The conservative faction of the Chinese tries to prevent the alliance between England and China, which in particular wants to produce Hammond at any price. Every means is fine with them.
In order to prove that the English are preventing the alliance and to refute rumors that the East India Company had forced the opium trade, the British formation is sent to the north of the empire together with a Chinese air army under the command of General Chu, a dragon to put down a revolution. On the trip, Laurence barely escapes an assassination attempt. Laurence, who still cannot remember his last years as a pilot, is confronted again with the high treason committed by him and Temeraire because Temeraire is gossiping. Annoyed, Laurence storms off. Temeraire tries to make up for his faux pas and looks for signs of the rebels that the air force should defeat. The only thing he finds is the captured Arkady, one of the dragons from the Pamir Mountains and an old friend. When he tries to free Arkady, they are attacked by Chinese soldiers along with Ferris and Forthing, his officers. They manage to defeat the soldiers and so it turns out that the whole rebellion is a farce, the purpose of which was to discredit the English and prevent the Alliance. Tharkay, who had come with Arkady, informed the British of Napoleon's Russian campaign . The appearance of his old friend Tharkay brought Laurence back to all his memories. Now that the alliance has come about, Laurence can, with the permission of the emperor, lead a Chinese air force into battle.
Temeraire, Laurence and General Chu fly to Russia with a new army to assist the Russians in the fight against Napoleon and to defeat him for good. After losing the battle of Borodino (with General Chu badly wounded), despite the help of Termeraire and the Chinese, the Russians are forced to give up Moscow . So that the supplies and ammunition stored in Moscow do not fall into the hands of the French, the city is burned down . Laurence discovers the catastrophic conditions under which Russian breeding kites are kept. He urges General Kutuzov to improve these conditions. But his promise comes too late: Napoleon had the dragons freed from the breeding pens, which, starving, attacked the supplies and even the Russian wounded. Laurence and Temeraire manage to capture Marshal Murat and his dragon Liberté. However, this did not stop Napoleon from marching south to attack the Russian supply depots. The book ends with a reference to the upcoming winter of 1812.
Volume 9: Dragon Victory
(Original title: League of Dragons )
On June 14, 2016, the ninth and final volume of the series was released - initially in the English original - under the title League of Dragons in the USA. The German-language edition was published on March 27, 2017 under the title Dragon victory .
filming
Peter Jackson , the director of The Lord of the Rings and King Kong , secured the rights to a film adaptation. It is not yet known when and whether the film will be released in cinemas. In the meantime, Jackson had planned to produce His Majesty's Fire Riders as a multi-part television series. In the course of a question and answer session on February 24, 2016 on reddit , Naomi Novik replied to questions about the filming that the filming rights had been returned to her and that there were no new plans to date.
Individual evidence
- Jump up ↑ George Leonard Staunton , representative of the British East India Company in Canton / Guangzhou, Louis Ferdinand of Prussia , Friedrich Ludwig zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen , Friedrich Wilhelm III. , Napoléon Bonaparte , François-Joseph Lefebvre , Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson , Luise von Mecklenburg-Strelitz , William Wilberforce , Moshoeshoe I. , Emperor Jiaqing , Selim III.
- ↑ LEAGUE OF DRAGONS by Naomi Novik will be the Final TEMERAIRE Novel from August 12, 2015, accessed on January 29, 2016. (English)
- ↑ Lord of fantasy: Jackson eyeing 'Temeraire' at hollywoodreporter.com ( Memento from December 5, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Temeraire: Peter Jackson is shooting TV series on herr-der-ringe-film.de December 12, 2009. Accessed December 12, 2009
- ↑ Ask me Anything by Naomi Novik on Reddit.Retrieved July 22, 2016