His Majesty's Dragon
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| Author | Naomi Novik |
|---|---|
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Series | Temeraire |
| Genre(s) | Alternate history |
| Publisher | Del Rey |
| Released | March 28, 2006 |
| Media Type | |
| Pages | 384 |
| ISBN | ISBN 0345481283 |
| 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. For clarity reasons ("Temeraire" is also the name of a character in the series and the name of the series as a whole), the book itself will be referred to by its American title for the remainder of this article.
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 navy, becomes Temeraire's handler, and their early training in preparation for battles against Napoleon's aerial fleet.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The dragon of the title is one of the series' central characters, as is his "aviator", Will Laurence, a former officer of the the British 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 revealed to be of a rare Chinese breed, and his possession by the English is considered a great coup.
Through the course of the book, Captain Laurence settles into the role of an aviator rather than a naval captain. 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 ploy of Napoleon to leave Britain vulnerable to the world's first aerial assault.
[edit] Cast
[edit] The British
- The 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
- Personnel
- The Aerial Corps
- Third Division
- Aviators
- Captain Will Laurence
- Harcourt
- Birkley
- Rankin
- Roland
- Granby
- Dragons
- Temeraire
- Civilians
- Edith Galman
- Species of Dragons
- Yellow Reaper
- Winchester - 3 ton
- Celestial
- Longwing
- Regal Copper
[edit] The French
- The Navy
- Ships
- Amité - Ship Temeraire is captured from, 36 guns
- Orient - Possible French ship, engaged at battle of the Nile
- Ships
[edit] Places Mentioned
[edit] Books
- Badke's Bestiary
