Booking It: His Majesty's Dragon

Who doesn’t love dragons? (Well, apart from Bilbo Baggins.)

Naomi Novik’s rich and exciting Temeraire series is, at first, a basic concept. She writes about the Napoleonic Wars, but with dragons. Out of this simple premise Novik creates a complex, suspenseful and interesting world to explore. Although the series diverges from history at some points, it is clear Novik did her research. She successfully creates the atmosphere of an early 1800’s Britain from the deck of a Navy ship to the halls of aristocracy, seamlessly waving in new layers to integrate the existence of dragons.

The focus of this review is the first book in the series, His Majesty’s Dragon. It begins with the introduction of the protagonist, Captain William Laurence, a somewhat stiff-necked but devoutly loyal character. If not for happenstance, he would have been a largely unremarkable person in the grand scheme of things, as he possesses no special intelligence, inheritance or power, which makes for a refreshing change from the “chosen one” trope in fantasy and science fiction. This is not to say he is dull or underdeveloped as a character - to the contrary. He is wonderfully believable, as are most of Novik’s characters. He comes from a fairly rich family and serves in the Navy, basically happy with his lot in life. However, when his ship captures a dragon egg off of a French ship far from shore, he has to harness the newly hatched dragon, or it will not be serviceable in the British army. This makes him the dragon’s captain, and so he is thrust into Britain’s Aerial Corps, a group normally restricted to those who began training at age seven. The dragon, which he names Temeraire, turns out to be exceptionally intelligent and impressive in battle, so Laurence and Temeraire become an invaluable part of Britain’s defense against Napoleon.

Part of what makes this entire series brilliant is its world-building. The society is complex and realistic, filled with prejudice springing from misunderstanding on both sides. It does not confine itself to black-and-white situations or assign the majority of the human species a single viewpoint. The world is filled with characters who have varying opinions and degrees of open-mindedness, both inside the Corps and out. Laurence is an outsider to the Corps, but when he becomes a member he is also largely outcast from his previous society, both in the Navy and at home, leaving him to drift between identities. This unique situation means that Laurence begins to question assumptions and traditions on both sides. Through him, Novik skillfully tears into both fantastical and real social prejudices and constructs. The intelligence of dragons and their place as more than brute beasts is one of the questions and themes this novel raises, but so is sexism, especially in the military, as well as racism, colonialism and the problem of discipline versus innovation. Even the more fantastical debates would be reasonably easy to apply to any number of real-life marginalized groups.

None of these social commentaries, however, are the focus of the novel. Issues and differences have to be set aside because Napoleon is a far more pressing matter, and although Napoleon is depicted as a villain and tyrannous invader, it is clear that British society is far from perfect. This is not a battle of good versus evil. Novik’s particular brand of fantasy is a fully believable world that happens to include fanciful elements.

It is perfectly possible to sit back and enjoy His Majesty’s Dragon as an exciting war novel. It does begin a bit slowly, with multiple chapters of Laurence slowly moving towards his training base as he stops to say goodbye to friends and muses about what is to come along the way. Once he reaches his training base there is also a significant amount of time spent simply introducing the readers to characters and concepts. It could have been condensed a bit, but it was still interesting to read and did a great deal to establish Laurence and Temeraire as characters and their relationship, which is central to the whole series. Once it does begin to reach the more action-packed scenes, it remains highly engaging without resorting to rapid pacing or cheap cliffhangers. The first book also effectively sets up for the continuation of the series, but is self-contained and a perfectly enjoyable read without committing to all nine books.

His Majesty’s Dragon is a fantasy novel, but it is not genre fiction. It consciously avoids many of the more tired tropes and instead offers a truly well researched and well-planned original, complicated, convincing world. It is a fun, gripping story whether you typically enjoy fantasy or not.