The Temeraire Book Series

A few words about the human-dragon relationship are in order, because every fantasy series that has dragons does them a little differently. All right, a lot differently. All authors mostly seem to agree that dragons are reptilian, very large, and can fly. Most also give them improbable but not impossible abilities such as fire breathing, and lifespans that greatly exceed those of humans. Beyond that it's anyone's choice. Sometimes dragons speak, sometimes not. Sometimes they have supernatural powers (eg: magic, telepathy, time travel), sometimes not. Sometimes they are wild, sometimes they are civilized.

Behaviorally, Novik's dragons are a lot like humans. In addition to language and intelligence, they are social creatures that establish a pecking order amongst themselves. They are acquisative, possessive, and covet treasure. They are predatory, but not inherently hostile or violent. They are not supernatural in any way.

Being intelligent, they choose whether to accept a human handler or not. Humans however have long since noticed that dragons are more likely to "go into harness" when newly hatched, and make sure a handler prospect is at hand for those events. An intensely strong emotional bond usually forms after a harnessing. It is solely this bond that keeps human and dragon together, and keeps the dragon from helping itself to whatever tasty livestock is conveniently available.

As of this lens' publication (September 2008) there are five Temeraire books. In order: "His Majesty's Dragon," "Throne Of Jade," "Black Powder War," "Empire Of Ivory," and "Victory of Eagles." At least one more is expected. They are written in a somewhat mannered style reminiscent of the early 19th century, (Jane Austen is an obvious influence), yet are still light, accessible, and easy to read.

In fact each book can occasionally seem a little too light; a few reviewers have said development of the dragon characters is stronger than that of the humans. I suspect character development is less the problem than depth and pace. Four of the five gallop across multiple geographies and blitz through a series of encounters, complications, battles, and mysteries that could almost be the subject of books on their own. But some readers might like stories that cover so much ground.

From my perspective the books individually and cumulatively achieve a number of things that more than offset this defect, if it is one.

In the early 19th century, the speed of communication was limited to the speed of travel. Men from respectable families were expected to enter respectable professions, or failing that, not enter wholly disreputable ones. Respectable women were expected to marry, have children, and care for their families, and could not enter any profession or overtly participate in the leading institutions of economic and political power. Certain subjects, notably sex, weren't discussed in polite company except indirectly. The books don't explicitly state most of this. Instead they show the characters operating in, around, and sometimes in spite of these strictures.

The nature of the human-dragon relationship varies from culture to culture. In Britain, the setting of book one, dragons are valued as a military asset but also feared for their tremendous size and predatory ways. Consequently they are treated as a management problem, and are kept separate from the general human population as much as possible. Those dragons that will not accept a human handler are persuaded to stay in designated breeding grounds with the promise of a steady supply of food.

In China, which takes up part of book two, they are fully integrated into the human landscape. Beijing's streets are built wider so that dragons may live in the city. Some dragons are educated, and have oversized sketch boards on which they write with their claws. All engage in ordinary economic transactions with humans, and are as economically stratified as humans (ie: some are richer and some are poorer, if you're put off by Academic Speak).

In southern Africa, which takes up much of the fourth book, they are also more integrated and integral to tribal life. African tribal society however is not as technologically or economically complex as either China's or Britain's.

Novik clearly did her homework. In addition to Britain, China, and southern Africa, the books take us to the Taklamakan Desert, the mountains of Central Asia, Istanbul, and what was once called Prussia but is now northwestern Poland. A sprinkling of details gets across local environmental conditions (eg: the cold and damp of Scotland, the dry heat of the African plain and the humidity of the African jungle, or the fury of a desert sandstorm) without bogging down in minutiae.

Then there are the passages set on the high seas. If Jane Austen influenced the style, Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series clearly influenced this portion of the content. The reader is immersed in life aboard a ship of the line, everything from commanding men in battle or bad weather to management of food and water stores to allocation of limited space to post-combat formalities --but again, without bogging down in minutiae. It is of sufficiently high quality that some readers have described Temeraire as Aubrey-Maturin with dragons (Although dragons, not ships, get significantly more attention).

In interviews Novik has admitted surprise at discovering she likes to write battle scenes. By my count there are a baker's dozen or so, ranging from minor skirmishes to major engagements. All capture the chaos, intensity, and rapid strategic adjustments of pitched battle, but two in particular deserve mention: Napoleon's first attempted invasion of Britain, which occurs near the end of book one, and Napoleon's war against Prussia, in the later chapters of book three ("Black Powder War"). In my view they stand out because they plausibly imagine how a battlefield innovator and risk taker like Napoleon might have used air power, and with what result (Spoiler alert: Temeraire almost single-handedly thwarts the invasion, but is unable to carry the day for the Prussians).

5) They do not gloss over grim realities
Military service is hazardous and sometimes fatal work. Whether in battle or during their many peregrinations, men on Temeraire's crew occasionally die. The books matter-of-factly include such incidents without dwelling on them in gory detail.

Fate brings man and dragon together when the HMS Reliant captures the French frigate Amilie, whose cargo includes a dragon egg. Out of duty to country, Captain William Laurence reluctantly agrees to become the dragon's handler after if hatches a few days later, thus giving up his command, his plans for marriage, and his dreams of establishing a place in respectable society. But this is no ordinary dragon. Temeraire, as Laurence names him, is a Chinese Imperial, a rare and intelligent breed. Together they form an extraordinary kinship that carries them through the transition from life at sea to life in the Air Corp, the rigors of aerial combat training, and finally a desperate battle on Britain's coast to thwart an invasion by Napoleon. A battle in which Temeraire plays the deciding role.

Word that the dragon egg intended as a gift to Napoleon has instead fallen into British hands, and those of a lowly sea captain no less, prompts the arrival of an angry delegation from China demanding custody of Temeraire. Temeraire refuses to go if it means separation from his companion William Laurence, and Laurence refuses to deceive Temeraire into leaving without him. The impasse leads to the pair (and their full flight crew) taking a long voyage with the delegation. They spend months sailing around the horn of Africa, across the Indian Ocean, and finally through the South China Sea to China. Along the way Temeraire develops and recovers from an illness, the traveling party battles a sea serpent, and the ship survives a typhoon.

But this is merely prelude. In Temeraire's eyes, China is a place of wonder and new possibilities. In Laurence's, it is a place of sinister imperial court intrigues. Both are right. For though Temeraire is delighted to experience the economic and cultural life of the country as an equal participant, he and Laurence also discover they have unwittingly been at the center of the very biggest intrigue of all: a plot to usurp the emperor's throne. Its resolution nearly costs Laurence his life, and earns Temeraire a lifelong enemy.

As if they had not been through enough in China, a mysterious courier named Tharkay brings new orders from home: William Laurence and Temeraire are to depart at once for Istanbul, Turkey, to collect three valuable dragon eggs purchased from the Ottoman Empire. This after a fire severely damages their transport ship, stranding them in the far east. With Tharkay agreeing to serve as guide, Laurence decides to go overland. And what an intense, complicated, and at times disastrous journey that comes to be. They skirt the edge of the Gobi and then the Taklamakan Deserts, where they must survive a sandstorm, the loss of some of their supplies, and attacks by marauders. They are accosted by feral dragons in the mountains of Central Asia. They make a winding, surreptitious passage through Persia and eastern Turkey to avoid discovery, only to have the Ottomans renege on the agreement once they reach their destination.

A tuberculosis-like disease has swept through Britain's Aerial Corps dragons, sapping them of the strength to fly let alone stop Napoleon from attempting a second invasion. Temeraire and the band of Central Asian ferals, whom Tharkay persuaded to come west and help with the war, have to be sequestered for their own safety. In spite of these precautions Temeraire is still exposed, but when he doesn't fall ill hopes rise for the prospects of saving the others. As Temeraire's own sickness and recovery during the voyage to China had taken place while they were sailing around Africa, he, Laurence, their flight crew, and a passel of sick dragons travel south by sea in a desperate bid to rediscover whatever cure that massive continent might hold. It promises to be, and is, a great challenge.

After much trial, error, searching, and a spell of imprisonment by a hostile inland tribe, they are successful. The cure turns out to be a suffocatingly fragrant mushroom that is poisonous to humans and livestock, but delightful to dragons. It revives those that made the trip and all that remained in Britain.

Yet no good deed goes unpunished. With the mushroom in hand the British government devises a scheme so underhanded that Laurence stoically agrees when Temeraire insists they must thwart it. Even though doing so will mark him forever as a traitor.

Captain Laurence is stripped of his rank and jailed for treason. Temeraire is consigned to the breeding grounds in Wales, his good behavior purchased in exchange for Laurence's life. Thus when Napoleon makes his second move across the channel, neither is available to oppose it. The eagle standard at last gains a foothold on British soil. If there is a salutary result of this, it is that Laurence's prison ship is sunk during the invasion. He washes ashore near Dover and immediately goes in search of Temeraire, who on learning of the ship's fate (but not Laurence's) decides he's had enough of lying around and organizes the other idle dragons into a resistance force. Both are successful; by battlefield happenstance, Laurence does rejoin Temeraire, while the unharnessed dragons are such an effective regiment Temeraire is offered an officer's commission.

With the country's situation so dire Laurence is restored to duty as well, provisionally; he is still regarded as a traitor. But though Laurence and Temeraire are back together and fighting for Britain again their situation is much more complicated than before. Temeraire uses the leverage the war has given him to lobby for wages and more freedoms for dragons, a project he had wanted to undertake since observing the much better circumstances of dragons in China. Laurence for his part falls into a funk over the barbarity of the orders he is given. He follows them nonetheless, with telling effect. Napoleon is pushed into a major battle sooner than he'd have wanted, lured into a trap, and almost captured. He retreats ignominiously back to France.

The respite allows Britain to recover somewhat, and the government to rid itself of two undesirables: Laurence, the traitorous war hero, and Temeraire, the dragon rabble rouser. They are exiled to Australia.

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