A review by professoremdash
His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik
4.0
4.25/5
This was a fascinating read. It takes place in an altered history of the Napoleonic wars where dragons are used as weapons alongside fleets and armies. Laurence is a strong narrator, coloring the story with his feelings and thoughts. His relationship with Temeraire is a great element of the book. I really loved the world building of the dragon breeds and abilities, and how the fictional aerial corps work as a military unit. My only complaints are that the writing style is extremely formal (straight out of Laurence’s head, so kudos to Novik for that), filled with many analytical observations, and sometimes it’s hard to follow the story because I had to wade through lots of details. Also there is a lot of exposition between the events that keep the story moving, which isn’t bad for character development, but made the pace a bit uneven. All in all, a good novel for anyone who enjoyed Eragon and or general fantasy.
This was a fascinating read. It takes place in an altered history of the Napoleonic wars where dragons are used as weapons alongside fleets and armies. Laurence is a strong narrator, coloring the story with his feelings and thoughts. His relationship with Temeraire is a great element of the book. I really loved the world building of the dragon breeds and abilities, and how the fictional aerial corps work as a military unit. My only complaints are that the writing style is extremely formal (straight out of Laurence’s head, so kudos to Novik for that), filled with many analytical observations, and sometimes it’s hard to follow the story because I had to wade through lots of details. Also there is a lot of exposition between the events that keep the story moving, which isn’t bad for character development, but made the pace a bit uneven. All in all, a good novel for anyone who enjoyed Eragon and or general fantasy.