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A review by leahegood
His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Summary
Captain William Lawrence is fair-minded, duty-conscious, and entirely committed to his career in the Navy. Until he and his crew capture a French ship carrying a precious cargo. The English military are in desperate need of more dragons, and the egg aboard the French ship is about to hatch. If the young dragon is not put under harness immediately--imprinted to a handler who will remain with the dragon for life--the dragon will never be of use to the military for more than training. Duty is clear. They must attempt to bring the hatchling under harness. But it will mean the end of a Navy career for whoever is chosen.
My Thoughts
I saw this book while meandering through Barnes & Noble and recalled a bookstagrammer displaying it as part of a book haul. I bought it based on the brief mention and the interesting back cover blurb. The book was further recommended when one of my best friends saw me pull it out of my bag and began to gush about the series.
The story reminded me of the Horatio Hornblower movie series + dragons. It has all the honor and duty elements of most military-based historical epics, but there are also dragons. What lover of fantasy and historical fiction can argue with that?
Apart from the dragons--which are (to varying degrees) intelligent, can talk, and have varying abilities such as spitting acid--there are no other fantasy elements. The dragons are treated as a very natural part of the very normal historical setting.
Though I thoroughly enjoyed this book and intend to read more in the series, I will note that the plot was a little looser than I usually prefer. The main character has no true arc (he's a good guy, accepts and adjusts to his new lot in life quite pragmatically and quickly, and overall doesn't seem to have much to learn) and the arc of the story is also less dramatic than some as there is no real story goal other than a general "figure out life as dragon and dragon handler." The Writing Excuses podcast calls this kind of story the "elemental genre of wonder." The driving force of the story for the reader is, "This is a cool thing or place that I would like to enjoy through observation."
Content
Romance: A long-standing understanding is ended when the main character becomes a dragon handler. There are a couple of rather frank (though non-detailed) conversations about pr*stitution and producing children outside of marriage. It is implied that the main character is having physical relations with a female colleague, though to what extent beyond kissing is not spelled out.
Launguage: Minimal if any. It seems like there must have been a few d*mns or h*lls or at least bl**dys in a military novel, but if there were, they were so infrequent as to not stand out.
Violence: Several dragons are injured. Men die in battle. There is one execution. Nothing is graphic.
Religion: None that I can think of.
Captain William Lawrence is fair-minded, duty-conscious, and entirely committed to his career in the Navy. Until he and his crew capture a French ship carrying a precious cargo. The English military are in desperate need of more dragons, and the egg aboard the French ship is about to hatch. If the young dragon is not put under harness immediately--imprinted to a handler who will remain with the dragon for life--the dragon will never be of use to the military for more than training. Duty is clear. They must attempt to bring the hatchling under harness. But it will mean the end of a Navy career for whoever is chosen.
My Thoughts
I saw this book while meandering through Barnes & Noble and recalled a bookstagrammer displaying it as part of a book haul. I bought it based on the brief mention and the interesting back cover blurb. The book was further recommended when one of my best friends saw me pull it out of my bag and began to gush about the series.
The story reminded me of the Horatio Hornblower movie series + dragons. It has all the honor and duty elements of most military-based historical epics, but there are also dragons. What lover of fantasy and historical fiction can argue with that?
Apart from the dragons--which are (to varying degrees) intelligent, can talk, and have varying abilities such as spitting acid--there are no other fantasy elements. The dragons are treated as a very natural part of the very normal historical setting.
Though I thoroughly enjoyed this book and intend to read more in the series, I will note that the plot was a little looser than I usually prefer. The main character has no true arc (he's a good guy, accepts and adjusts to his new lot in life quite pragmatically and quickly, and overall doesn't seem to have much to learn) and the arc of the story is also less dramatic than some as there is no real story goal other than a general "figure out life as dragon and dragon handler." The Writing Excuses podcast calls this kind of story the "elemental genre of wonder." The driving force of the story for the reader is, "This is a cool thing or place that I would like to enjoy through observation."
Content
Romance: A long-standing understanding is ended when the main character becomes a dragon handler. There are a couple of rather frank (though non-detailed) conversations about pr*stitution and producing children outside of marriage. It is implied that the main character is having physical relations with a female colleague, though to what extent beyond kissing is not spelled out.
Launguage: Minimal if any. It seems like there must have been a few d*mns or h*lls or at least bl**dys in a military novel, but if there were, they were so infrequent as to not stand out.
Violence: Several dragons are injured. Men die in battle. There is one execution. Nothing is graphic.
Religion: None that I can think of.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Emotional abuse and War