Reviews

His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

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racheldykhuis's review against another edition

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slow-paced

3.0

grace_emc's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

paneerakbari's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Naomi Novik's talent for constructing both plot and character is an absolute marvel. She expertly works tone to gradually reveal fully-realized characters, successfully contrasting period-piece stereotypes with modern sensitivities.
Despite all that, this is a book (and subsequent series) about war and her razor-sharp descriptions of martial maneuvers - naval, field, and aerial - are exhilarating and clear. She captures in the span of a paragraph all the clamor and confusion other authors struggle to convey in entire chapters.
The core conceit seems laughable on its face, but this book is smart, sincere, and tremendously exciting.

machadamia's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

An unexpectedly cozy book about dragons.

Going into it, I have to admit that I was expecting some world ending things to happen but when I realised that it is a more intimate story

about the relationship between the dragon and Laurence, I was all the more happy for it.

Cozy books are really my jam.

Laurence has always shown to be a

kind and caring man with good capabilities as a leader and a navy man. I love that they established that at the start so that later on, we would have basis for why he chooses to bond with Temeraire against what he wishes to do. Temeraire is so incredibly smart and curious. He starts out sort of like a baby to be fed and accompanied then becomes a peer to Laurence and the change in dynamics is so apparent.

I think it's interesting that Novik decided to write that "imprinting" on a dragon is

bad at first,

because that is so different from what we are used to reading. And then later, we see that

dragon riders actually love it because of the bond. Of course there are bad sorts but then mostly they are good. And I do love that most of the cast members are good people who we love. My favourite bits are definitely when he goes in and changes things, they grumbled at first but nothing bad happens and they start to adopt his habits because the dragons genuinely loves it. It's like they really want the best for the dragons. It's like a very cute parent child relationship depiction but also a very endearing peer to peer relationship.

I also love that she is using actual historical events (the Napoleonic wars) to be the background of the story. It is both familiar and yet foreign enough with the dragons' involvement to pique the readers' interest and keep us reading.

I would 100% read this again and probably have a go at the next few books which I hope is as good as this one!

blazeofredfiree's review against another edition

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5.0

Excited for this one and it didn’t disappoint!
- I really liked the way the dragons were written. In dragon books generally, the convention is that one person rides the dragon- which just doesn’t make military sense at all. Here, I really liked how it did make sense- the dragon has a crew with a captain, it’s versatile. I also liked the way the main dragon’s (Temeraire) personality was written. He had a childlike innocence about him and had humanlike traits but readers were definitely reminded that he’s not human. It’s rare to find such a good balance of intelligence and bestiality.
- the combat scenes were engaging and fun as well as tense!
- I didn’t really like the main character that much but he did grow throughout. There is definitely an emphasis on the fact that this is set in different times with different social conventions and, while there was development through his relationship with Temeraire and he becomes less of a jerk, he needs a lot more change before I’d find him really likeable.
- the betrayals and plot twists were very predictable but fun nonetheless!
Would recommend for fantasy fans looking for something that puts a new spin on old tropes!

artbookshelfodyssey's review against another edition

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4.0

A very interesting premise, very well written, but the story seemed to drag sometimes. But interesting enough to make me want to read the next in the series. Napoleonic Wars, with dragons! Need I say more?