Reviews

This book was a suggestion for my book club and immediately intrigued me. Dragons and the Napoleonic Wars? Yes, please! I have not read much fiction featuring dragons, but I really enjoyed this. I will say, probably because this is the first in a series, there is not a lot of action/plot, and I felt pretty disconnected from the main character, Laurence. We are not in his head very much. But Novik is really good at setting a scene, and you can tell she focused attention on period dialogue and how dragons might exist in this world. The dragons are the best part, and the battle scenes are terrific. They made me think of the Horatio Hornblower series (a compliment). I think it's worth giving this book a try if you aren't sure about the fantasy genre. You will stay grounded in historical fact while dipping your toes into the fantastic. Just think about the dragons in this book as big, flying, talking dogs. :)

zachpostler's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

4.75

ceczerpak's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

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

4.5

leda00's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

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

4.5

febrianikmadusari's review against another edition

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3.5

Will Laurence adalah kapten di sebuah kapal Angkatan Laut Inggris ketika pasukannya menemukan sebuah kapal Prancis dengan sebutir telur di dalamnya. Tentu saja mereka mengambil telur itu, dan ketika butir itu menetas, seekor naga hitam kecil muncul dan memilih Laurence sebagai penunggangnya. Naga itu dinamai Temeraire. Sejak itu, hidup Laurence berubah: dari kapten di Angkatan Laut menjadi penerbang di Angkatan Udara.

Tak banyak yang menyukai Laurence, karena ia terpilih bukan atas dasar kebiasaan pembentukan relasi antara penunggang dan naganya. Jadi Korps Angkatan Udara mengirimkan pasangan penerbang dan naga ini untuk mengikuti kursus singkat demi memenangkan peperangan di udara, melawan naga lain, yang akan segera mereka hadapi.

Peran naga bagi Angkatan Laut Inggris disini sama dengan peran pesawat tempur. Kru untuk masing-masing naga dibagia atas kru darat & udara. Kru udara tidak hanya ada kapten saja, namun ada regu tembak, pengawas atas dan bawah (yang mengurus perlengkapan selama penerbangan), prajurit senior (pangkat letnan) dan pengintai. Kru darat yang mengurus keperluan naga seperti pandai besi, ahli senjata bahkan pengrajin kulit untuk tali kekang naga.

Buku kedua Naomi Novik yang kucoba setelah Uprooted. Daya tarik terbesar kenapa aku mau mencoba seri yang panjang ini, karena ada naga, tentu saja. Namun sayang, sepertinya seri yang ini kurang cocok untukku.

odin45mp's review against another edition

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3.0

This is a reread for book club, I originally read this back around 2009 when a friend handed their copy to me. This is a story of a man and a dragon in the service to the British crown during the Napoleonic war. It has its moments but needs some more meat to it for me to truly love it. I love the relationships that are formed between handler and dragon, and the time we spend getting to know both our officer Laurence, and Temeraire, his dragon. It is a delight to see them grow to love each other.

I enjoyed the intrusions here and there of nods to Austen, with Laurence's cold welcome when he visits home in chapter 4, and some altercations between gentlemen like Laurence and more common-born people later in the book. I can appreciate these in a way I could not when I was younger and less open to touches like these.

What the book needs is more action. We spend about 80% of it tucked away training at a remote location, while the war happens Elsewhere. While I enjoyed the relationships, not much happens except training, drills, more training, dinner, some conversation, more training, and some word from the front lines. We only have two military actions in the book (the opening does not count as the French had surrendered before we begin), and that is too little. If we're going to have dragons serving as air support and transport during wartime, we need to see those dragons in combat, doing things!

As mentioned above, I do love the relationship between Temeraire and Laurence, and I do want to read more of the series someday.

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