His Majesty's Dragon
Book
The first volume of the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik, released in the United States by Del Rey (a division of RandomHouse) on March 28, 2006.
It was published in Great Britain under the name "Temeraire" by Voyager on January 3, 2006.
Story
Trivia
- The US edition of His Majesty's Dragon contains pictures of dragons at the back of the book. These include a Yellow Reaper with harness on, a Pascal's Blue, a Longwing, a Celestial and a Regal Copper. However, the images are inaccurate; the Pascal's Blue and the Longwing are depicted with six wing spines while the Celestial is shown with five, and the Celestial also has only four talons on each foot in the picture.
Reviews
His Majesty's Dragon is a remarkable and very good book -- especially given that it is Naomi Novik's first novel. It avoids the usual dreaded expository lump, almost a given in setting up a new world -- and presents a story with warmth, delivered with charm and the assumption that readers are intelligent. ~Reviewed by Andi Shechter
"A completely authentic tale, brimming with all the detail and richness one looks for in military yarns as well as the impossible wonder of gilded fantasy." (Editor's Choice, Grade: A) —Entertainment Weekly
"I took a jaundiced view of "cute dragon" books until Novik won me over with her first novel. The combination of military history, sympathetic characters, and engaging style makes this series great, intelligent fun." —The Times (UK)
"Enthralling reading—it's like Jane Austen playing Dungeons & Dragons with Eragon's Christopher Paolini." —Time Magazine
Maps
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Author
Naomi Novik was born in New York in 1973, a first-generation American, and raised on Polish fairy tales, Baba Yaga, and Tolkien. She studied English Literature at Brown University and did graduate work in Computer Science at Columbia University before leaving to participate in the design and development of the computer game Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide. Over the course of a brief winter sojourn working on the game in Edmonton, Canada (accompanied by a truly alarming coat that now lives brooding in the depths of her closet), she realized she preferred the writing to the programming, and, on returning to New York, decided to try her hand at novels. His Majesty's Dragon is her first.
Naomi lives in New York City with her husband and six computers. You can find out more at her livejournal.
