In His Majesty's Service

Imagine if the Napoleonic wars had been fought using an air force... of dragons. That idea is the root of Naomi Novik's Temeraire series -- an alternate-history fantasy that explores the idea of a Horatio Hornbloweresque navy officer who suddenly finds a dragon uprooting his life. And in the first three books of her series, compiled in "In His Majesty's Service," Novik stretches credibility here and there, but her stories are a solid, intelligent, often amusing adventure story. Then there's a special short story unique to this omnibus -- the story of Lien's first weeks among Napoleon's forces, and her haughty disgust with everything about it (including the less refined European dragons, whom the generals want her to breed with). But she's determined to stick it out, so she can revenge herself for her prince. The Temeraire series is what Christopher Paolini's books SHOULD have been -- a richly-drawn, intelligent series about the bond between a young man and his dragon. Novik still has some rough spots in her first three books ("His Majesty's Dragon" is rather short on plot, "Black Powder War" short on characterization) but they are undeniably fascinating meshes of what 19th century war would have been like if there had been dragons. -- EA Solinas, Amazon review