Temeraire

From time to time, I read a book that captivates me utterly and completely. It's a rare pleasure to find those gems, to fall down into their worlds and stay there for awhile. Last night I stayed up reading for hours after I went to bed, and woke up twice slumped over my book before I remembered I needed to work today. Harry Potter was the last thing that ensnared my attention this way.

I'm currently reading the first book of Temeraire by Naomi Novik, His Majesty's Dragon. Imagine the Napoleonic Wars, with Britain and France eyeing each other mistrustfully across the Channel. Imagine naval fleets from the North Sea to the West Indies, and Austria mustering itself to jump back into the fray with France. Now imagine if these armies had aerial corps with dragons. That's right, big talking dragons.

I picked this up because my mother has the omnibus edition of all three books. Honestly I wasn't expecting anything much ut I love this time period and I love dragons so hey. Last night however I was pleasantly surprised to discover how engaging, how well written and how fascinating this story is. I believe these characters, and the integrated fantasy and historial period works. I'm shocked at how well it works, and full of envy that I didn't write this myself.