His Majesty's Dragon

by Naomi Novik

As a man of the navy, Captain Will Laurence did not ever expect to come across a dragon. Moreover, he never expected to have to be the master of one. But when the dragon egg captured as a prize from a French ship hatches and takes a liking to him, he finds himself the companion of a black dragon by the name of Temeraire. At first, taking care of Temeraire is a daunting task. All he does is eat and grow and eat some more. Captain Laurence knows that as soon as they reach shore, he must take on the task of learning to be an aviator.

Within weeks, Temeraire's company begins to grow on Captain Laurence, until he is comfortable in his job as handler. Once they reach shore, Laurence is assigned to the aviator base and begins a brand-new adventure.

Temeraire turns out to be a very rare Celestial dragon from the Orient. The people at the aviation base try to assign Temeraire a new handler, but he refuses. Relieved, Laurence continues his training with Temeraire, learning to fly and becoming even better friends with his dragon. The black dragon is fascinated by battles and constantly asks Laurence to read to him tales of heroic feats and aerial combat.

His Majesty's Dragon takes the Napoleonic wars and inserts dragons. It is a wonderful work of historical fantasy, and I doubt my book review does it justice. I'm currently searching for the next in the series (though I have to return this one, still...)