His Majesty's Dragon

His Majesty's Dragon
Author(s)	Naomi Novik
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Temeraire
Genre(s)	Alternate history, Fantasy novel
Publisher	Del Rey
Publication date	March 28, 2006
Media type	Print
Pages	356
ISBN	ISBN 0-345-48128-3
Followed by	Throne of Jade

His Majesty's Dragon, published in the UK as Temeraire, is the first novel in the Temeraire alternate history/fantasy series by American author Naomi Novik first published in 2005.

His Majesty's Dragon won the 2007 Compton Crook Award for best novel in the Science Fiction/Fantasy genre during 2006 by a first time author in the genre.

The book was also nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2007, but lost out to Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge.

Plot introduction

The story is set during an alternate history version of the Napoleonic Wars, in which dragons not only exist but are used as a staple of aerial warfare in Asia and Europe. The dragons of the story are portrayed as sentient and intelligent, capable of logical thought and human speech. The series centres primarily on events involving Temeraire (the titular dragon) and his handler, Will Laurence. The first book of the series centers on how Laurence, formerly a Captain in the Royal Navy, becomes Temeraire's handler, and their early training in preparation for battles against Napoleon's aerial fleet.

Plot summary

In the aftermath of an armed combat between the Reliant, a British warship, and a French ship, the crew of the Reliant find an unhatched dragon egg on board the French ship. William Laurence, captain of the Reliant, has the egg deposited on board, declaring it as a prize captured from the French.

On board the Reliant the egg hatches, revealing a young dragonet with an all-black hide. The dragonet refuses the crewman assigned to him, acknowledging Laurence instead. Laurence then names it Temeraire. Owing to the situation he is in, and the certainty of him being enlisted to the Aerial Corps of England, Laurence hands over his captaincy to Riley, his first lieutenant, and spends the remainder of his time with Temeraire: the two develop a deep affection for each other.

The Reliant lands in Madeira, where Laurence and Temeraire await the Aerial Corps' response concerning their inevitable enlisting into the Corps. A scholar identifies Temeraire as a rare Chinese Imperial, a breed rarely seen outside China, much less in England. Eventually, the duo is visited by Captain Portland and his Regal Copper Laetificat, with Portland ordering Laurence and Temeraire to go to the Aerial Corps training site at Loch Lagggan, in order to get the two ready for aerial combat.

After a brief stopover at the Allendale estate, where Laurence reveals his new profession to his family, Temeraire and Laurence arrive in the covert of Loch Laggan. Here Laurence meets Celeritas, the dragon training-master who is easily impressed with Temeraire's skill, as well as several other captains, including Catherine Harcourt, the young female captain of the Longwing Lily (Longwings, the only acid-spitters on the Corps, insist on female captains), Berkley, the captain of the Regal Copper Maximus, and Rankin, a captain of noble bearing, and his abused Winchester Levitas. During their training, Celeritas introduces Choiseul, a French deserter, and his dragon Praetorius, which Temeraire views as competition.

Laurence and Temeraire have their first mission when Victoriatus, a Parnassian and a formation leader, is injured in combat against the French dragons. Temeraire has the task of assisting the wounded Victoriatus to reach the covert. Though Choiseul mysteriously disappears and Temeraire is hampered by Victoriatus, the pair of dragons reach Loch Laggan safely. Here they are formally designated as part of the formation spearheaded by Lily, joining Maximus and Praetorius. Celeritas then sends the formation to Dover to reinforce the Channel following the reassignment of the Mortiferus and Excidium formations, the top two formations of the Aerial Corps.

After a night of heavy combat against a French patrol formation, Lily is severely injured, so the formation is altered while Lily heals. Here Laurence meets the captain of Excidium, Jane Roland (who coincidentally is the mother of Emily, one of his crewmen), as well as Lieutenant Lenton, the highest-ranking officer in Dover and the captain of the Anglewing Obversaria. While in Dover, Laurence and Roland get close, only to be interrupted by Excidium's formation being reassigned to Trafalgar to aid Mortiferus. Choiseul attempts to seduce Harcourt by being at her side during Lily's convalescence. He attempts to steal Lily and take her back to france. He does this by using Captain Harcourt as a hostage making Lily do whatever he says. His original job had been to steal Temeraire's egg, but since it had already hatched he thought his leader, Napoleon, would be satisfied if he took a poison-spewing dragon like Lily back instead. Laurence interferes and takes down Choiseul. Under interrogation, Choiseul reveals that he decided to betray England in order to get his old position back, and he tells Laurence that Temeraire's egg was supposedly for Napoleon himself. Choiseul is hanged, and Praetorius is led away to the Newfoundland breeding-grounds.

Lily completes her convalescence, and the spirits of the captains, dragons, and crew are bolstered by the victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, which erases Napoleon's navy and diminishes his aerial strength. While they are celebrating, Rankin and a severely wounded Levitas arrive at Dover with important news: Napoleon was not planning to send troops over by sea, as originally predicted. Instead, he plans to send them by air, using transports hauled by dragons, accompanied by Napoleon's aerial force. This disrupts celebrations as the captains at the covert prepare for combat, knowing their great disadvantage in numbers. During this time Levitas dies of his wounds.

The Dover dragons then fly out to meet the French aerial armada, the primary mission being to take down the transports. The battle does not go well, as the numbers of the French overwhelm even the best efforts of the British, and soon some of the transports land. At this point Temeraire, earlier deemed unlikely to develop a breath weapon, unleashes a powerful shockwave roar, which destroys the transport they are attempting to take down. This turns the tide of battle, as the British now have a breath weapon powerful enough to destroy the transports. After Temeraire roars at the lead transport, which nearly breaks, the French signal retreat.

At the celebration party held in order to commemorate the victory, Sir Edward Howe (the dragon scholar who identified Temeraire) seeks out Laurence. He then reveals that Temeraire is a Celestial, the finest of the Chinese dragon breeds, because of his roar, which is unique to the Celestial. The Chinese reserve Celestials solely for royalty - this confirms Choiseul's revelation about the egg being for Napoleon, apparently a gift from China to commemorate his coronation. But Laurence and Temeraire decide to stick together through the uncertain future hovering above them both.

Characters

see: List of Temeraire characters