Hey all,
From Wikipedia:
The series of books revolves around the primary characters Temeraire and Captain William Laurence. Captain Laurence is a member of the British Royal Navy, serving in combat against Napoleon's navy when he recovers a dragon egg unlike any other known to the British. The egg soon hatches, and Temeraire (a Chinese dragon), is born. Temeraire immediately leaves an impression upon Laurence, and Lawrence begins to think of him a his own child . This forces a change in the sailors life, drawing him from the prestigious Royal Navy to the less desirable Royal Aerial Corps. The subsequent novels in the original trilogy follow the adventures of Laurence and Temeraire as they deal with the forces of Napoleon Bonaparte as well as Temeraire's heritage and the diplomatic fallout of his adoption by the British captain. The fourth novel deals with Laurence and Temeraire seeking a cure for a draconic illness, introduced by a North American dragon, spreading throughout the British dragons while Napoleon seeks to press his advantage. The fifth novel is the account of Napoleon's invasion of England, forcing a British retreat to Scotland, while Laurence deals with the consequences of his treason in taking the cure for the illness to the French.
From Amazon:
Is there anything more to say about dragons? Stalwart presences in myth and fantasy, they've hoarded gold, incinerated villages, been slain by countless heroes and (sing it with me) "frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee." After the enormous popularity of the teen wunderkind Christopher Paolini's "Inheritance" series, even the subgenre of dragon-as-noble-steed seems as if it should be played out. Certainly, no one needs any more fantastical medieval theme parks, full of dragons and swords and sorcerers all doing their bit to get the ring or crown the lost king or save the elf damsel or finish off whatever heroic quest their hack creator has set for them.
So all hail Naomi Novik for seizing on an entirely different set of literary conventions for her fantasy debut -- the dashing Brits-on-ships genre perfected by Patrick O'Brian. In His Majesty's Dragon, Novik plunks her scaly beasts into the Napoleonic Wars, as members of the Aerial Corps, air cover for the beleaguered Royal Navy as it fends off a French invasion.
The novel begins when the H.M.S. Reliant captures a French ship carrying a dragon egg that is primed to hatch. A substantial prize, it puts Laurence -- the Reliant's captain -- and his officers -- gentlemen and aspiring gentlemen -- in a difficult position: One of them must become the creature's rider when it hatches. The prize then would become a deadweight, bringing to an end "any semblance of ordinary life. . . . An aviator could not easily manage any sort of estate, nor raise a family, nor go into society to any real extent." For the one chosen by the hatchling (and a dragon won't let just anyone harness him), it would mean "the wreck of his career." Naturally, it is the heroic Capt. Laurence whom the dragon picks.
And who is this dragon? "A pure, untinted black from nose to tail . . . [with] large, six-spined wings like a lady's fan," he is a Celestial, a Chinese dragon bred for emperors alone. Laurence names him Temeraire, and it's Novik's characterization of the dragon, who speaks in perfect 19th-century English, that makes the book hum. No ancient wisdom for him, just a voracious intelligence that demands bedtime readings on such subjects as mineralogy (dragons do like gems, you know) and historic battles.
Novik gets Temeraire's tone just right: slightly petulant when he doesn't get his way but innocently curious and eager to please. Laurence's relationship to him is like that of a parent with a child, a bemused parent with an enormous, precocious child. Soon they are heading north to Scotland to be inducted into the "wild, outrageous libertinage" of the Air Corps, where traditional social classes break down. Indeed, one of Laurence's greatest shocks is that women also fight with the Corps, unavoidable when some dragon breeds will only accept female riders. This makes life interesting for Laurence, who had to break off an unofficial engagement to a well-born woman when Temeraire chose him.
In Loch Laggan, Laurence and Temeraire also discover that battle on dragonback is much like that aboard ship -- a crew of about a dozen straps on to the dragon, armed with guns and swords and grappling hooks for boarding enemy beasts. (And it is here that Novik channels O'Brian most faithfully: No matter how brutal the fighting, commands are always concluded with an "if you please, Mr. Such-and-so.") Inevitably, Laurence and Temeraire get a chance to test their mettle in battle; Napoleon has a diabolical plan that must be thwarted. I won't spoil the ending, but Temeraire and Laurence acquit themselves well, as does Novik in the gripping combat scenes. Here's hoping that the next two books in the series -- the just published Throne of Jade and Black Powder War -- contain the same generous dollop of intelligent derring-do as this first, most original of dragon books.
Enjoy:
Thanks, as always, appreciated.
Links:
His Majesty's Dragon
| Code: |
http://rapidshare.com/files/224338175/01-His_Majesty_s_Dragon.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/224345128/01-His_Majesty_s_Dragon.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/224445167/01-His_Majesty_s_Dragon.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/224356443/01-His_Majesty_s_Dragon.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/224358514/01-His_Majesty_s_Dragon.part5.rar |
Throne Of Jade
| Code: |
http://rapidshare.com/files/224392071/02-Throne_of_Jade.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/224415272/02-Throne_of_Jade.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/224444585/02-Throne_of_Jade.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/224469946/02-Throne_of_Jade.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/224467818/02-Throne_of_Jade.part5.rar |
Black Powdered War
| Code: |
http://rapidshare.com/files/224503126/03-Black_Powdered_War.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/224475182/03-Black_Powdered_War.part2.rar |
Empire Of Ivory
| Code: |
http://rapidshare.com/files/224512758/04-Empire_of_Ivory.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/224514350/04-Empire_of_Ivory.part2.rar |
Victory Of Eagles
| Code: |
http://rapidshare.com/files/224558695/05_Victory_of_Eagles.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/224561541/05_Victory_of_Eagles.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/224594718/05_Victory_of_Eagles.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/224595647/05_Victory_of_Eagles.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/224605283/05_Victory_of_Eagles.part5.rar |