Overall, those issues were tiny compared to the incredible characterization and world-building displayed in Novik’s debut novel.

I was confused that Temeraire went from living inside a ship to carrying twenty people in quite a short amount of time. Also, I wish the scale of the dragons had been better explained, especially at the beginning. There were a few weird time skips I would have liked more natural segues or even a “six months later” subtitle to the chapter header. I do have two small nits to pick with the novel. The narrator’s accent fits Lawrence perfectly. His Majesty’s Dragon works well as an audiobook. Temeraire’s voice is a bit jarring, but all the other voices are well done and easy to tell apart. I wish I could be as thoughtful and poetic as this man. Lawrence’s treatment of Temeraire, and indeed of everyone in the book, is inspirational. His only flaw, a sexism I imagine is typical for the place and period, is gently and naturally corrected through the course of the novel. Lawrence’s love for Temeraire is boundless, and Novik perfectly captures a man who is at the same time a successful warrior and a loving, doting caregiver. He is kind, gentle, and unerringly proper. Lawrence is without a doubt the best thing about this incredible book. The books follows Lawrence and his dragon, Temeraire, as they join the air force, go through training, and begin their careers as weapons of Britain. The egg hatches and the dragon inside bonds with Lawrence, requiring him to leave life at sea to begin one in the air. Captain Lawrence, leading a British naval ship, captures a French frigate carrying a dragon egg. Britain is entrenched in the Napoleonic Wars, struggling to compete against France’s much more powerful dragon air force. His Majesty’s Dragon is an alternate history – it takes place on on an Earth identical to ours…except for the existence of massive, trainable, intelligent dragons.

I’m really not sure how to take a photo of an audiobook. In fact, I struggled to come up with any issues at all, besides some very minor nitpicks. His Majesty’s Dragon does not have that issue. The villain was stand-up knock-out stupendous, but the pacing was not perfect and the second half of the novel suffered for it.

The two main characters had an interesting, squicky relationship that worked well as a study of fairy tale romance. I read her standalone, Uprooted(also a finalist for a Hugo, plus won a Nebula) last year and loved it. Novik won the Locus Award and was a finalist for the Hugo for this one, so it’s not just me who thinks that. His Majesty’s Dragon is really really good. The audiobook was narrated by Simon Vance and published by Books on Tape. His Majesty’s Dragon, by Naomi Novik, was published in 2006 by Del Ray.

Her majesty's dragon