The story is deeply moral in character, examining the decisions that Temeraire and Laurence are forced to make - and following this journey is the true joy of the series. These explorations often reveal new philosophical perspectives on the relationships between humans and dragons, which inform Temeraire’s outlook and guide his actions as the series progresses. In each continent, we see the different ways that dragons are integrated into cultures like Imperial China, African tribes, Australian aborigines, the Incas, the Turks, the Japanese, and more. The story takes the reader on a tour of the draconic world, from Europe to China (both by land and by sea), then to Africa, Australia, South America, and finally back to Europe. Temeraire is forced again and again to find common ground with his beloved captain - although he does frequently drag him into trouble along the way. The main story is driven by Temeraire’s idealism, which finds itself often at odds with Laurence’s more pragmatic outlook. Temeraire arrives as a great enlightening force to break this status quo, much like the events of the French Revolution for humans. European nations treat them as dumb fighting beasts, to be manipulated with food and treasure. The great tension of the series is that Temeraire is a dragon-revolutionary, who is opposed (by force of circumstance) to Napoleon - a figure with whom he shares much in common, ideologically. For Novik, the main scope of the Temeraire series is to explore the political and cultural implications of a world populated by intelligent dragons - and this exploration provides a fascinating backdrop to the adventures of Laurence and Temeraire.

While I’d hoped for a similar military history angle, Temeraire goes in quite a different direction. These novels follow soldier Richard Sharpe through the various battles of the Napoleonic Wars and see him rise among the ranks of the British Army. The Sharpe books were favourites of mine when I was younger. I’ll admit that when I picked up Temeraire, I was expecting (and half-hoping) for something similar to Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe series. Non-Standard, Archaic Style of Punctuation.

Temeraire league of dragons