reviews and comments
What reviewers and other authors have said about the Temeraire series...
"A completely authentic tale, brimming with all the detail and richness one looks for in military yarns as well as the impossible wonder of gilded fantasy." (Editor's Choice, Grade: A)
—Entertainment Weekly
"I took a jaundiced view of "cute dragon" books until Novik won me over with her first novel. The combination of military history, sympathetic characters, and engaging style makes this series great, intelligent fun. This book, involving a perilous expedition from China to Turkey, climaxing at the siege of Danzig in 1807, is possibly the most exciting yet."
—The Times (UK)
"Enthralling reading—it's like Jane Austen playing Dungeons & Dragons with Eragon's Christopher Paolini."
—Time Magazine
"As I was reading these books, I could see them coming to life in my mind's eye," Jackson said. "These are beautifully written novels, not only fresh, original and fast-paced, but full of wonderful characters with real heart."
—Peter Jackson (from Hollywood Reporter)
"Temeraire is a terrifically entertaining fantasy novel. Is it hard to imagine a cross between Susanna Clarke, of Norrell and Strange fame, and the late Patrick O'Brian? Not if you've read this wonderful, arresting novel."
—Stephen King
"It was seriously one of those books that I found myself thinking about during my regular daily routine, one that I put off things in order to just lay back and read. Very addictive...It would be exhilarating to see it pulled off on the big screen."
—Ain't It Cool News
"All hail Naomi Novik for seizing on an entirely different set of literary conventions for her fantasy debut... 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."
—The Washington Post
"A splendid series. Not only is it a new way to utilize dragons, it's a very clever one and fits neatly into the historical niche this author has used."
—Anne McCaffrey, New York Times-bestselling author of the Pern series
"A superbly written, character-driven series...what keeps one turning the pages is the urge to find out what happens next to Captain Laurence and Temeraire, characters who win one's heart from the beginning. Bravos for a most promising new author!"
—Booklist (starred review)
"Just when you think you've seen every variation possible on the dragon story, along comes Naomi Novik to prove you wrong. Her wonderful Temeraire is a dragon for the ages and a fitting companion for the brave, steadfast Will Laurence."
—Terry Brooks, New York Times-bestselling author of the Shannara series
"If there were ever to be a new Hugo category called "Most Impressive Avoidance of Sophomore Slump," Naomi Novik would most assuredly walk it in for Throne of Jade. This is a book that does what a sequel should: expand upon and enrich the world we are introduced to in the first volume, rather than simply rehash its best scenes."
—SF REVIEWS.NET
"About as marvelous a debut as I've seen in fantasy or anywhere else, Temeraire...heralds the arrival of a formidable and original talent."
—SF REVIEWS.NET
"This normally rather jaded reviewer found herself laughing aloud, bouncing up and down with glee, wiping away honest-to-goodness tears, and eagerly petitioning her editor for galleys of the next two volumes."
—Strange Horizons
"The action sequences are terrific, the characters enormously appealing, the style accomplished and ironic, and the promise of future volumes quite inviting."
—Locus
"A gloriously unabashed swashbuckler—inspired."
—Interzone
"Novik's novel comes blazoned with quotes from Stephen King, Terry Brooks and Anne McCaffrey, comparing Novik to Susanna Clarke and Patrick O'Brian. The quotes are unnecessary. Novik['s] air battles between French and British dragons have a stark simplicity that is quite her own."
—The Guardian (U.K.)
"Delightful...a story rich with international, interpersonal and internal struggles."
—Publishers Weekly
"Naomi Novik's Temeraire is exactly what a first novel ought to be: well written, tightly plotted, and full of day-to-day, matter-of-fact wonder. She's done for the Napoleonic Wars what Anne McCaffrey did for science-fiction: constructed an alternate reality in which dragons are real and which is completely internally consistent, impressively original, fully developed, and peopled with characters you care about. It's not often I can unreservedly recommend a first novel. This one I can. And I do."
—David Weber, New York Times-bestselling author of the Honor Harrington series
"Our brand new star, Naomi Novik, will be bursting onto the fantasy scene next year (January 2006) with the extraordinary Temeraire. Stephen King describes it as a cross between Susanna Clarke and Patrick O'Brian, and he's spot on—it's the first in a series charting the Napoleonic Wars, with a difference: dragons as Air Corps. Beautifully done, affecting, lyrical, and reads rather like Jane Austen: an astonishing achievement for a first-time American writer."
—Jane Johnson, Editor, HarperCollins UK
"Novik is an amazingly good writer [and] the storytelling is absolutely masterful...This is going to be HUGE."
—Jenny Davidson, Light Reading
"I can't wait to read the further adventures of Temeraire."
—Starburst (five star review)
"Naomi Novik's 'Temeraire' series is one of the most purely entertaining, compulsively readable things I've found in a long, long time...these books are amazingly impressive for a new novelist. I just hope she can get some more of them written really fast..."
—Andrew Wheeler, Senior Editor, Science Fiction Book Club
"One of the best books I've read in years—a truly new approach. Lots of fun and cleverly thought out ideas. Temeraire brings the Napoleonic era back to life with a delightful new twist."
—David Feintuch, author of Midshipman's Hope
"Astonishing and hugely enjoyable...A very impressive debut novel [that is] destined to be a firm favourite amongst fantasy fans."
—SFRevu
"Horatio Hornblower has become a dragon rider! Naomi Novik's marvelous new book, His Majesty's Dragon, beautifully captures the Napoleonic wars in a world where great dragons make up an aerial corps that fights beside the army and navy. England has fewer dragons than France, and the country is threatened with invasion when naval officer William Laurence becomes the unwilling human captain of a newly hatched dragonet. Novik does a marvelous job of creating the world and its fascinating dragons and people. I can't wait for the next book in this compelling, adventurous new series!"
—Mary Jo Putney, author of Stolen Magic
"I loved it...this book—and Novik's career—is going to be really, really something."
—Sarah Weinman, Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind
"[A] refreshingly original fantasy adventure. It has tense action, strong characters, and an intriguing new world for the reader to explore. I can't wait to read the other books in the series."
—Martha Wells, author of The Wizard Hunters
"A wonderful book, stylish, witty, engaging, thoughtful."
—Elizabeth Moon, author of Marque and Reprisal
"Readers with a penchant for Patrick O'Brian and Anne McCaffrey may have found their perfect match with Temeraire. Naomi Novik beautifully renders an early 18th-century Europe in which both naval buffs and dragon-lovers will be keen to immerse themselves."
—Alan Dean Foster, New York Times-bestselling author of the Pip & Flinx series