Customer Reviews

In His Majesty's Service

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Imagine if the Napoleonic wars had been fought using an air force... of dragons.

That idea is the root of Naomi Novik's Temeraire series -- an alternate-history fantasy that explores the idea of a Horatio Hornbloweresque navy officer who suddenly finds a dragon uprooting his life. And in the first three books of her series, compiled in "In His Majesty's Service," Novik stretches credibility here and there, but her stories are a solid, intelligent, often amusing adventure story. Oh, and having seen the new omnibus edition, I would like to add that I only saw paperback copies.

"His Majesty's Dragon" enters the scene when Captain William Laurence's Reliant captures a French ship -- which turns out to have a dragon egg in its hold. And when the baby dragon hatches, it decides it wants Laurence and no other to be its rider. But accepting the dragon (now named Temeraire) means giving up his Navy commission and joining the Air Corps -- especially since Temeraire violently rejects the idea of accepting another rider. Both rider and dragon have a lot of learning to do. But as the bond between them grows and Temeraire grows rapidly to maturity, the Napoleonic Wars are raging -- and Temeraire's true power hasn't yet been shown.

And in "Throne of Jade," an ill-tempered Chinese prince demands that Temeraire be returned to the Imperial family. Temeraire and Laurence are having none of that -- and when they can't tempt away Temeraire, both dragon and rider are sent to China, along with the prince and his entourage. But the journey is full of storms and assassinations, and China turns out to be no less dangerous as Laurence learns of plot around Temeraire.

Having returned from China, Laurence and Temeraire don't even get to go home before being thrown into "Black Powder War." They're sent straight to Istanbul to pick up three dragon eggs sold to England by the Ottoman Empire -- only to deal with deal with wild dragons (who alone make the book worth reading) a treacherous Sultan, and the vengeful albino Celestial Lien.

Then there's a special short story unique to this omnibus -- the story of Lien's first weeks among Napoleon's forces, and her haughty disgust with everything about it (including the less refined European dragons, whom the generals want her to breed with). But she's determined to stick it out, so she can revenge herself for her prince.

The Temeraire series is what Christopher Paolini's books SHOULD have been -- a richly-drawn, intelligent series about the bond between a young man and his dragon. Novik still has some rough spots in her first three books ("His Majesty's Dragon" is rather short on plot, "Black Powder War" short on characterization) but they are undeniably fascinating meshes of what 19th century war would have been like if there had been dragons.

She conjures up a pretty fascinating world, giving dragons different breeds, quirks, biological features (they blast acid, fire, even sonic waves), and relationships with their riders (one poor little dragon whose rider treats him like a disposable vehicle). There's even some delving into dragon rights -- are the dragons being treated like slaves?

And despite long stretches of traveling over land and sea (often for months), Novik keeps it interesting with lush, detailed writing and some truly thrilling aerial battles aboard the vast dragons. On land, there's plenty of gentle comic relief ("I am afraid that some of them go there to drink, and keep low company." "Oh, you mean whores!") and lots of messy eating.

Temeraire and Laurence are a study in contrasts. The human is mannered, thoughtful and very tied to society's mores, while the dragon has a child's enthusiasm, curiosity, honesty and stubbornness (and frankly he's an adorable little dragon). There's also a colorful collection of supporting characters -- fellow Corps dragons Lily and Maximus, the malignant Prince Yongxhing, the mysterious Tharkay, and many others.

"In His Majesty's Service" is a solid trio of alternate history stories, with plenty of adventure, humour and a lot of lovable dragons. Definitely worth flying with.

First of all, this is a book that is being sold as three books in one:
His Majesty's dragon
Throne of Jade
Black Power War.

I like this version of a repeat being sold by Del Rey books. I don't own the mass paperback versions on the three books that are being in this one compilation. At first I thought this was to be a completely new story by Naomi Novik, but it wasn't, just the publisher selling more copies of previous novels in the series. However, I liked it that way. I wanted to get all the books in the series, eventually, but I don't like paperbacks. They don't last very long in my hands. When this version came out and read carefully that it was three books in one, I wanted to get it. I liked the cover and I don't have extra books lying around of the same series.

This book is hardcover bound with deckle edge pages. To me this makes it a cool looking book. I am a fan of this series, and I love how Naomi Novik tells the story. Very compelling and fast paced storyline.

Now, if you have previous mass paperback versions of this series, don't get this book. You will have the impression that it is a totally new story line, but it isn't. Another thing to point out is that this version comes with a side story never released before called "In Autumn, A White Dragon Looks Over The Wide River". This side story is about Lein and her side of the story. But this little scene is less than 20 pages long. If you are a fan of the series, this is a great book.

Reason for getting this book:
1. If you DO NOT have mass paperback verisons.
2. Want the first three book in one book.
3. Want the never-before-read scenes of Lein's side of the story.

'In His Majesty's Service' arrived today, and it's a great replacement for our much-loved, worn-out paperback copies of the first three Temeraire books. Beautiful illustration on the dust jacket, and I like the new font for the text.

My 10-year-old son and I can't wait for book 6!

P.S. I hope books 4-6 will eventually be published in a single hardcover volume as well.

I own the SFBC version of this omnibus, titled "Temeraire: In the Service of the King", which I see is also the title given to an overseas edition.
I like her writing, but I have to admit I prefer my series fantasies to be more nearly (or completely) stand-alone. The whole premise, with its well-thought-out implications, and national/sub-species variations, is fascinating, and she puts together exciting events, but her main character never seems to reach even a moment of well-deserved contented relaxation.
Also, one minor quibble: I believe "temeraire" doesn't really mean simply "daring", it means "rash, reckless", which is hardly a trait to encourage, though it is at times true of dragons in general, including him in particular.

I have a hard believing that anyone could buy this book without realizing that it's a collection of previously published books (with a new short story). If you did make that mistake, though, is that a legitimate reason to give the collection a bad review?

I hope people who read these reviews note that the one-star reviews are almost all from people who loved these books, but who didn't pay attention to the description and thought they were buying a new book in the series. These are wonderful books, but YES, this is a re-release of the first three books, NOT a new book, just like it says in the description, and on the cover. This new edition is really attractive and makes a great gift. The early books were never released in hardcover, so I hope all of them will eventually be re-released in collectible editions.

In His Majesty's Service contains the first three novels--His Majesty's Dragon, Throne of Jade, and Black Powder War--in the Temeraire Series, currently at five novels, collected in a single volume. Each novel is quite short, so even in a single volume they are manageable (for comparison's sake, they remain dwarfed by The Way of Kings on my bookshelf). It also contains a new short story set in the same secondary universe.

Set during the Napoleonic Wars, the series begins with a ship from the British navy, captained by William Laurence, capturing a French ship carrying a dragon egg. The egg was to be a gift to Napoleon from the Chinese emperor. A human-dragon bond must be built immediately, the egg is ready to hatch, and they are far from land, so Laurence is forced to become the dragon's captain (he names him Temeraire) and leave the navy for the British air force, which is populated entirely by dragons and their captains and crews.

There are really only two characters in the Temeraire books: Captain William Laurence and Temeraire, his dragon. Other characters aren't nearly as well drawn.

Novik does what any serious author of historical fantasy must do. That is, she gives great thought to what the full, logical implications of the introduced fantastical element would be. The much more informal culture of the English air force, or "Corps" as they are referred to colloquially in the book, offers a modern reader a less jarring prism through which to view the rest of England during the Napoleonic Wars. She also strives to represent English language and mannerisms of the day, as well as real-life events, accurately as well, largely succeeding.

His Majesty's Dragon
His Majesty's Dragon begins with the seizure of Temeraire's egg and follows his and Laurence's training in the British air force. Novik seems to taken some inspiration from fighter pilot movies. The structure of the story is the same: devoting the bulk of it to training, with a climactic fight at the end.

Throne of Jade
The Chinese emperor demands Temeraire back, and he and Laurence travel to China. The entire opening sequence strains even my credulity, but it does get better. There is again a shortage of action in the bulk of the book. The conflict before they reach China comes from diplomatic tension between the Chinese and English, and antagonism between the sailors and aviators.

Black Powder War
Black Powder War begins where Throne of Jade left off, with Laurence and Temeraire in China. Most of the book takes place in Turkey and Prussia. It is the most closely interwoven with the Napoleonic Wars of the three and features the first "on-screen" appearance of Napoleon. It has by far the most action of the three.

In Autumn, a White Dragon Looks over the Wide River
It is billed as an original Temeraire short story, but that is a bit of a misnomer, as Temeraire does not appear. It takes place during the events of Black Powder War and instead covers the first meeting of Temeraire's dragon nemesis and Napoleon.

this book looks better then the pick, i really hate reading but i needed something to keep my mind from melting from all the tv and none literature crap i dont do. but wow this book had me sucked in after the 3 page!! its a awesome book you really would like it i sure as hell do, and its a tuff book took it backpacking and 4wheelin dropped it a lot and its tuff and still nice looking, get it read it then do it again

What can I say......all Novik's book are just wonderful. You get woven into them all....Once you get started you can't put it down. I had to buy all the series.....that was how good it was & would continue if she comes out with another sequel.. Don't want it to end!!

Book 1: "His Majesty's Dragon" is excellent. Great characterization, plot, engrossing read. I decided to buy the book after reading the first few pages in the bookstore.
Book 2: "Throne of Jade" contains fewer actions than the first book, but still very fascinating. It was very creative of the writer to imagine how dragons in China would live as opposed to those in England. However, I did not find the ending very believable. Adoption by an imperial king? Impossible.
Book 3: "Black Powder War". I did not enjoy Book 3 and would only give it two stars. The latter part of the book was depressing and similar after a while (defeat upon defeat). The first part of the book was interesting, but so many questions left answered. How could Lien convince the Sultan to completely turn back on his promise so quickly? I was much more interested in the Tharkay character than the main character (Lawrence). Too bad the author didn't expand on Tharkay's story...what was the history with him and Sara? Why was he so bitter?

The first three books are probably the best in the series. Using dragons as intelligent, airborne weapons and cargo carriers makes for an interesting alternate history on the use of airpower before airplanes. Throw in commentary on social mores (e.g. women in the military in a male-dominated society) and how society might deal with another intelligent species (dragons) and you have enjoyable fantasy with ideas. The next several books in the series are also good, but when you get to the point where our heroes (human and dragon) are headed off to Australia, STOP and DON'T BUY, because Ms Novik by then has run out of inspiration and ideas.