Book Review: Temeraire Series
Author: Mystica Ari'Yena, September 2017
Temeraire is not just a dragon, thank you very much.
He is a very special dragon. Very very special as he would be quick to point out. His story starts while en route to France where he was to be the honored companion of Napoleon himself! But then the British got in the way and just had to conquer the ship that was his transport. What’s an egg to do in such circumstance? You guessed it. Hatch, of course. Time to get out and see what all the fuss is about.
Set in an alternate history to our own, the Temeraire series takes you on a nine book journey throughout various continents and cultures and a wide range of adventures. The timeline coincides with our Napoleon era where the French General is once again the subject of much headaches and military genius. Only now there be dragons!
Every book takes you to a different continent where you encounter different kinds of cultures. Not just of the human variety but of the Draconian one as well. You meet as many different dragon cultures as there are human ones though the two are inevitably linked together for better or for worse. The story starts in Britain where a captain of the sea is unexpectedly matched with an unscheduled hatchling and is from then on bound to this dragon. At first the union is unfortunate, for to be a dragonrider is a severe step down the social ladder from being a captain in the Royal Navy. Temeraire however is quick to nestle himself in his captain’s heart and soon proves to be quite the character.
As they are bound for far away places, some on the King of England’s orders, some in disregard of them, they grow ever closer and grow to learn more and more about dragonlore as well as human diversity. By the end of the last book you will have visited every continent and have been introduced to a wide variety of characters, both human as well as draconian. You’ll have laughed the tears out of your eyes and cursed the neighbors out of their door and there might be the occasional eye roll as well.
One of the things I personally liked about this series was that it made me get curious how much of it was actually historically accurate. And this about parts of history I was never particularly interested in before. I also loved the wide variety of cultural diversity and the richness of the various people and dragons. Both the good and the bad. It made it very realistic and believable.
And as we fantasy lovers understand better than those that don’t get it: no fantasy is worth its salt if it’s not realistic. ;)
Go forth and readeth about Temeraire and his mighty friends! You won’t regret it!
