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When I first saw this book, I wondered how it would go. The reason for this was that Temeraire is based on the Napoleonic wars of the 19th century with a twist: dragons form the airforce of both Britain and France! Despite thinking that this would make for a very strange if not ridiculous plot, I could not put this book down... Temeraire immersed me in the somewhat improbable scenario of dragon squadrons bred to bring death to their pilots enemies across the English Channel with claw, fang and in some cases fire and acid.

Aside from fairly well concincing the reader of this historical heresy and its impact on the dynamics of Napoleon's attempts to invade Britain, there is a touching human side to the story. Temeraire, a rare chinese dragon captured in a naval battle from a French vessel, chooses a British captain as its rider. The special relationship that develops and the life-changing effect that this has on the former naval captain shows the captivating skill of Naomi Korvik's writing ability.

By David Lopez