Naomi Novik - Victory of Eagles

[Adrian Essex]

The book Pam and I are currently reading is Naomi Novik - Victory of Eagles. This is quite a long way down a series of books documented here. It is set at the time of the Napoleonic Wars, when, as you will remember from your history, Britain's navy was made of British Oak , manned by 12 year old midshipmen and pressed drunkards, and her air force comprised entirely of dragons.

This is a chapter in the joint lives of Temeraire, a Chinese Celestial, and his captain, Laurence. Dragons, you will recall, imprint upon the first human they see on hatching, rather like the geese of Konrad Lorenz.

Not only do we have a rollicking good seafaring adventure, with explosions and drownings and mass violence, we also get the politics of the dragon breeding grounds, which is more complex than you might expect. Good escapist stuff.

[CrouchEnd Cupcake]

I very much like the sound of this.