Victory of Eagles (Temeraire Series #5) » (Reprint)

An avid reader of fantasy literature since age six, when she first made her way through The Lord of the Rings, Naomi Novik is also a history buff with a particular interest in the Napoleonic era and a fondness for the work of Patrick O’Brian and Jane Austen. She studied English literature at Brown University, and did graduate work in computer science at Columbia University before leaving to participate in the design and development of the computer game Neverwinter Nights: Shadow of Undrentide.

For Britain, conditions are grim: Napoleon’s resurgent forces have breached the Channel and successfully invaded English soil. Napoleon’s prime objective is the occupation of London. Unfortunately, the dragon Temeraire has been removed from military service–and his captain, Will Laurence, has been condemned to death for treason. Separated by their own government and threatened at every turn by Napoleon’s forces, Laurence and Temeraire must struggle to find each other amid the turmoil of war. If only they can be reunited, master and dragon might rally Britain’s scattered resistance forces and take the fight to the enemy as never before–for king and country, and for their own liberty.

The Barnes & Noble Review

Even if the very idea of books about dragons makes you want to flap your wings and fly away, Naomi Novik's Temeraire series might change your mind. "Patrick O'Brian with dragons," wrote one admiring reviewer when Novik hatched the series as a paperback original with His Majesty's Dragon. And now the story of a young British naval officer who becomes the head of his country's formidable dragon air force in the war against Napoleon (who has some nasty dragons of his own) continues at full strength. Temeraire, bred by a Chinese wizard as a gift to Napoleon and captured (still inside his egg) by the ship on which Will Laurence is sailing, instantly bonds with Laurence -- who reluctantly gives up the sea for the sky. The pair have many adventures together. Now, on the heels of their mission to Africa (told about in Empire of Ivory ) and seeking the cure for a deadly contagion, the dragon has been removed from military service, and Laurence has been condemned to death for treason. Meanwhile Napoleon's forces have breached the Channel and successfully invaded English soil. Their prime objective is the occupation of London. The newest, and best, ingredient Novik has added to Victory of Eagles is turning Temeraire from a military to a political animal -- a winged Stephen Maturin to Laurence's Jack Aubrey. Banished to the Welsh breeding grounds called Pen Y Fan, "after the hard, jagged slash of the mountain at their heart," the dragon learns to negotiate with other dragons who solve their disputes with politics rather than displays of strength. It's a wonderful conceit, supremely executed. Patrick O'Brian would have loved it. --Dick Adler