There are some spoilers ahead for the series, but those spoilers wouldn't diminish your enjoyment of reading about DRAGONS in any way.
Book 1
His Majesty's Dragon
Captain Will Laurence has a promising naval career and a blooming romance back on shore when he becomes bonded with a dragon and is swept into a career as an aviator who will be assigned to Temeraire the dragon for the rest of his life. Adventures ensue. Was this great literature? No. Did I devour every second of it? Yes. Is Laurence a terrible chauvinistic bore? Yes. Is Temeraire the Hermione Granger know-it-all of dragons? Yes. Did that make me love this any less? No.
Laurence gets to fly on the dragon! You guys, nothing has been so thrilling as when Harry Potter flew after that Remembrall and thought McGonagall was going to kick him out, but he really got recruited to be a Quidditch player (I just checked my spelling and got Remembrall, McGonagall, and Quidditch correct - don't make me doubt myself, SPELLCHECK).
There are dragons! It is brilliant and exciting and I hope the rest of the series lives up to my excitement.
Book 2
Throne of Jade
Well, after an exceptional first book, this book was quite a let down. So, Temeraire is a Celestrial dragon, a special breed that only serves members of the Chinese Imperial family. The Chinese had intended his egg to go to France and they are pretty upset that the English have him now. So this entire book is about Temeraire and Laurence going to China on a boat (I love a good book about the sea, but Temeraire is a FLYING CREATURE) and the boat trip was just interminable.
Frankly, I knew that Laurence and Temeraire couldn't stay in China forever and this whole book was a bit of a bore. Eh. T knows Chinese now, so I'm sure that will come up in future novels.
Book 3
Black Powder War
In this novel, Laurence and Temeraire are sent on a mission to retrieve two dragon's eggs and escort them back to England. One of these dragons is a fire-breathing dragon (Iskierka - she comes up a lot later in the series, so I best name her) and that is a BFD to England, whose dragon unit does not include any fire-breathing members. But there is villainy afoot. Another Celestial dragon from China is attempting to stop our heroes from meeting their goal.
I enjoyed the bits about the eggs and I definitely enjoyed the baby dragon. All that aside, this book was really in the weeds about military maneuvering and troop movements and aerial versus naval campaigns. I didn't love all that. I'm really in these books for the joy of the dragons and I want more of that!
Book 4
Empire of Ivory
This book was actually quite exciting. There's a sickness going around the dragons and it causes a long, protracted death. England does not have dragons to spare, so Laurence and Temeraire go off to find a cure. Once the cure is obtained, our intrepid duo go off to commit treason and make sure dragons in France get the cure, too.
Meanwhile, the relationship between our dragon and his handler is very touching. It's clear that each would die for the other and it might actually come to that. The very literal parallels between the treatment of slaves and the treatment of dragons are interesting to examine. We spend a lot of time on boats (again!) and it's interesting to see how Laurence, whose family is very anti-slavery, deals with issues related to slavery and pro-slavery individuals, especially the captain of the dragon transport ship. Unlike the third book in the series, this book left me incredibly excited to get the next book from the library.
Book 5
Victory of Eagles
This book is the fallout book. After committing treason, Laurence is locked away, Temeraire is sent to a breeding grounds where he is suitably bored and worried about Laurence. Laurence's feelings of shame regarding the treason are real. I admire Novik for really digging in on the fact that taking the morally righteous action has serious consequences for Laurence and Temeraire. This is the low point for our duo, who are eventually taken out of their confinements to do menial tasks. Laurence loses all of his money due to a lawsuit because he freed some slaves in a previous book (the right thing never pays off for Laurence) and he loses his job in the aviation corps. He's isolated from friends and family and frankly, as I'm writing this, I see more and more parallels to the fifth Harry Potter book.
Laurence and Temeraire manage to take London back from Napoleon, though, so they do eke out a victory. Now they're being sent off to Australia and I can only imagine we'll be back on a boat for most of the next book and then be poisoned by the famously deadly Australian wildlife.
Book 6
Tongues of Serpents
Australia. This is the Australia book. It's fine. We get a couple of new dragons and I really admire how Novik is able to give each dragon its own personality. It feels like Novik grew up on a farm with a half a dozen dogs and each of those dogs had its own unique relationship with her. I love the dragons. But otherwise, I don't know what to think about this book. We ran around the Australian Outback, chasing eggs, and attempting to stay alive despite no water and lots of dangerous beasties. Eh. You know I'll go back for more dragons.
Book 7
Crucible of Gold
You guys! Something, something, war plot, and Laurence and Temeraire, Granby and Iskierka, and Kulingile and Demane end up heading to Brazil. One the way, their ship catches fire due to some unsavory sailors from Australia (you know they're all criminals, right?), and they end up being captured by a French vessel. The French deposit them on a small island our crew figures out a way out (I felt a lot like I was reading parts of In the Heart of the Sea, which is beloved to me). Then there are political machinations and they eventually find their way to Rio de Janiero, free some (more!) slaves, and then learn that their loyal cook was actually a servant to the Chinese prince who has been spying on our boys. We're going back to China in the next book!
This book was so good. The plot kept moving and we weren't on the home front of a lot of battling, so we didn't have to deal with a lot of the ins and outs of battle formations. There were lots and lots of new dragons, an exciting escapade on the sea, and skulduggery and espionage. What more could a girl ask for in a book about dragons?
Book 8
Blood of Tyrants
What is even happening in this series? It's like every other book is good. I will call this the amnesia book. Laurence gets amnesia in a shipwreck that happened in between this book and Crucible of God as our heroes attempted to get to China. He is separated from Temeraire and we spend the first third of the book trying to reunite those two, a third of the book in China trying to prove that our heroes aren't bad guys, and another third of the book in Russia with battle after boring battle. I was less than thrilled with this book. Remember that Laurence has amnesia this whole time and doesn't remember any of the events of the previous seven books. Does that sound annoying to you? Yes, yes it was. If the next book wasn't the last book in the series, I would have given up on Novik at this point.
Book 9
League of Dragons
I was excited for this book because this series has been reliably consistent in its every other book is a good book-ness And it was a good book! It wrapped up everything in a nice bow for me. I feel quite satisfied with the ending of the novel and the series. There are some gaping holes left (whatever of that villainous white Celestial dragon, Lien?), but overall I was so happy to be spending time with my guys, winning the war and fighting the bad guys. I was pleased that the rights of dragons will no longer be ignored and that Temeraire will have a purpose in life once Laurence inevitably dies before the dragon does. I enjoyed the new baby dragon. Thumbs on this book.
Overall, this series is quite hit or miss, but in general I loved the way Novik depicted the dragons. They all had individual quirks and mannerisms and their characters were, in many ways, better developed than the people. We read the first book for my book club some months ago and the veterinarian in my club, who is not normally a reader of fantasy or science fiction, was amused that this was simply a "boy and his dog" type of book. If you like to think about the inner lives of animals, this might be the series for you. But if you take your history seriously, this light-hearted view of the Napoleonic wars might not be for you.
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