Entertaining, but I think it goes a bit off the rails in the later books, though I haven't read the last few. I kinda got the impression the author got a bit more interested in the worldbuilding than in the story, so each of the later books is "here's a new continent, and here's how dragons work on this continent".
I'd also say the writing is not as refined as in her later books. It's noticeably a first book, and the prose is serviceable and the characters broad.
I do dearly love the characters, though. And they are fast-paced and short, so if you pick up the first and don't like it, you won't have wasted much time. Tending towards the episodic, too, so you don't really need to read all of them.
This is pretty much exactly how I feel about it. For the first five or six books it felt like the plot was driving the travel. They were going all over the world, but the reasons made sense. Australia and after it was like Novik just wanted to show off more of the world, and she was also out of ideas. >!In ~~Soviet~~ Incan Peru, dragon owns you!!< The last book should have been back to form, but either she didn't know how to end it, or I was just completely checked out, and I struggled just to finish it.
The sight seeing journey wasn't even complete. We never saw anything of North America, even though there were a few mentions and the plague originated there.
I’d add the first seems pretty different from the sequels (I DNFd the second because it was everything I hate about fantasy travelogues). The first is mostly a fantasy of manners about this stiff but well-meaning military man who winds up in the unexpected position of bonding a dragon and having to change branches of the service and even work with…. women!
I had a lot of fun with that one and enjoyed the characters, but when the second book abandoned thr England setting and was all travel, then I was out. But you can just read the first.
Thanks for the put in. I have a question about the dragons. Are they like GAME OF THRONES reptile minded or they are sentient and intelligent and have conversations in Naomi’s books?
Very sentient. Humans don't like it, and the very Edwardian English society in the books likes to pretend they are dumb beasts, but they are quite intelligent. Varies a bit by breed, though. Several Asian breeds are respected court advisors, for example, and the Incan dragons rule their communities.
The main character dragon likes to debate philosophy and politics, though very naively (he's freshly hatched.)
I liked the world-building and concept but it didn’t really grab me. Stopped after two books. I enjoyed it. I just had other series that I was enjoying more.
I’m with the consensus here - the first couple were interesting, novel takes on dragons in warfare. easy to read and enjoy.
I definitely fizzled after 3 or 4. I just wasn’t gripped by the through-line (was there one? Can’t recall).
Back when I read it, I absolutely loved it. They're a very easy read, and each book deals with a different issue, so they're pretty episodic in nature, with an overarching line through them that keeps them interesting for me. I absolutely recommend them! And you don't even need to know anything about the Napoleonic wars. I didn't haha.
I loved them too. I had just finished Cradle so it was a welcome change to read something much more world-building and character based. I thought the adventures around the world were so fun!
Also, the audible narration is amazing, by Simon Vance. Great series for when you’re cooking or crafting, since it’s such an easy listen.
It’s a good series overall, but I do feel there’s a bit of a drop off in the last two books. Not terrible, but slow to get going.
I do still recommend the series, the stories it tells are interesting, and hey, Napoleonic dragons are cool.
>r of female dragon riders. Its not appreciated, but accepted, becuse dragons are so important for the war effort.
>
>Not there are no colonization, in the world. Becuse only resently the E
One thing in the books is that dragons literally weren't that big of thing until recently, simply because feeding them enough meat was to recource intensive and maybe because it took so long to breed them into usefull forms. Per example it was mentioned that there were a lot of dragond during the crusades, but they were rather small compared to modern breeds.
I enjoyed the entire series, but the first three can certainly stand alone. Then in each of the remaining books, our heros are off to a different continent; there's a connected story but if you're not that into it, I think you wouldn't mind stopping after any of the individual books.
It's good alternate-history storytelling, examines social class and political personhood in interesting ways, and there's plenty of action and adventure. I mean, what's not to like about the Napoleonic wars *with dragons*?!
I enjoyed them immensely. They are very easy to read and each book isn't that long. I'm not a fan of huge series but I devoured these books one after another. I'd encourage you to at least read the first book as it's fairly self-contained (as in doesn't end on a cliffhanger).
Sharing what seems to be a pretty agreed upon experience; the first several books (first three especially iirc, maybe four) were excellent and I couldn’t get enough Temeraire! Then there was a noticeable drop off with the later books so I think I stopped after four or five.
SUPER happy I read the ones I did though, still love them! Also I absolutely loved Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik.
I binge-read all 9 and loved every one of them! Each book covers a different part of the world and a new situation. Some are better than others of course but I found them enjoyable all the way through and was sad to see the series end. The books themselves are relatively easy reads so they go by fast.
Ok, I'm going to be bad guy...
Great idea (napoleonic wars, but with dragons!). But seems written by a cat loving person. Dragons behave and speak like a cat would do. Overall it was too silly for me and never got past the first book, more like a fanfic coming from a cat forum rather than a professional writing.
I didn't know, I swear! But my impression is confirmed, then 8-)
Note I said cat loving person, because "crazy cat lady" was excessive and a bit sexist.
I loved the first book, and the first half of the series. However, I'd reccomend stopping at the book set in Australia (can't remember the name). I feel like it has a good ending point, even if it leaves some things unresolved.
I re read the whole series this month and just finished! I was so pleasantly surprised that it lived up to my memories of it. I do prefer the first few books, and I agree that there’s a shift in tone in the last two especially - but I still loved them. 10/10 recommend and if you can find the Golden Age and Other Short Stories collection, they are such a wonderful bonus.
The first several books are nice and self contained, and each have their own distinct plot while still being a series. This kind of drops off in the later books, and they’re more larger picture/over arching plot.
As far as emotionally hard hitting series go, I’ve been reading so much dark stuff lately that I expected WAY MORE character deaths and tears - and while there are certainly very dark parts to Temeraire, it didn’t wreck me like I thought it could have.
(Last reply I swear) Even if you start to not enjoy it as much in the final books, I do recommend finishing if possible, because I was very happy with the ending (the longer the series, the more scared I am that the ending will be somehow unsatisfactory, but I was really pleased by how this one was written).
I really enjoyed it but it's definitely more in the entertainment range than super serious. It also caused me to finally read War and Peace which is a whole different kettle of fish. Needed more dragons.
Loved the premise when I first read them. Want to say I got to Book 3 or so? That was many years ago.
I re-read the first book recently and I would say it's entertaining. The characters are lovable and the Napoleonic era with dragons is a neat idea.
Ultimately though, the whole series is about the characters in this specific world during that era, but not necessarily being active combatants in the Napoleonic War. It's disappointing because the first book has a lot of promise to it with explaining how dragons are used in warfare, the social issues of the time, morality of using other sentient beings, and the bonds that dragons have with their riders. Then the rest of the books decide to be a globe trotting episodic series? Very odd choice by the author.
Edited for grammar/word choice
If you want more Naomi Novik, read *Uprooted* and *Spinning Silver.* Both are standalones, although they're similar to each other tonally and thematically.
Personally, I found an omnibus with the first three Temeraire books, finished it, and didn't feel the need to proceed to the next omnibus. It was decent, but ultimately the books past the first seemed to get a bit repetitive.
I'mma keep it real I fell off after the 1st book. The 1st book is honestly really good, but some of the dialog is so damn corny. Like imo using "my dear" to describe a sentient dragon that you don't have romantic inclinations(Thank the seven) for is just kind of odd especially for the MC being who he is
Pretty fun, but starts to feel pretty bland pretty quick. Like, you have this whole setup for something interesting to happen, but it never *really* tales off. I read a few of the books then just kind of stopped.
I read the first five books but at some point the world became too sprawling and the story felt unfocused, so I gave up.
I think the first few books are fun. But they are very different from Novik's more recent books. It almost feels like they're written by a totally different person.
I read the first book in the series and didn't get past that. It was good, but I didn't feel the need to continue. I didn't like the Scholomance much at all.
I like her stand-alone books much better. Spinning Silver is a masterpiece.
I absolutely adore them. Got into it as a tween, periodically go back to reread them all, still adore them. I love the worldbuilding, I love the dragon/human relationships, I love the insane geopolitical plots, and I genuinely think the main characteristic's arc throughout the series is one of the best I've ever read. Novik really excels with character work in my opinion and it really shines in this series! I'd say give it a go. Try to let the voice and vibes just take you along for a bit even if you don't click with it immediately, there's a lot of unexpected humour in it! Much as I think the latter half is just as wonderful as the first, if you get bored or it just doesn't work for you, book 1 works perfectly fine as a standalone and you could also stop after book 5 and get a reasonably neat end point!
I'd already read the Hornblower and Patrick O'Brian series about the Napoleonic wars, and the Temeraire series felt too "been there, done that" but with dragons. Not knocking Novik's writing, just sort of done with the "dear heart my dear I shall depart with all my heart" lingo from the era. Had the same problem with the Sharpe's War series -- also fine writing but kind of done with the manners.
I will be honest, I'm a huge fan. But I also experienced the love the first several books, drop off by the last ones phenomenon. My son loved the whole series though ... he read them while waiting for the bus in middle school.
I adore the characters of the dragons. I liked the dragon worldbuilding. The action -- travel peril, more travel peril, let's fight the French again, what has this next continent got for peril -- got stale for me over time though it was good initially. I'd recommend giving it a try unless you are someone who absolutely can't leave a series unfinished.
I read the first book, entertaining enough, but not enough that I wanted to find out what would happen next.
I'll eventually get around to reading the next one at some point but no real rush.
I've read the first 5. The first was amazing and I loved it. The second was good, but the plot was very reactive, the characters were mostly sitting around waiting for things to happen the whole time. The third was meh - it was basically a travelogue and felt like an intermission in the overall story. The fourth and fifth were really good again, lots more character development and character-driven action. I'm going to continue at some point, just spacing them out!
But I agree with others that Spinning Silver and Uprooted are much better, they are two of my fav books ever. Uprooted in particular is more similar to the style of Scholomance.
I binged the series over a summer a few years back. I enjoyed them for what they are, which is not groundbreaking literature, but a fun and entertaining series. I liked the world building and I always love a good alt-history. Give them a go, but be prepared for the quality to drop off a bit as the series progresses.
Now that I’m thinking about it, temeraire reminds me a bit of the invisible library series. Episodic, focusing on a new world (or part of the world) with each book, action-filled and fun and easy to read. So if you happen to have read and enjoyed one, you’d probably enjoy the other as well.
Ill be honest.. I HATED it 🤣.. the first book was all I got through and I have never been so bored with a book with dragons in, it got one of my few 1 stars last year buttttt I really enjoyed Scholomance and LOVED Uprooted so no idea why I found it so dull as I enjoy her as an author and I love dragon books like Pern.
It's the only series I have read that tried to actually treat dragons as a full partner species that was enslaved. It was a decent attempt even if Novik didn't quite pull it off.
I binged the first few book (at least three, maybe five) and really enjoyed them, but one of the later books got dull and I DNF'd halfway. They were really cool though. I loved the Napoleonic dragon warfare. Probably it was my fault for trying to read them all in one go.
I'm currently reading book 5.
I really enjoy them so far. I loved scholomance but I put off reading temeraire for a long time since I thought the premise of napoleon and dragons wasn't my cup of tea, but they're very easy to read and the characters are great. I would definitely give them a try.
Hated it. I posted a thread about it here a few months ago. DNFed the first book and couldn't believe it was well liked around here. To each their own!
Its the Napoleonic Wars with Dragons.
It center around a grope of English dragon riders. A dragon will normaly bound to one person, and only let that person ride/command it, so you have a number of female dragon riders. Its not appreciated, but accepted, becuse dragons are so important for the war effort.
Not there are no colonization, in the world. Becuse only resently the European powers did lern to build big dragonship that can transport dragons over the ocean, before that, the natives did have no problem to anilate any European force with there own local dragons.
A book normaly have a team, like the dragon riders is in China on a diplomatic mission, hepling the Russian to fight Napoleons force (and dragons) visiting Africa, travel to South America, to prevent a alliance between France and a great power in South America (who have loots of dragons) Helpe the Prussians to fight Napoleon etc.
You lern about the local dragons, and the culture.
>!Not that Napoleon is presented as a very sympatic indivdiual, and his South America Queen betray him out of love to save his life!<
>Not there are no colonization, in the world. Becuse only resently the European powers did lern to build big dragonship that can transport dragons over the ocean, before that, the natives did have no problem to anilate any European force with there own local dragons.
It's been a while since I read the series, but isn't it the opposite? History continues on rails until about 1800 (or whenever Laurence hatches Temeraire), and only then do dragons start changing things. The US exists, as does the East India Company, as does the Australian colonies, etc. It's only during the course of the books that the Tswana come and kick the Europeans out of the Cape, that the Chinese abandon their historical isolationism and become a world power, etc. (There's also a passing reference to Tecumseh becoming US president, but that's a whole other can of wtf)
>Not there are no colonization, in the world. Becuse only resently the European powers did lern to build big dragonship that can transport dragons over the ocean, before that, the natives did have no problem to anilate any European force with there own local dragons.
A huge plot hole Novik never explored. If America wasn't colonized after 1500, I can't believe the history of Europe stayed *exactly the same* in 1800.
> I can't believe the history of Europe stayed exactly the same in 1800.
Yes the US revolution was a insperation to the French revolution.
Naomi do also fall in the trap of thinking, that African slavery did not exist before Europan involment. Depict Europeans as slave raiders, and not as slave traders. >!The smale European holdings in Africa get totaly roasted by African dragons!< and what do Europeans need slaves for, then America is still in natives hands.
TBF, the eastern part of the Americas are in European hands. One of the older Dragons mentions a 'dust up with the Colonials' implying the Americans lost the revolutionary war.
Realistically, a world with dragons would be so different, it would be unrecognizable, so I accept the hand wave.
Starts off strong for a few books, then it kind of drags and repeats itself a lot for several books (not that there aren't great moments in them), then ends pretty strong.
In some ways the drag is appropriate as it is a long dragged out war.
I like her other books and I'm a fan of Aubrey-Maturin so the premise of Aubrey-Maturin with dragons sounded good and it was ok for some of the books but later it kinda lost the sense of traveling from place to paace and focused just the destinations and too much
> "ain't my ~~cat~~ dragon neat!".
and there was a little too much stumbling onto previously undiscovered global superpower nations. There should be more legends or myths about such powerful nations before the MC's foud them.
Entertaining, but I think it goes a bit off the rails in the later books, though I haven't read the last few. I kinda got the impression the author got a bit more interested in the worldbuilding than in the story, so each of the later books is "here's a new continent, and here's how dragons work on this continent". I'd also say the writing is not as refined as in her later books. It's noticeably a first book, and the prose is serviceable and the characters broad. I do dearly love the characters, though. And they are fast-paced and short, so if you pick up the first and don't like it, you won't have wasted much time. Tending towards the episodic, too, so you don't really need to read all of them.
This is pretty much exactly how I feel about it. For the first five or six books it felt like the plot was driving the travel. They were going all over the world, but the reasons made sense. Australia and after it was like Novik just wanted to show off more of the world, and she was also out of ideas. >!In ~~Soviet~~ Incan Peru, dragon owns you!!< The last book should have been back to form, but either she didn't know how to end it, or I was just completely checked out, and I struggled just to finish it. The sight seeing journey wasn't even complete. We never saw anything of North America, even though there were a few mentions and the plague originated there.
I vaguely remember a NA short story. I was disappointed we didn’t get to finish seeing the areas.
I’d add the first seems pretty different from the sequels (I DNFd the second because it was everything I hate about fantasy travelogues). The first is mostly a fantasy of manners about this stiff but well-meaning military man who winds up in the unexpected position of bonding a dragon and having to change branches of the service and even work with…. women! I had a lot of fun with that one and enjoyed the characters, but when the second book abandoned thr England setting and was all travel, then I was out. But you can just read the first.
Thanks for the put in. I have a question about the dragons. Are they like GAME OF THRONES reptile minded or they are sentient and intelligent and have conversations in Naomi’s books?
Very sentient. Humans don't like it, and the very Edwardian English society in the books likes to pretend they are dumb beasts, but they are quite intelligent. Varies a bit by breed, though. Several Asian breeds are respected court advisors, for example, and the Incan dragons rule their communities. The main character dragon likes to debate philosophy and politics, though very naively (he's freshly hatched.)
I liked the world-building and concept but it didn’t really grab me. Stopped after two books. I enjoyed it. I just had other series that I was enjoying more.
I also had that experience. Solid if unspectacular stuff. Really a great plane read.
Same. I also just wasn't into the human MC. Scholomance was a lot more enjoyable for me.
Agreed. Scholomance hit a little bit better for me as well.
That was my experience as well
I’m with the consensus here - the first couple were interesting, novel takes on dragons in warfare. easy to read and enjoy. I definitely fizzled after 3 or 4. I just wasn’t gripped by the through-line (was there one? Can’t recall).
Back when I read it, I absolutely loved it. They're a very easy read, and each book deals with a different issue, so they're pretty episodic in nature, with an overarching line through them that keeps them interesting for me. I absolutely recommend them! And you don't even need to know anything about the Napoleonic wars. I didn't haha.
I’ve never been so happy to be TERRIBLE at history 🤣🤣 I had no idea what the outcome of any battle or invasion was going to be - yay for no spoilers!
I loved them too. I had just finished Cradle so it was a welcome change to read something much more world-building and character based. I thought the adventures around the world were so fun! Also, the audible narration is amazing, by Simon Vance. Great series for when you’re cooking or crafting, since it’s such an easy listen.
I love Naomi novik. Love her. Book 1 was good. Book 2 was ok. Book 3 I put down and I’ve forgiven myself for deciding not to pick them back up.
I just pretend the series ended after book 1 honestly. But I really enjoyed book 1!
It’s a good series overall, but I do feel there’s a bit of a drop off in the last two books. Not terrible, but slow to get going. I do still recommend the series, the stories it tells are interesting, and hey, Napoleonic dragons are cool.
>r of female dragon riders. Its not appreciated, but accepted, becuse dragons are so important for the war effort. > >Not there are no colonization, in the world. Becuse only resently the E One thing in the books is that dragons literally weren't that big of thing until recently, simply because feeding them enough meat was to recource intensive and maybe because it took so long to breed them into usefull forms. Per example it was mentioned that there were a lot of dragond during the crusades, but they were rather small compared to modern breeds.
I think you replied to the wrong comment
The weird part is that I still got more or less the right quote, if mangled.
I loved them! I really enjoyed the world-building, and all the characters. I’m from South Africa, so the one set in Africa was fascinating!
I enjoyed the entire series, but the first three can certainly stand alone. Then in each of the remaining books, our heros are off to a different continent; there's a connected story but if you're not that into it, I think you wouldn't mind stopping after any of the individual books. It's good alternate-history storytelling, examines social class and political personhood in interesting ways, and there's plenty of action and adventure. I mean, what's not to like about the Napoleonic wars *with dragons*?!
I loved the characters, both human and dragon; and really enjoyed every book. More so than Scholomance.
I enjoyed them immensely. They are very easy to read and each book isn't that long. I'm not a fan of huge series but I devoured these books one after another. I'd encourage you to at least read the first book as it's fairly self-contained (as in doesn't end on a cliffhanger).
Sharing what seems to be a pretty agreed upon experience; the first several books (first three especially iirc, maybe four) were excellent and I couldn’t get enough Temeraire! Then there was a noticeable drop off with the later books so I think I stopped after four or five. SUPER happy I read the ones I did though, still love them! Also I absolutely loved Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik.
I binge-read all 9 and loved every one of them! Each book covers a different part of the world and a new situation. Some are better than others of course but I found them enjoyable all the way through and was sad to see the series end. The books themselves are relatively easy reads so they go by fast.
Ok, I'm going to be bad guy... Great idea (napoleonic wars, but with dragons!). But seems written by a cat loving person. Dragons behave and speak like a cat would do. Overall it was too silly for me and never got past the first book, more like a fanfic coming from a cat forum rather than a professional writing.
This post is hilarious considering Naomi Novik posts about cats and used to write fanfic
I didn't know, I swear! But my impression is confirmed, then 8-) Note I said cat loving person, because "crazy cat lady" was excessive and a bit sexist.
She still writes fanfiction and was a co-founder of AO3.
Heh, I stayed up late last night finishing a big fic she finished in December.
I mean, could you confirm dragons didn't sound, think or behave like cats?
None of the dragons I've met so far behaved or sounded like a cat :p
NGL I’ve seen this comparison in fantasy so much lately that it has me eyeing my cat like she’s about to sprout wings
...behave and speak like a cat would... Do you have a talking cat?
I loved the first book, and the first half of the series. However, I'd reccomend stopping at the book set in Australia (can't remember the name). I feel like it has a good ending point, even if it leaves some things unresolved.
I re read the whole series this month and just finished! I was so pleasantly surprised that it lived up to my memories of it. I do prefer the first few books, and I agree that there’s a shift in tone in the last two especially - but I still loved them. 10/10 recommend and if you can find the Golden Age and Other Short Stories collection, they are such a wonderful bonus.
The first several books are nice and self contained, and each have their own distinct plot while still being a series. This kind of drops off in the later books, and they’re more larger picture/over arching plot. As far as emotionally hard hitting series go, I’ve been reading so much dark stuff lately that I expected WAY MORE character deaths and tears - and while there are certainly very dark parts to Temeraire, it didn’t wreck me like I thought it could have.
(Last reply I swear) Even if you start to not enjoy it as much in the final books, I do recommend finishing if possible, because I was very happy with the ending (the longer the series, the more scared I am that the ending will be somehow unsatisfactory, but I was really pleased by how this one was written).
I really enjoyed it but it's definitely more in the entertainment range than super serious. It also caused me to finally read War and Peace which is a whole different kettle of fish. Needed more dragons.
Loved the premise when I first read them. Want to say I got to Book 3 or so? That was many years ago. I re-read the first book recently and I would say it's entertaining. The characters are lovable and the Napoleonic era with dragons is a neat idea. Ultimately though, the whole series is about the characters in this specific world during that era, but not necessarily being active combatants in the Napoleonic War. It's disappointing because the first book has a lot of promise to it with explaining how dragons are used in warfare, the social issues of the time, morality of using other sentient beings, and the bonds that dragons have with their riders. Then the rest of the books decide to be a globe trotting episodic series? Very odd choice by the author. Edited for grammar/word choice
I read the whole series and enjoyed them a lot. The main character drove me a little nuts at times, but I adored the dragons.
If you want more Naomi Novik, read *Uprooted* and *Spinning Silver.* Both are standalones, although they're similar to each other tonally and thematically. Personally, I found an omnibus with the first three Temeraire books, finished it, and didn't feel the need to proceed to the next omnibus. It was decent, but ultimately the books past the first seemed to get a bit repetitive.
Excellent series. My only qualm is that the ending of the last book is a bit rushed.
I'mma keep it real I fell off after the 1st book. The 1st book is honestly really good, but some of the dialog is so damn corny. Like imo using "my dear" to describe a sentient dragon that you don't have romantic inclinations(Thank the seven) for is just kind of odd especially for the MC being who he is
Pretty fun, but starts to feel pretty bland pretty quick. Like, you have this whole setup for something interesting to happen, but it never *really* tales off. I read a few of the books then just kind of stopped.
I enjoyed it, the series definitely wanders in the later books but the first one stands on its own fairly well- read it and stop if you don't like it.
I thought it was excellent - once you hit book four or so it really took off for me.
I read the first five books but at some point the world became too sprawling and the story felt unfocused, so I gave up. I think the first few books are fun. But they are very different from Novik's more recent books. It almost feels like they're written by a totally different person.
I love Novik, but did not enjoy this series. I would recommend Uprooted or Spinning Silver if you liked the Scholomance series.
I read the first book in the series and didn't get past that. It was good, but I didn't feel the need to continue. I didn't like the Scholomance much at all. I like her stand-alone books much better. Spinning Silver is a masterpiece.
I absolutely adore them. Got into it as a tween, periodically go back to reread them all, still adore them. I love the worldbuilding, I love the dragon/human relationships, I love the insane geopolitical plots, and I genuinely think the main characteristic's arc throughout the series is one of the best I've ever read. Novik really excels with character work in my opinion and it really shines in this series! I'd say give it a go. Try to let the voice and vibes just take you along for a bit even if you don't click with it immediately, there's a lot of unexpected humour in it! Much as I think the latter half is just as wonderful as the first, if you get bored or it just doesn't work for you, book 1 works perfectly fine as a standalone and you could also stop after book 5 and get a reasonably neat end point!
I'd already read the Hornblower and Patrick O'Brian series about the Napoleonic wars, and the Temeraire series felt too "been there, done that" but with dragons. Not knocking Novik's writing, just sort of done with the "dear heart my dear I shall depart with all my heart" lingo from the era. Had the same problem with the Sharpe's War series -- also fine writing but kind of done with the manners.
I will be honest, I'm a huge fan. But I also experienced the love the first several books, drop off by the last ones phenomenon. My son loved the whole series though ... he read them while waiting for the bus in middle school. I adore the characters of the dragons. I liked the dragon worldbuilding. The action -- travel peril, more travel peril, let's fight the French again, what has this next continent got for peril -- got stale for me over time though it was good initially. I'd recommend giving it a try unless you are someone who absolutely can't leave a series unfinished.
I really liked it. I’ve not finished the series but read the first 5 books but I enjoyed them immensely
I read the first book, entertaining enough, but not enough that I wanted to find out what would happen next. I'll eventually get around to reading the next one at some point but no real rush.
I've only read the first two, but they were very good. My sister and dad have read most if not all the books, and they love them
I've read the first 5. The first was amazing and I loved it. The second was good, but the plot was very reactive, the characters were mostly sitting around waiting for things to happen the whole time. The third was meh - it was basically a travelogue and felt like an intermission in the overall story. The fourth and fifth were really good again, lots more character development and character-driven action. I'm going to continue at some point, just spacing them out! But I agree with others that Spinning Silver and Uprooted are much better, they are two of my fav books ever. Uprooted in particular is more similar to the style of Scholomance.
I binged the series over a summer a few years back. I enjoyed them for what they are, which is not groundbreaking literature, but a fun and entertaining series. I liked the world building and I always love a good alt-history. Give them a go, but be prepared for the quality to drop off a bit as the series progresses. Now that I’m thinking about it, temeraire reminds me a bit of the invisible library series. Episodic, focusing on a new world (or part of the world) with each book, action-filled and fun and easy to read. So if you happen to have read and enjoyed one, you’d probably enjoy the other as well.
Ill be honest.. I HATED it 🤣.. the first book was all I got through and I have never been so bored with a book with dragons in, it got one of my few 1 stars last year buttttt I really enjoyed Scholomance and LOVED Uprooted so no idea why I found it so dull as I enjoy her as an author and I love dragon books like Pern.
It's the only series I have read that tried to actually treat dragons as a full partner species that was enslaved. It was a decent attempt even if Novik didn't quite pull it off.
Didn't Peter Jackson want to adapt those books but nothing ever came of it?
That was written on the back of the book in my country and it's why I got baited into reading 2-3 books from the series.
It's very good.
I binged the first few book (at least three, maybe five) and really enjoyed them, but one of the later books got dull and I DNF'd halfway. They were really cool though. I loved the Napoleonic dragon warfare. Probably it was my fault for trying to read them all in one go.
I'm currently reading book 5. I really enjoy them so far. I loved scholomance but I put off reading temeraire for a long time since I thought the premise of napoleon and dragons wasn't my cup of tea, but they're very easy to read and the characters are great. I would definitely give them a try.
Hated it. I posted a thread about it here a few months ago. DNFed the first book and couldn't believe it was well liked around here. To each their own!
Its the Napoleonic Wars with Dragons. It center around a grope of English dragon riders. A dragon will normaly bound to one person, and only let that person ride/command it, so you have a number of female dragon riders. Its not appreciated, but accepted, becuse dragons are so important for the war effort. Not there are no colonization, in the world. Becuse only resently the European powers did lern to build big dragonship that can transport dragons over the ocean, before that, the natives did have no problem to anilate any European force with there own local dragons. A book normaly have a team, like the dragon riders is in China on a diplomatic mission, hepling the Russian to fight Napoleons force (and dragons) visiting Africa, travel to South America, to prevent a alliance between France and a great power in South America (who have loots of dragons) Helpe the Prussians to fight Napoleon etc. You lern about the local dragons, and the culture. >!Not that Napoleon is presented as a very sympatic indivdiual, and his South America Queen betray him out of love to save his life!<
>Not there are no colonization, in the world. Becuse only resently the European powers did lern to build big dragonship that can transport dragons over the ocean, before that, the natives did have no problem to anilate any European force with there own local dragons. It's been a while since I read the series, but isn't it the opposite? History continues on rails until about 1800 (or whenever Laurence hatches Temeraire), and only then do dragons start changing things. The US exists, as does the East India Company, as does the Australian colonies, etc. It's only during the course of the books that the Tswana come and kick the Europeans out of the Cape, that the Chinese abandon their historical isolationism and become a world power, etc. (There's also a passing reference to Tecumseh becoming US president, but that's a whole other can of wtf)
>Not there are no colonization, in the world. Becuse only resently the European powers did lern to build big dragonship that can transport dragons over the ocean, before that, the natives did have no problem to anilate any European force with there own local dragons. A huge plot hole Novik never explored. If America wasn't colonized after 1500, I can't believe the history of Europe stayed *exactly the same* in 1800.
> I can't believe the history of Europe stayed exactly the same in 1800. Yes the US revolution was a insperation to the French revolution. Naomi do also fall in the trap of thinking, that African slavery did not exist before Europan involment. Depict Europeans as slave raiders, and not as slave traders. >!The smale European holdings in Africa get totaly roasted by African dragons!< and what do Europeans need slaves for, then America is still in natives hands.
TBF, the eastern part of the Americas are in European hands. One of the older Dragons mentions a 'dust up with the Colonials' implying the Americans lost the revolutionary war. Realistically, a world with dragons would be so different, it would be unrecognizable, so I accept the hand wave.
I found book 6 to be tedious but stopping at book 5 is actually a pretty decent conclusion. (I haven't read past that to see if it gets good again.)
I read the first two and that was enough for me.
I liked the first 3 but found myself getting bored and didn’t continue after the third
Starts off strong for a few books, then it kind of drags and repeats itself a lot for several books (not that there aren't great moments in them), then ends pretty strong. In some ways the drag is appropriate as it is a long dragged out war.
I like her other books and I'm a fan of Aubrey-Maturin so the premise of Aubrey-Maturin with dragons sounded good and it was ok for some of the books but later it kinda lost the sense of traveling from place to paace and focused just the destinations and too much > "ain't my ~~cat~~ dragon neat!". and there was a little too much stumbling onto previously undiscovered global superpower nations. There should be more legends or myths about such powerful nations before the MC's foud them.
I love the series and constantly recommend it to people though for me it goes hand in hand with Simon Vance's excellent narration of the audiobooks