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Book Review of In His Majesty's Service: His Majesty's Dragon / Thrones of Jade / Black Powder War (Temeraire, Bks 1-3) (aka Temeraire: In the Service of the King)

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Three books in one! Fabulous!

This collection of the first three books in Naomi Novik's Temeraire series is delightfully heavy. By some coincidence I picked up her first book a few weeks before a signing and was lucky enough to get this monster signed by her. I love collections like these, they save on shelf space!

This is not a magical series. Ms. Novik writes in a realistic manner and addresses all those bothersome questions one has about dragons - like their diet and what happens when they get hurt, or what to do if an acid spitter has the flu. Within the story is a view of how the dragons live, "forced" to rely on humans food and act as basically slave labor. Contemporary issues such as slavery and colonization are addressed - this series tackles moral quandaries without sidestepping them or making excuses.

This is a humorous book. The dragons are delightfully naive in places, and simple instances, such as the mad note Captain Laurence writes Temeraire in the 2nd novel, will leave you in stitches. To China I say!