Temeraire, by Naomi Novik

Hornblower meets Anne McCaffrey in this tale of the Napoleonic Wars, with added dragons. On the high seas Captain William Laurence and his crew capture a French ship that contains a rare prize – a dragon egg. When it becomes clear that the egg will hatch before they can make land, one of the sailors must bond with the hatchling to prevent it going feral. But this means the bonded man must leave the navy to become an aviator – relinquishing family, friends and naval career. The aviators are an odd bunch, who do things their own way and keep very much to their own. The development of Laurence’s relationship with Temeraire and his adaptation to aviator life is interesting, if a little slow. Alt history can be tricky but Novik does a good job with the setting. Adding the aviator branch of the armed forces provides an opportunity to mix things up a bit, such as adding female captains to shake up the gender dynamics. The world and voices of the dragons are not quite as convincing, with Temeraire in particular too much of a prodigy. You might think dragons would make naval battles more exciting, but they are still battles, depicted in mind-numbing detail and strictly for enthusiasts. This is the first in a series of nine and it will be interesting to see if there is enough momentum in the story to sustain them.