Naomi Novik's world is the historical 18th century, with one minor difference: dragons have always existed alongside man. We follow a captain of the Royal Navy during the middle of the Napoleonic Wars as he finds himself entangled in the world of dragon-riding, which alters all the conventions of his orderly gentleman's world.

I'm not a fan of historical novels usually, but the aspect of the fantastic is so vitally alive in this book that it works for me. What I love about historical novels is maximized, and what I dislike is shunted into the background. There were some flaws, and I found myself losing interest in the climactic battle sequence that forms the book's conclusion, yet these are small qualms for an otherwise superb work of literary craft and ingenuity. I'm definitely hooked on the rest of the series.