This is particularly hard on Captain Laurence. He was a much admired and fast-rising naval Captain. He had intended to marry a young woman, a neighbour of his, but that seems impossible now. And he already has a stressful relationship with his father, who was opposed to his joining the Navy and will be far more opposed to his transfer to the Aerial Corps. But Laurence does his duty by England. He quickly learns that there are great compensations: Temeraire is extremely intelligent (more intelligent than Laurence), and very loyal. The two quickly become great friends. And, of course, it turns out that Temeraire is a very special kind of dragon.

The rest of the novel concerns mostly the early training of both Laurence and Temeraire. The War is not going very well, so it is necessary for them to train rapidly. This is complicated by the resentment of many in the Aerial Corps to Laurence, a Navy man, who has managed by happenstance to grab a very special assignment: Captain in charge of a unique dragon. Typically members of the Aerial Corps wait years for such a plum assignment. Laurence must also learn to deal with the rougher manners of his new comrades. Here Novik does a nice bit of characterization: her sympathetic main character is presented as having some rather stiff attitudes, quite appropriate for a gentleman of his era, but at variance with our contemporary mores. The reader is torn between cheering on the viewpoint character, and approving the freer habits of the Aerial Corps. And, really, both are partly correct. Finally, Laurence has to adjust to a variety of unexpected sorts of people in the Aerial Corps -- including, to his surprise, women in combat roles. As well as another gentleman who is not what he expects, and a French aristocrat who has come over to the British side.

The plot is not surprisingly resolved with a rousing battle. This is something of a disappointment -- there is a sense of unfairness in the rabbit Novik pulls out of her hat to save the day. In the final analysis the book turns on the very appealing character of the dragon Temeraire. He is both young and surprisingly mature, very independent but very loyal, intelligent but naïve. He is, really, delightful. On the whole His Majesty's Dragon is a great deal of fun to read, and I'll be eagerly gobbling up the subsequent books in the series.