Del Rey is reissuing Naomi Novik‘s first three Temeraire novels in one hardcover omnibus edition with “an exclusive original Temeraire short story.” The books were mass market originals; the fifth book in the series, last year’s Victory of Eagles, was the first to be published as a hardcover.
In the books—originally published as His Majesty’s Dragon, Throne of Jade, and Black Powder War, all in 2006—”Capt. Will Laurence is serving with honor in the British Navy when his ship captures a French frigate harboring most a unusual cargo—an incalculably valuable dragon egg. When the egg hatches, Laurence unexpectedly becomes the master of the young dragon Temeraire and finds himself on an extraordinary journey that will shatter his orderly, respectable life and alter the course of his nation’s history.
“Thrust into England’s Aerial Corps, Laurence and Temeraire undergo rigorous training while staving off French forces intent on breaching British soil. But the pair has more than France to contend with when China learns that an imperial dragon intended for Napoleon—Temeraire himself–—has fallen into British hands. The emperor summons the new pilot and his dragon to the Far East, a long voyage fraught with peril and intrigue. From England’s shores to China’s palaces, from the Silk Road’s outer limits to the embattled borders of Prussia and Poland, Laurence and Temeraire must defend their partnership and their country from powerful adversaries around the globe. But can they succeed against the massed forces of Bonaparte’s implacable army?”
The new story in the book, “In Autumn, A White Dragon Looks Over the Wide River,” chronicles the first meeting between Lien, the Celestial dragon who plays a pivotal part in Throne of Jade, and Napoleon Bonaparte, to whom Lien offers her considerable intellect in the Emperor’s campaign against the British after Laurence and Temeraire foil her prince’s attempt to gain the Chinese throne.
Related articles previously published on SFScope:
Temeraire Updates (18 July 2007)
Naomi Novik Wins Compton Crook Award (30 May 2007)