There was one question as a comment on my original announcement: how did you come up with the idea for the series?

And, over at the newsgroup rec.arts.sf.written, people have been asking about your use of the naval term "dreadnought" as a class of ship, and wondering if that implies anything interestingly alternate about your world's naval history.

Hello, I'm reading the first book and I have a few questions:

1 - I found a few references to Inca dragons and "Incan breeders", are the Incas independent in this world?
If they aren't, then are they being forced to breed dragons for the Spanish?

2 - Do you have plans to release an overview or a timeline of Temeraire's world?

First of all, I would like to say I truly enjoyed the first 2 books. I have recieved my copy of In the Service of the King, and am looking forward to reading the 3rd novel.

The trend of England's Aerial Corps is to place harnesses on all hatchlings, lest they fly away and never return, which was proven buy the previous history of them doing just that. The Chinese, however, proved that this was NOT the inherant wish of all dragons and that a bond between "captain" and dragon could be taken much more slowly when the dragon was mature enough. Is the implication that the the manner in which England (and other countrie) treated their newly hatched dragons the reason they went "feral?" If this is the case (and a dragon is born with the ability to speak as well as more than reasonable thinking skills (even if it is learning)- what exactly IS a feral dragon? A dragon that choses not to bond with anyone? (or is the dragon truly stunted for knowledge and thus unable to learn from fellow dragons or people due to the lack of desire to BE with them?)

A fantastic idea for a story! This is one of those ideas that is so obvious and cool you can't believe no one's done it before. Bravo, Ms. Novik! I just finished the first book in the series and I'm looking forward to continuing the story.

I'd also like to second a previous poster's request for an overview/timeline of this world; I'm a sucker for alternate history, and I always like to see the setting's background in more detail.

Thanks for a great read.

I love the series. They're exciting, fun to read and the dragons are so fascinating!

I can't decide whether I prefer The Jade Dragon, with its charming scenes in China, or The Black Powder War, with the wonderful travel vignettes.

All I can say it that I am eager to read more of the series!

Will there ever be a video game based off of the Temeraire books?

I just finished the SFBC 3-in-1 edition, and enjoyed it very much. Haven't enjoyed a dragon book this much since Anne McCaffrey's earlier ones. Just a thought, though--don't make your dragons too human. Even intelligent dragons would have to have very different thought processes than we do.

First, let me say I *adore* these books. The oh-so-proper naval captain turned aviator and his abolitionist dragon...a perfect pair for many additional adventures.

You wanted to know which book of the three we liked best? Probably Jade Dragon, since book#1, although I loved the learning-to-deal-with-dragons aspect, had the lengthy dragon-free section at the beginning. And book#3, I felt, relied on knowledge of the Napoleonic wars to produce tension. If you knew in advance that this, that, or the other battle or campaign had ended a certain way, your concern for the characters would be ratcheted up a degree that was missing to the historically oblivious reader. Book #2 had a lot of learning about dragons, still, plus adventure, plus a really meaty emotional story of love and sacrifice. Yum!

Hello Naomi

It is a priviledge to be able to correspond with you and discuss your works. Having been referred here from your website I will list my likes and dislikesas asked.

First which book do I like best? Well honestly I like them in decending order as written. The first best HMJ, then the second TOJ, and finally the third in BPW.

The first book established excitement and escape in your wonderful new world. It gave us characters that were well developed and loveable or rotten to the core, as the case may be.

The little forelorn dragon, who dies is still a sore spot with me. The Dragon's rider should have paid the price, and the little guy with heart pressed on. I understand why you did what you did, but I DO NOT LIKE IT.

I greatly enjoy civil rights for setient beings that are not aliens. However I would as you deal with that like to see the Dragon's adopt other issues of the times. How about an abolisionist Dragon, who seeks to improove the health and morales of his Captain and or crew. It's fine for Laurance, to instill such in his crew but how about a Dragons whos crew are abusers.How about a Chinese Dragon who has a Captain or crew that hit the opium and some consequences as a result, or a Dragon who uses?

How about some draconic puns. A map to an unfamiliar and unexplored part of the globe, where the unknown leads to an area that says here there be dragons, could provide some humor and a new source of breeding and operational assets.

OK as to my favorites and the order of my preferences, the first book was simply more exciting as it estalished your world. The second provided a new plot twist line, and some causes for aggravation in characters and politics. The third book held a great deal of potential. But it did not make easy transitions, or carry the plot as well. Now I will admit that I have read the first two books twice and read the third but once. I am waiting to see if I like it better on a second go around. I did not DISLIKE the book. I just liked the others more. The third book does provide a facinating new storyline at the ending with the disease issues. But it did not establish as familiar and well developed a country in Turkey as had been done for England and China. And I would have liked more time there and development.

But as I have stated in another forum it is your world and your story. Not mine. I am happy enough with the work that I have bought all 3 works in original first editions to read and one to save. And the SFBC Omnibus of the original trilogy in multiple volumes as well. And I will continue to do so. There is so much to this novel idea you have had. (no pun intended) I can see not only the story of Temeraire, but of other Dragons, Captains, and Crews, now in the past and future. You truly do have something here.

Thanks again for sharing it with me and the world.

John

Thank you for your answers so far,I have a few more questions, on your answer "the Incas and timelines" you wrote that many colonization efforts ran into trouble.
Does this mean that Portugal and Spain's overseas empires are smaller than in our timeline? If they are, then shouldn't things be a bit more different in Europe?
For example, if Spain doesn't get shipments of gold and silver from their American territories then how will they get the armada and their armies in the Netherlands?
What will happen to English politics with a smaller Spanish empire to "nibble" at?

Hi Naomi,

A friend of mine recommended HMD and I immediately fell in love with the characters. I love the affection between Temeraire and Laurence. I've only read the first book, but my question is this:
How would you describe the relationsip between Laurence and Temeraire? Temeraire is apparently male and yet there was a point in the story where I wondered if he was really a male dragon at all. I thought 'Wouldn't it be funny if he was a she'. Laurence and Temeraire do seem to be the great loves in each other's lives. Laurence is a parent and yet he's not. Could Laurence get married without it interfering with his relationship with Temeraire? How would Temeraire react to Laurence even having a steady girlfriend? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Jennifer

Naomi,

Your books are dangerous to life and limb. I'm a U.S. soldier currently deployed to Afghanistan (hooray for satellite internet), and I brought HMD back with me from my r&r leave. I was so absorbed in it that I read straight through a Taliban rocket attack instead of scrambling for the bunker like I'm supposed to.

Oops.

Like a number of the other folks here, I liked HMD best. For me, at least, it's for reasons of simple escapism. It's just a lot of fun to enjoy Laurence and Temeraire getting to know and like each other. I also like the relative freedom they enjoy before they're formally assigned to Loch Laggan. It is simply enjoyable to read about a pair that can wake up in the morning and go flying together. Every so often I bust out the scene where they rescue a sailor that's gone overboard, specifically so I can enjoy Laurence's compliment and Temeraire's reaction to it.

As the series advances and there's more fighting, I can obviously find less opportunity for escapism in it. BPW especially, with the enormous running battle, could be a bummer for me. I still liked it, just not as much as the more carefree first book. But then isn't that how youth is for anything?

Well. I thought I'd say thanks for writing the books, and that I'm looking forward to their efforts at reformation. In the meantime, I'll spin daydreams about a Winchester of my own.

hi there! finally I'm able to post my feelings about the book. first though, i want to congratulate you for temeraire... he's my favorite dragon of all times. Ever since i was small i had this fascination with dragons and it would disgust me to see dragon stories in where dragons are the villains and ought to be killed but with temeraire, it wasnt. You showed dragons in a different light... one where they are portrayed to be intelligent, loyal, funny and of course very magical. When i'm reading the books (not just once i tell you but most of the time!) i feel transported in the world of temeraire and laurence. Thank you so much for giving me a chance to be swept away in the real world e3ven for an hour or two...

i really liked the three books but i guess i like to read his majesty's dragons and throne of jade more than the black powder war i guess because of the fact that in book three, there's no maximus and lily and of course other dragons like excidium and the rest of lily's formation like dulcia and nitidus... and you know what? when i was reading the early writings for the next series and found out that obversaria died and the rest were like sick and dying i felt BAD for a week. Now i just want to read the fourth book very badly to know what happened to the rest of the dragons that have endeared themselves to me... when would the fourth book be out in the books store?

can you please not make the other dragons die?... pretty please? and can you also put some love interest for the dragons? guess i'm asking too much but i'm a really big fan of temeraire and your writing i guess that i can't wait for your fourth book!
more power and thanks!

denneb

To deneb -
There's some strong forshadowing that the other dragonss aren't all going to die. Temeraire was saved by eating lots of vegetables in "Jade" (perhaps the vitamin C in fresh hot peppers?). So presumably the very first part of the dragon reformation will be for all of them to start eating in a more civilized fashion.

Still, I agree it is a fairly awful cliffhanger.

Just finished HMD and have plunged into the next one ... I was a bit distressed by the illustration at the end of HMD, the dragon silhouettes supposedly sketched by Howe, because the wings are wrong, and the number of toes. Temeraire is supposed to have six spines in his wings and five toes, the others' five and four. The illustrator got the wings backwards, and they all have the same number of toes. What went wrong here? Why didn't anybody catch this? It seems a disservice to this wonderful book and to the author. Am I making too big a deal out of it? Am I missing a clever joke?

Hello, I just got your books, His majestys Dragon and Throne of Jade from the libray and had a chance to open one today. 'was blown away by your classic writing style. you actually use colons and semicolons. How great is that! And your descriptions flow so well! Now, tell me, one pro to someday wanna be, how many revisions did you have and did you have to fight/argue with anyone over your more classic style instead of the more modern simplistic/direct "no long sentences" style.

And since I love McCaffey, and I enjoy your "style" I will be devouring these books asap.

Okay....when is book number four coming out??? These books have been the cause of many delightful hours reading and....staying up way too late....So, do tell....when do I get the next book???? Sorry to sound greedy but I havethoroughly enjoyed your series! :

I love fantasy books and just discovered His Majesty's Dragon today. I should have it finished in a couple days and will let you know what I think.

This is just to say thank you for hours of pleasure reading your books. As to my favorite, it had to be the one I was reading at the time. Very satisfactory reading. I enjoyed every minute of it, and am looking forward to the next installment.
thanks again.

Excellent, biting dialogue and vocabulary. Great thinking that goes into it, and an enormous breadth of situations tackled--shipboard, air, land battles, all the different cultures. Way to go Naomi. Been a sci-fi fiction reader since the late 60's. Glad that Terry Brooks gave a good review on the cover, made me feel safer, like I wouldn't encounter a bunch of gratuitous sex and drugs and rock'n roll. Although, rock'n roll is not always necessarily gratuitous.

Dear Naomi,

I've not enjoyed an author or a series so much since Lois McMaster Bjold and the Vorkosigan/Barrayar books. But, why am I surprised. I was devouring Black Powder War before I finally read the blurb about the author. Jane Austen, Patrick O'Brian - two of my very favorites. Thank you, thank you. Keep them coming and I will be a devoted reader. I love the character of Lien. She and her dead captain are tragic and noble. Not many authors do noble negative characters. Shakespeare did - you are in good company.

Karen Deutsch (63 years - ex chemist - equestrian from age 55 and only just now beginning to understand horses.

First let me say that I really enjoyed these books. (I haven't finished Black Powder War yet, but I'm working on it.). I found one really glaring flaw that leaped out at me though. This thing of T. almost capsising a 450 foot long ship is just totally unbelieveable. With a 20 foot draft and I'm guessing a 50 foot beam, such a ship would mass on the order of 10,000 to 12,000 tons. A mere 20 ton dragon would not have much effect on it. I know that this is fantasy and as such sometimes it's OK to disobey the laws of physics as we know them to spice up the story, but still...?. As for his sinking of the French frigate, all I've got to say is he's one Billy-bad-a** dragon, don't want him mad at me!!!!!!!!
JAC (;^)}

I really enjoy the books but something is making the back of my head itch in wonder...

In our world the Roman Empire fell because after the Romans stopped paying attention to the Legions the nations around them developed tactics and equipment that the Legions had no counter for and without leadership were unable to develop any. For example the Hun's horse archers.

What kinda tactics can you develop to take out a force of dragons? It's seems to be they would be to expensive for barbarian tribes like the Huns and Goths to maintain in the kind of numbers needed to contest the Romans.

So how on Earth did the Roman Empire fall?

What a can of worms you have opened. Dragons in all era,s of military history. There are no limits on this idea. Briliant

i loved all three books, but was wondering when is the fourth one coming out. i cant even find a refrence to the name

Dear Naomi,

For the past few years, I've been picking up new Fantasy novels. I recently graduated from UH (English & Music). After studying great literature, now I'm spoiled. (Sigh) I would read the the first quarter of a fantasy book and set it sadly down never to pick it up again. Dull characters, plodding plot, unbelievable actions. . . .(Sigh again.)

As a happy coincidence, I grabbed a copy of Throne of Jade at Walmart. What a neat idea of Dragons in the British Navy. As I'm a fan of Jane Austin, Charlotte Bronte (how many times did I read Jane Eyre?), Forester, Bujold, and Anne McCaffrey, I said to myself, I'll give this a go.

What a shocking thing to read that dragons were so large & compliant that they could be rigged out like a miniature frigate and ridden by a small crew!

Before I was through with Throne, I ran out and bought the other two in the series.

I LOVED His Majestry's Dragon. I disagree with the earlier fan on the matter of Levitas' death. The tention was building between Laurence and Rankin. That was a moving scene with the very proper Laurence disobeying the rules and calling out Rankin before Lenton. Wow! What justice.

Two minor crits. One, with so many different breeds of dragons, it became a little confusing. Two, after Chapter 10, I turned the next page, eagerly expecting more of Laurence and Roland's relationship, and was sorely thwarted in my romantic expectations!

Alas, such things happen.

Congratulations on such a creative, lovingly done, historically challenging, and just plain fun to read series!

My question is this. I'm writing a historical fantasy--a sequel after The Man In The Iron Mask. The main character is an agent in Louis XIV's court who's secretly an alchemist for His Most Christian Majesty. The following sequel will involve the alchemist's son's quest for the legendary magical treasure of the Black Pullet. He will travel with Bonapartes' "eye," the artist, Denon, up the Nile.

How do you organize your historical notes? I would like to know.

Again, thank you for such an inspiring series.

Cheryl DuCoin

Your books are wonderful, keep it up! However, i have noticed that no sequel for Black Powder War has been announced, and I am rather worried please provide us with some news of the next installment of Temeraire.

Thank you so much!

Kwilong: the fourth "Temeraire" book is currently scheduled to be published in June of 2007.

I hope no one thought the back-to-back scheduling of the first three books meant that Naomi was writing them that fast!

Just finished reading the THREE books and remain astonished that you could write them so quickly.

I hope that you continue developing temeraire's insights into 'honor'. Tharkay's character fascinatingly complex and could easily support Temeraire's revolutionary ideas. Tharkay could become more interesting than Lawrence. At least, let Tharkay have his own dragon.. a Lady dragon?

I hope to see other characters become the focus of succeeding book.. similar to McCaffrey's series.

I await the fourth book with eagerness!

Toni
P.S. I am writing a children's scifi book about a telepathic link between a girl and a dog. The dog is smarter, of course, lol.