This AlternateHistory series sets out to answer a vital question that has intrigued historians for millennia: What would the Napoleonic Wars have been like if the countries involved fought them with ''[[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]]''? The series centers on William Laurence, a Navy captain who takes possession of a French ship transporting a [[EggMcGuffin valuable dragon egg]] home. Unfortunately for Laurence, the egg is very close to hatching when he takes it on board, and an "unharnessed" dragon who doesn't choose a captain within a day of hatching becomes feral and thus useless for anything but breeding stock. He ends up harnessing the baby dragon and naming him Temeraire, after a famous French ship captured by the British; the books center on the pair's adventures together.

Five books currently make up the series:
* ''His Majesty's Dragon'' (2006) (Published as ''Temeraire'' in the UK)
* ''Throne of Jade'' (2006)
* ''Black Powder War'' (2006)
* ''Empire of Ivory'' (2007)
* ''Victory of Eagles'' (2008)

The series was remarkable in that, upon reading the manuscript for the first novel, the editor was so excited she asked the author, Naomi Novik, to finish the next two quickly for an unusual push: the first three novels were released back to back over the course of three months. Novik has said she has a definite endpoint for the series, but she does not know how many more books will be required; she currently estimates the series will total nine.

Peter Jackson has reportedly optioned the series for being made into movies.
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Provides examples of:
* ABoyAndHisX
* ActionGirl: See ActionMom and consider all the childless female aviators and [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]] there must be.
* ActionMom: Captains Roland and [[spoiler:Harcourt]]. Since [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]] almost always outlive their captains, said captains are expected to have children who will hopefully be amenable to the dragon after the original captain's death. Since one very valuable breed of dragon, the acid-spitting Longwing, will only accept female captains, {{Action Mom}}s are probably rather common. Also, technically speaking, any female [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]] that have laid eggs which have hatched.
* AlcoholIsPoison: Averted during [[spoiler: Harcourt's pregnancy.]]
* AlternateHistory: For obvious reasons.
* AmazonBrigade: See ShoutOut.
* BaigarIsTheAntidote: The [[spoiler:mushrooms]] in ''Empire Of Ivory''.
* BerserkButton: Don't hurt a captain unless you want a dragon's multi-tonne shit to flip out. And for that matter, don't hurt a dragon unless you want to turn the captain into TheDeterminator.
** Conversely, ''threats'' to a captain's well being (whether by a boarding party holding one at gunpoint or keeping one imprisoned on the ground) is considered the most certain means of controlling an otherwise hostile dragon... but even that can backfire.
* BigBad: Napoleon, of course, at least from the POV of the British. Whenever we actaully see him, he's characterized as an AffablyEvil AntiVillain.
* BilingualBonus: There's not much, but occasionally there are snippets of a non-English language transcribed.
* BlingOfWar: Iskierka is fond of displaying her treasure, and ''insists'' Granby dresses to match.
* BondCreatures
* BrattyHalfPint: Iskierka
* ButtMonkey: Admit it, half the humor is the petty indignities Laurence gets subjected to.
**There's a RunningGag through the first couple of books where Laurence is presented with an unusual social situation and immediately assumes something scandalous is happening. He mentally chastises himself for jumping to conclusions, only for the other characters to embarrass him by cheerfully confirming his first impressions.
**And then there's [[http://demonbunny.deviantart.com/art/Temeraire-Granby-Moments-92047108 poor Granby]].
* ChildSoldiers: The cadets, and almost certainly the midshipmen as well.
* ChildhoodMarriagePromise: Lawrence and a girl he knew made a half-serious marriage proposal when they were young, just before he went off to join the Navy. When he became an aviator in his mid-twenties, his prospects and suitability greatly reduced by it, they sadly called it off.
* ChristmasCake: Subverted; see EternalSexualFreedom and MarriedToTheJob
* DidNotDoTheResearch: Averted. As an example, Naomi Novik travelled to Botswana and spoke to a number of Tswana people, as well as poring over history books.
** Some have accused her of getting the fine points of the sailing thing wrong.
* TheDitz: Volatilus is a sweetie, but brains are not his strong point.
* TheDragon: Lien, appropriately enough.
* DragonRider: Hurf durf derp derp what a surpriiiiiise.
* EggMcGuffin: "There's something queer in the hold, sir."
* EternalSexualFreedom: Used rarely and always justified. [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Dragons]] are too important for anything short of treason to be levied at their captains, so aviators live in "a sort of outrageous libertinage" (as the rest of the world sees it), not constantly having bisexual orgies by any means but quite happy to receive occasional casual sex. Even an illegitimate child by a female aviator has a chance of being a good thing.
* EvilAlbino: [[spoiler:Lien]].
* FantasticRacism: Used in a somewhat {{Anvilicious}} manner, because the series ''also'' enumerates the many forms of discrimination still in place in 19th-century Britain, but because this has to be brought home to the creatures-of-their-time characters, not the reader, it's also SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped.
* TheFettered: Laurence.
* FishOutOfWater: Captain Laurence in the beginning of ''His Majesty's Dragon'' is rather dismayed at the level of informality common amongst aviators, coming as he does from a naval background. He eventually adjusts, but remains markedly more formal than most captains of [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]]--and his crew, when things are normal, tries to emulate him out of respect. And that's ''before'' this group of English folk go to [[spoiler:China]]...
* GeniusBruiser: Temeraire is a 20-ton dragon. He's also, apparently, one of the smartest people in Britain. Now consider that many of his fellow [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]] can follow along with him as he discusses advanced mathematical problems...and that includes Maximus, who's about the second-largest dragon in the series.
* GoodBadGirl: The female aviators, rather like the male ones, tend to have more of this than might be expected. See also EternalSexualFreedom.
* GroinAttack: Harcourt mentions in passing that she once ''poured coffee'' into the lap of a man who wouldn't stop bothering her.
* HaveAGayOldTime: The casual, if period accurate, use of "my dear" among male friends.
* {{Historical Domain Character}}s: Horatio Nelson, William Wilberforce, [[spoiler:Arthur Wellesley, William Bligh,]], and [[NapoleonBonaparte some obscure Corsican fellow]]; among many others.
** This troper's personal favorite so far is none other than [[DinosaursAreDragons Georges Cuvier]].
* HistoricalFantasy
* HotShounenMom: Arguably, Jane Roland.
* HoYay: Even with Laurence having a woman for a lover--or, more accurately, a woman having Laurence for a lover (especially as the series progresses and she [[spoiler:becomes admiral]])--it's mostly dudes aboard Temeraire. This results in some behavior that keen-eyed {{Yaoi Fangirl}}s haven't left unnoticed, popular pairings being Laurence and Granby, his first officer [[spoiler:and later Iskierka's captain,]] and Laurence and the guide Tharkay. Given that Novik was a very popular slash fanfic writer before she went pro, this is almost certainly deliberate. And this is to say nothing of how "mannish" Laurence's canon lover behaves--smoking, drinking, playing cards, fighting, commanding, walking "like a man", showing no shyness with regards to sexuality...
** The [[HoYay homoeroticism]] between Laurence and Temeraire. Case in point: Laurence calls Temeraire "my dear" and cuddles him a ''lot'', as well as mentioning how he can't see how any dragon captain could marry and divide their affections between dragon and spouse. Also [[spoiler:Temeraire going through puberty and Laurence [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean touching the wrong part]] of Temeraire]].
*** In fact "my dear" is perfectly acceptable address between close male friends of the ''same'' species during the Regency without homosexual implications. Compare Aubrey and Maturin.
**** Yes, it's true, Temeraire could not possibly have any connection to Aubrey/Maturin slash...
** Well, the Laurence/Temeraire undertone is more like InterspeciesRomance than HoYay. If it weren't for Temeraire being a dragon, there would be absolutely no question that the series was a romance story between the two...
*** On that note, during of ''Throne of Jade'', Temeraire hears a myth in which a human turns into a dragon and wistfully considers the idea of either turning himself human or Laurence draconic.
*** I would move that it is, in fact, used as a term of endearment, as a father to a son, which in context makes perfect sense.
* InSpiteOfANail: Having [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]] for the entirety of recorded history hasn't actually changed that much. [[spoiler:At least in Eurasia; in Africa and the Americas, the differences from actual history seem considerably larger -- for example, the Incas were a strong civilization as of the 1800s, having forced Pizzaro out.]]
* InterserviceRivalry: As an extension of society in general, the other branches of the British military aren't terribly supportive of the aerial corps. Understandably, the Corps responds by bristling back. The Navy and the Corps in particular seem to share a fair bit of enmity, which makes things rather awkward for Laurence at first.
* ItsRainingMen: At the climax of the first book, Napoleon attempts to bypass the British blockade by constructing dragon-carried troop transports while decoying much of the Aerial Corps to Spain. It would have succeeded were it not for Temeraire's [[MakeMeWannaShout breath weapon]] kicking in.
** In the third book, Napoleon [[spoiler: and[=/=]or the banished Celestial Lien, who apparently has a spot on his General Staff]] adapt a form of Chinese mass transit (dragon harnesses with lots of straps for carrying large numbers of passagers) to gain vast mobility advantages during his invasion of Prussia.
* LadyOfWar: Plus EternalSexualFreedom plus GoodBadGirl plus ActionMom equals Roland. Her awesome cannot otherwise be summed up.
** Admittedly, by [[RegencyEngland Georgian/Regency]] standards Roland is not the [[TheLadette least bit Ladylike]].
* LawfulStupid / StupidGood: Laurence's actions at the end of ''Empire Of Ivory''. This is made quite clear when [[spoiler:Admiral Roland tells him in ''Victory Of Eagles'' a simple thing he could have done other than being a stiff-necked idiot, which would have had the desired effect of saving the Continental [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]] without getting himself branded as a traitor]].
* TheLibby: Miss Montagu is a sort of proto-Libby. She ignores Laurence, ''almost'' to the point of rudeness, in his parents' own house, entirely because he was an aviator, and later also makes a point of telling him his ex-sorta-fiancee had gotten married while he was fighting for England.
* LivingShip: Ships-of-the-line rather than spaceships in this case, but the principle is the same. One of the [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming earliest touching moments]] is when Laurence compares Temeraire's vocalized fondness for him to what he imagines it would feel like if his old ship had said she liked him for her captain.
* MakeMeWannaShout: The Celestials' "divine wind".
* MamaBear: Averted. Certainly those cadets' mothers who are also aviators care for them, and will protect them from ''unfairness'', but they tend to be a bit more practical, seeing as how their children are going to go in hard service, and think it's best if said children take knocks so long as said knocks are earned.
* [[TheLadette The Manette]]: Take TheLadette and mature her -- not just physically but mentally and emotionally -- and you have, in many ways, Captain Roland.
* MarriedToTheJob: Most aviator captains. It's explicitly pointed out that it's hard to fight with a dragon for your spouse's affections.
* MilitaryMaverick: Temeraire. And how. See ''Victory of Eagles''.
* NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine: This being the Napoleonic wars, found often, but especially prevalent towards of the end of ''Empire Of Ivory''.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Used by several characters in ''Throne of Jade''.
* OfficerAndAGentleman: Laurence, most notably, but implied to be expected of Navy officers. Not so much aviators, though out of respect for him his crew starts imitating his more formal habits.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Dragons are divided into many breeds, a few of which have special abilities, including fire-breathing, a sonic attack, the ability to vomit copious amounts of water, and spitting venom so potent it's effectively acid and can affect nonliving and inorganic materials. Most breeds are without these abilities, and fire-breathing breeds in particular are highly prized for obvious reasons. In the West, all dragons are property/soldiers in their country's military and form an Aerial Corps, though in France under Napoleon's leadership they are treated somewhat better than Britain or Austria. They function rather like airborne ships, as each dragon has its own crew, including riflemen and bombers. The latter make even those breeds without any special capabilities a force to be reckoned with in war. Each dragon also has a captain with whom he or she shares a special bond. And that's not even getting into the complex air-bladder-related biological [[AppliedPhlebotinum handwave]] inserted as an extra at the end of the [[AllThereInTheManual first book]] to explain how they fly in the first place.
* PepperSneeze: Used as a weapon against dragons.
* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: The odds and sods in the Breeding Grounds Temeraire gets exiled to are not exactly prime military sorts by any real measure. The only two that may have ever been was a Parnassian that 'mislaid' his captain and a Longwing that remembers Queen Elizabeth's time.
* ShoutOut: In ''Throne of Jade'', it is explained that the Chinese aerial corps is composed entirely of women. This has its basis in a legend of one girl who sneaked away from home, partnered with a dragon, and won a great battle that saved China, and as a result the Emperor issued an edict announcing that girls were allowed to serve in the corps. The references to the legend of Hua Mulan are obvious.
**As are, no doubt, the references to the [[ActionGirl Amazons]] of ancient Greek legend, who - of course - were supposed to live in China.
* StalkerWithACrush: Iskierka towards Temeraire... much to his annoyance.
* StalkerWithATestTube: Iskierka wants Temeraire for his genes.
* {{Tomboy}}[=/=]PluckyMiddie: Emily Roland. She takes after her mom.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Volly and cows.
* TraumaCongaLine: Laurence in ''Victory Of Eagles''. When [[spoiler:getting exiled to Australia]] is arguably the best thing to happen to you in the story, things have not gone well.
* TheUnFavorite: Laurence's father does ''not'' approve of his son's new career choice, even though Laurence doesn't exactly have a choice in the matter (not that he approved much more of Laurence as a Navy captain). Unusually, Laurence spends almost no time angsting about this; he's more prone to sigh and try to find a way to avoid his father's ire where possible. [[spoiler:What his father thinks of Laurence's becoming an adopted son of the Emperor of China as a measure of keeping Temeraire in British hands...]]
** Lord Allandale does mellow a little by book four, [[spoiler: but then we get the whole Treason thing....]]
* TheUnFettered: Tharkay.
* UnusualEuphemism: Since it takes place in the Napoleonic era from the perspective of a British officer and gentleman (see above), whenever something impolite occurs we are generally treated to Laurence's appalled, embarrassed, or indignant reaction (justified or not). This results in such well-hidden gems as [[spoiler:a masturbation joke involving a dragon]].
* WhamEpisode: The end of ''Empire Of Ivory'' probably counts.
* WhatIf: Effectively, "What if the Napoleonic wars were fought [[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: [[Recycled In Space with dragons ]]
]]!".
** Also, what if Nelson survived the Battle of Trafalgar? Not that major but still cool to see the guy, for this troper anyway.
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: In most of Europe, dragons are considered (by non-riders) talking beasts of burden. In many other lands--including, eventually, France--they're considered the same as (if not better than) humans. Possibly an extended TakeThat towards the time period's European attitudes towards anything that wasn't strictly European.
* WhatTheHellHero: Roland's short, but sharp verbal smackdown of Laurence in ''Victory of Eagles'' regarding his actions at the end of ''Empire of Ivory''.
** [[spoiler: Note that she was not upset over his treason (although the note he left was a bit of an embarassment) so much as his quite literally suicidal lack of subtlety and discretion.]]
** A much more serious one is delivered by ''Tharkay'' of all people with regard to some of Laurence's actions during ''Victory of Eagles''--[[spoiler: attacking French raiding parties and patrols and ''not taking any prisoners'']]
* TheWoobie: Levitas; arguably Laurence himself in ''Victory of Eagles''
* WoodenShipsAndIronMen: Or rather, "Scaled Dragons and Iron Men".
* XMeetsY: HoratioHornblower meets ''[[DragonRidersOfPern Pern]]'', among others.
** Heck, one blurb on the back of the cover read: "It's like JaneAusten playing DungeonsAndDragons with [[InheritanceCycle Eragon]]'s Christopher Paolini."
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