Temeraire delivers on a sick premise better than it has any right to.

Novik's prose is the standout. She writes in a period voice that feels authentic without becoming a slog. This choice had the individual who recommended this book to me dropping a warning that the book wasn't "everyone's cup of tea", but I'd frankly encourage anyone to give it a shot. It's such a unique style that I couldn't imagine seeing as anything other than charming.

The characters stay true to themselves in a way that makes their choices feel inevitable: the main character's rigid formality keeps colliding with his new organization's loose culture, and watching him bend and squirm is half the fun. I hope this dynamic survives through the rest of the series.

My one real complaint is pacing. A specific section lingers well past the point where it's teaching me anything new. The aerial combat also takes adjustment. Battles happen in three dimensions with many participants, and it took me a few reads to build an adequate mental picture, but once I did the action was a treat! Perhaps this is a shortcoming of my imagination, and not one of the text. Who knows?

The ending leaves loads of threads deliberately loose. Some of those ideas have so much potential for engaging stories in my opinion, and I hope the rest of the series picks them up the way I expect and does them justice!

For an extra challenge, take a shot whenever you read the word "strap".

Highly recommended, all in all.

Enjoy. :)