The Temeraire Series Books 1-3: Temeraire, Throne of Jade, Black Powder War
A collection of the first three novels in Naomi Novik’s stunning Temeraire series, following the global adventures of Captain William Laurence and his fighting dragon Temeraire as they are thrown together to fight for Britain during the Napoleonic Wars.
TEMERAIRE:
After a skirmish with a French ship, Captain William Laurence finds himself in charge of a rare cargo: a dragon egg bound for the Emperor Napoleon himself. Dragons are much prized: properly trained, they can mount a fearsome attack from the skies. Laurence must take the beast in hand and join the aviators' cause, thus relinquishing all hope of a normal life.
THRONE OF JADE:
The dragon, Temeraire, was meant to be the companion of the Emperor Napoleon and not captained by a mere officer in the British Air Corps. The Chinese have demanded his return and the British government cannot afford to provoke the Asian superpower into allying with the French – even if it costs them the most powerful weapon in their arsenal, and forces Laurence and Temeraire apart forever.
BLACK POWDER WAR:
British flyer Will Laurence and his extraordinary dragon, Temeraire, gratefully anticipate their voyage home from China. But before they set sail, they are waylaid by urgent new orders: the British Government, having purchased three valuable dragon eggs from the Ottoman Empire, now require Laurence and Temeraire to make a more perilous overland journey instead, stopping off in Istanbul to collect and escort the precious cargo back to England.
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NAOMI NOVIK
THE TEMERAIRE SERIES 1-3:
Temeraire, Throne of Jade, Black Powder War
HarperVoyager An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
Temeraire First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2006 Copyright © Temeraire LLC 2006 Cover Layout Design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2014
Throne of Jade First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2006 Copyright © Temeraire LLC 2006 Cover Layout Design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2014
Black Powder War First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2007 Copyright © Temeraire LLC 2006 Cover Layout Design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2014
Naomi Novik asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Source ISBNs:
Temeraire: 9780007318551 Throne of Jade: 9780007318575 Black Powder War: 9780007318568
Bundle Edition (Containing Temeraire, Throne of Jade, and Black Powder War) © March 2015 ISBN: 9780008118358
Version: 2015-01-27
Contents
NAOMI NOVIK
Temeraire
Contents
The deck of the French ship was slippery with blood, heaving in the choppy sea; a stroke might as easily bring down the man making it as the intended target. Laurence did not have time in the heat of the battle to be surprised at the degree of resistance, but even through the numbing haze of battle fever and the confusion of swords and pistol-smoke, he marked the extreme look of anguish on the French captain’s face as the man shouted encouragement to his men.
It was still there shortly thereafter, when they met on the deck, and the man surrendered his sword, very reluctantly: at the last moment his hand half-closed about the blade, as if he meant to draw it back. Laurence looked up to make certain the colours had been struck, then accepted the sword with a mute bow; he did not speak French himself, and a more formal exchange would have to wait for the presence of his third lieutenant, that young man being presently engaged belowdecks in securing the French guns. With the cessation of hostilities, the remaining Frenchmen were all virtually dropping where they stood; Laurence noticed that there were fewer of them than he would have expected for a frigate of thirty-six guns, and that they looked ill and hollow-cheeked.
Many of them lay dead or dying upon the deck; he shook his head at the waste and eyed the French captain with disapproval: the man should never have offered battle. Aside from the plain fact that the Reliant would have had the Amitié slightly outgunned and outmanned under the best of circumstances, the crew had obviously been reduced by disease or hunger. To boot, the sails above them were in a sad tangle, and that no result of the battle, but of the storm which had passed but this morning; they had barely managed to bring off a single broadside before the Reliant had closed and boarded. The captain was obviously deeply overset by the defeat, but he was not a young man to be carried away by his spirits: he ought to have done better by his men than to bring them into so hopeless an action.
‘Mr. Riley,’ Laurence said, catching his second lieutenant’s attention, ‘have our men carry the wounded below.’ He hooked the captain’s sword on his belt; he did not think the man deserved the compliment of having it returned to him, though ordinarily he would have done so. ‘And pass the word for Mr. Wells.’
‘Very good, sir,’ Riley said, turning to issue the necessary orders. Laurence stepped to the railing to look down and see what damage the hull had taken. She looked reasonably intact, and he had ordered his own men to avoid shots below the waterline; he thought with satisfaction that there would be no difficulty in bringing her in to port.
