I might have a new favorite here! His Majesty’s Dragon is a delightful concoction of 19th century formality and civility, the Napoleonic wars, and dragons. The relationship between Lawrence and Temeraire is so heart-warming and adorable. This book has so many things I love, strong friendship and camaraderie, training/school setting, older writing style, and is a historical fantasy. I am head over heels in love with Temeraire (he is tied with Syl right now for most precious non-human character for me) and I appreciate Lawrence so much as an older protagonist and as an officer with such a strong sense of duty and courtesy.

I’ve read some of Naomi Novik’s later books and loved them, but I was a little hesitant about this because it seemed like a younger series and like it would have a much different style from her retellings, but 15 minutes into the audiobook I was totally hooked. There’s a couple scenes that might not quite be appropriate for younger readers (but are certainly not graphic or explicit), but otherwise I think this would be as charming for younger readers as for older readers.