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İkna seviyorum! "Gurur ve Önyargı" konusunda büyük beğeni toplasanız da, iknaun yakın bir yarışmacı olduğunu düşünüyorum. Başlamak için biraz yavaş ama kesinlikle iyi bir okuma.
Historical or fantasy … can't choose? Why not have both!!! What would you get if you crossed Sharpe with the Hobbit? Well, pretty much this novel. Temeraire is a wonderful debut from Naomi Novik. Naval captain Will Laurence, when boarding a French ship that his men have taken, finds a dragon egg being transported. Dragons when hatched become bound to their new owners when the harness is put on them and from that point dragon and owner become virtually inseparable. When the egg is finally opened the newborn dragon immediately takes to Will. This signifies the end of Will’s naval career and the beginning of a new one as an aviator. The Aerial Corps (dragons and riders) are not treated well in the society of the day. Novik knows her history; this novel breathes authenticity. Set in the times of the Napoleonic wars, Temeraire is an alternate history where dragons are used in addition to the ships in battle. Despite this being a world where dragons roam the skies events do not differ greatly from our own reality. Trafalgar still happens and Napoleon still rules much of Europe. I was really impressed with the subtle way in which Novik blended the concept, so that it soon became very easy to accept that not only did dragons exist, but they featured as main combatants in the Napoleonic Wars. Novik works hard to build a developed canon of dragon lore, revealing their place in history and how they and those who fly them fit into both military and civilian society without disturbing the plot with huge chunks of background information. The dragons are depicted in realistic detail; Novik invents different breeds with different characteristics, temperaments and abilities. Although this book may appear to be about a partially-altered history, it's actually far more of a story about a man and his dragon learning about each other. This is not just about battles and fighting, it's a book about character and growth. Will Laurence is an engaging character and his partnership with Temeraire is well drawn. I enjoyed the book very much, particularly in Will's change of circumstance from sea captain to dragon handler, and in his dealings with Temeraire and the other dragons and their handlers. There's a modicum of romance, and although the focus is on the dragons and action, there's enough of a sense of a wider world. I'm definitely going to follow the later instalments with interest. This is alternative universe fiction at its best; Novik takes an unusual combination and makes it work surprisingly well. An absolute gem of a novel, Temeraire, the first of six tales, is a compulsive read, full of action, adventure, dragons and great readable fantasy. It is rousing and exciting and there are genuine outrageous emotional moments. This book is highly recommended if you can stand reading a book in one sitting, because you won't want to stop. I believe Temeraire is to be made into a blockbuster movie, produced by Peter Jackson. Check it out now - before everyone finds out about it.