Temeraire

As Napoleon's Grande Armée tears Europe apart, his vast armada threatens Britain. But the battles are not fought on land and sea alone, for both sides have an air force. And the fiery death they rain down upon their enemies has little to do with gunpowder - it comes from the very guts of the beasts they are flying: dragons.

Weeks out of port at Madeira, a British vessel - the [i]Reliant[/i], commanded by Captain William Laurence - captures a French frigate. Within its hold lies a greater prize than the ship herself: a dragon egg. And it is close to hatching.

Young dragons must be put to the harness immediately or they go feral, and once harnessed, the beast will accept no other master. When the newborn ignores his chosen rider and approaches Laurence instead, his life is changed forever.

But even more astonishing than the young dragonet - named Temeraire by Laurence - is the revelation that the egg was meant for the Emperor Napoleon himself...