Temeraire Series Reading Order: All 9 Naomi Novik Books

The Temeraire series asks one of the best questions in alternate history: what would the Napoleonic Wars look like if every great power fought with an air force of dragons? Naomi Novik answers it across nine novels, published between 2006 and 2016, and the series is now complete. It is a war story, a sea story and a friendship story at once, set against real campaigns, real politics and real historical figures.

The books follow Captain William Laurence of the Royal Navy and Temeraire, the dragon who hatches from an egg Laurence’s ship captures from the French. What begins with the threat of a French invasion of Britain grows into a journey across China, the Ottoman Empire, Africa, Australia, South America, Japan and Russia. Every new country shows a different way of living with dragons, and every comparison reflects uncomfortably on Britain.

This guide gives the full reading order, a spoiler-free summary of every book, the companion short fiction, where to start, and the series to read next.

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Quick Series Facts

Detail	Information
Author	Naomi Novik
Number of books	9 novels (complete)
First book	His Majesty’s Dragon (2006), published in the UK as Temeraire
Last book	League of Dragons (2016)
Setting	An alternate Napoleonic Wars, from Britain to China, Africa, Australia, South America, Japan and Russia
Genre	Alternate history, historical fantasy, military adventure
Main characters	Captain William Laurence and the dragon Temeraire
Reading order	Publication order, which is also the chronological order

Temeraire Books in Publication Order

Publication order is the right way to read Temeraire. The nine books tell one continuous story, and each opens where the last one leaves Laurence and Temeraire. Starting in the middle will spoil the earlier books and leave out the context the later ones depend on.

The Opening Trilogy (2006)

The first three novels were published within a few months of each other in 2006. Together they form a single arc that takes Laurence and Temeraire from the English Channel to the court of the Chinese emperor and back across Asia to a Europe at war.

1. His Majesty’s Dragon (2006)

Published in the UK as: Temeraire

Setting: Britain and the English Channel, as Napoleon prepares to invade

When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate, its most precious cargo turns out to be an unhatched dragon egg. The dragon that hatches chooses Captain Will Laurence, and the naval officer is pulled out of his seafaring career into the Aerial Corps, the branch of the service that flies dragons into battle.

Laurence names the dragon Temeraire and must learn airborne warfare from the beginning, in a world with very different rules from the Navy he knew. Meanwhile, France’s own dragon forces are gathering for Bonaparte’s boldest gamble: an attack across the Channel. The novel won the Compton Crook Award for best first novel and was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Novel.

2. Throne of Jade (2006)

Setting: A long sea voyage from Britain to China, and the Chinese imperial court

China discovers that the rare dragon it sent as a gift to Napoleon has fallen into British hands, and an angry Chinese delegation arrives to take Temeraire back. Laurence has no choice but to make the voyage to China with him.

The journey is long and dangerous, full of intrigue on board and peril at sea. At the court of the Chinese emperor, Laurence finds a country where dragons live very differently from those in Britain, and the discoveries waiting there change how both of them see the war.

3. Black Powder War (2006)

Setting: Overland from China along the Silk Road to Istanbul, then the borders of Prussia and Poland

On their way home from China, Laurence and Temeraire receive urgent new orders. Britain has bought three dragon eggs from the Ottoman Empire, and the pair must detour to Istanbul to carry them back to England before they hatch.

Danger follows them every step of the way, stirred up by Lien, a Chinese dragon who blames Temeraire for a death and has sworn to join Napoleon. With the French army sweeping across Central Europe, Laurence and his crew are drawn into the war on land, against Bonaparte’s massed forces.

The Middle Books (2007 to 2010)

Books four to six take the series in its boldest direction. The war widens, and the question of how Britain treats its dragons moves from the background to the center of the story.

4. Empire of Ivory (2007)

Setting: Britain and the coast of Africa

A mysterious disease is spreading through Britain’s dragons, and there is no known cure. The sick are sent into quarantine, and Temeraire and a group of newly recruited dragons are left as almost the only airborne defense against ever bolder French raids.

Laurence and Temeraire fly to Africa, where the cure may be found. The journey brings them face to face with the slave trade and with African powers that live with dragons on their own terms. This is the book where the series’ questions about empire and freedom come fully into view.

5. Victory of Eagles (2008)

Setting: England under invasion

Napoleon’s armies have crossed the Channel and landed on English soil, with London as their target. At the worst possible moment, Laurence and Temeraire are out of favor with their own government and have been kept apart.

Separated and surrounded by the fighting, the two must find their way back to each other in a country at war. If they can, they may be able to rally Britain’s scattered resistance and take the fight to the invaders, for their country and for their own freedom.

6. Tongues of Serpents (2010)

Setting: The penal colony of New South Wales and the Blue Mountains, Australia

After the events in England, Laurence and Temeraire are sent to the convict colony of New South Wales. They arrive to find the colony in turmoil after the overthrow of its governor, William Bligh, the same Captain Bligh of HMS Bounty, who wants their help to win back his office.

To escape the colony’s politics, they accept a mission to find a route through the Blue Mountains into the interior. Then a dragon egg is stolen, and the expedition becomes a desperate search that leads to a discovery with consequences for the whole war.

The Final Books (2012 to 2016)

The last three novels carry the war across the Pacific and the Atlantic and back to Europe for the final campaigns against Napoleon.

7. Crucible of Gold (2012)

Setting: South America, including Brazil and the Inca Empire

The French have invaded Spain, made an alliance with the powerful Tswana empire of Africa, and brought revolution to Brazil. Laurence and Temeraire are sent to South America to negotiate with the Incas, whom the French are also courting.

If the mission fails, Napoleon could win another continent to his side, and the war could turn beyond stopping. The book brings some of the series’ most inventive world-building, with an Inca Empire shaped by its dragons.

8. Blood of Tyrants (2013)

Setting: Japan, then onward as the war turns east

Laurence is washed up on the shore of Japan with no memory of the last years of his life. He remembers being captain of the Reliant, cannot explain why he speaks Chinese, and has no memory at all of Temeraire.

When the two are finally reunited, Temeraire is deeply distressed to find himself a stranger to his captain. Even so, the war against Napoleon pulls them back to the front just when the allied cause looks most hopeless.

9. League of Dragons (2016)

Setting: Russia and Western Europe, in the last campaigns against Napoleon

The campaign in Russia has cost Napoleon and his enemies dearly. Napoleon has been denied his victory, but Laurence and Temeraire are disheartened when he makes it back to Paris unharmed as they pursue the French army west.

Worse news follows: the French have stolen the egg of Temeraire and the dragon Iskierka. The final book has two goals, to rescue Temeraire’s offspring and to stop Napoleon for good.

Upcoming or Announced Books

There are no new Temeraire novels. League of Dragons ended the series in 2016, and Novik has since moved on to other worlds: the Scholomance trilogy, the novella The Summer War, and a new epic fantasy world first glimpsed in her collection Buried Deep and Other Stories.

Readers who want more time with Laurence and Temeraire can turn to the short fiction listed below. Golden Age and Other Stories came out in 2017, the year after the last novel.

Chronological Order vs Publication Order

There is no difference. The nine novels follow the course of the Napoleonic Wars in order, from the invasion fears of the early 1800s to Napoleon’s Russian campaign and its aftermath, and each book picks up where the previous one stops.

Our recommendation: read the novels in publication order, starting with His Majesty’s Dragon. Read the short stories after the main series, or after the book each story sits closest to, since some of them assume you know where the characters end up.

Companion Novels and Short Stories

The Temeraire world goes beyond the nine novels. None of the companion pieces is required reading, but they reward readers who finish the series and want more.

In His Majesty’s Service: Three Novels of Temeraire (2009)

This Del Rey omnibus collects His Majesty’s Dragon, Throne of Jade and Black Powder War in one volume. It also includes an original short story, “In Autumn, a White Dragon Looks Over the Wide River,” which centers on the Chinese dragon Lien. It is the best way to buy the opening trilogy in one go, and the only place to find that story.

An earlier omnibus of the same three books, Temeraire: In the Service of the King (2006), was a Science Fiction Book Club edition. It won the Locus Award for Best First Novel in 2007. It is long out of print, so look for it in secondhand bookshops if you want a copy.

Golden Age and Other Stories (2017)

Published by Subterranean Press, this collection of new Temeraire stories pairs each tale with the piece of fan art that inspired it. Familiar characters appear alongside historical figures such as the explorer Matteo Ricci. One story shows an early glimpse of the American dragon John Wampanoag at Boston Harbor, and “Dragons and Decorum” gives the series its own version of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy.

Buried Deep and Other Stories

Novik’s wider story collection gathers thirteen stories from across her worlds. Temeraire readers will want it for the story of the first Dragon Corps in ancient Rome, after Mark Antony hatches a dragon’s egg, and for the Pride and Prejudice tale in which Elizabeth Bennet captains a Longwing dragon.

About the Temeraire Series

Series Overview

Readers often call Temeraire Patrick O’Brian with dragons, and the comparison is a good starting point. The publisher’s own pitch for the first omnibus puts the series between the history of the Napoleonic era, Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern and O’Brian’s seafaring novels. The prose has the formal, period flavor of a Regency novel, and the naval and military detail is close enough to the real thing that readers of O’Brian and Forester feel at home.

What makes it more than a clever premise is the dragons themselves. Novik’s dragons talk, read, argue and have opinions about how they are treated. As the series travels the world, Laurence and Temeraire meet societies that give dragons very different places, and the books keep asking what Britain owes the creatures that fight its wars.

What Makes the Temeraire Series Special

A real historical spine. The war follows the shape of the real Napoleonic Wars, and real people such as Napoleon Bonaparte and William Bligh appear in the story.
A friendship at the center. The bond between a correct, honorable naval officer and a curious, outspoken dragon carries all nine books.
A world tour of alternate history. China, Africa, Australia, South America and Japan each show a different way of living with dragons.
Questions with weight. Slavery, empire and the rights of thinking beings run through the series without turning it into a lecture.
A finished story. The series reached its planned end in 2016, so new readers can go from the first page to the last.

Where to Start with the Temeraire Series

New to the Series?

Start with His Majesty’s Dragon (UK title: Temeraire). It introduces Laurence, Temeraire and the Aerial Corps, and it works well on its own if you want to try the series before committing to nine books. If you already know you want the opening trilogy, In His Majesty’s Service collects the first three novels and adds a short story.

Can You Start Elsewhere?

Not easily. Each novel opens with the consequences of the one before, so starting at book four or later means walking into situations the earlier books set up. The one sensible alternative is for readers who only want a taste of the world: a story from Golden Age and Other Stories gives a feel for the setting, but it is no substitute for the first novel.

About the Author

Naomi Novik is an American writer who grew up on Long Island. She studied English literature at Brown University and holds a master’s degree in computer science from Columbia University. Temeraire was her debut: His Majesty’s Dragon won the Compton Crook Award and was a Hugo finalist, and in 2007 she won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. In 2017 the whole Temeraire series was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Series.

After Temeraire, Novik turned to fairy tales and fantasy. Uprooted (2015) won the Nebula and Locus Awards, and Spinning Silver (2018) won the Locus Award. Her Scholomance trilogy, A Deadly Education, The Last Graduate and The Golden Enclaves, followed between 2020 and 2022, and the novella The Summer War came out in 2025.

Novik also helped to found the Organization for Transformative Works, the nonprofit behind the fan fiction archive Archive of Our Own. Her official website is naominovik.com. For all her books in one place, see our Naomi Novik author guide.

Historical Context: The Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars (1803 to 1815) set France under Napoleon Bonaparte against shifting coalitions of European powers, with Britain as his most persistent enemy. Britain relied on the Royal Navy and on money for its allies, while Napoleon’s armies dominated much of the continent. The fighting reached far beyond Europe, to the Americas, Africa, India and every ocean, which is why the Temeraire books can travel so widely and still stay inside the war.

Novik keeps the broad course of the real conflict: the invasion scare of the early 1800s, the campaigns in Central Europe, the war in Spain and Portugal, and the disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812. Real figures such as Napoleon and William Bligh have their places in the story. The changes come from the dragons, and Novik follows them through carefully, from how a dragon transport works to what an air force does to a naval blockade.

Readers should treat the series as alternate history, not as a history lesson. The large shape of the war is real, but battles, alliances and whole countries turn out differently once dragons are part of the picture. For historical fiction about the real conflict, see our guide to Napoleonic Wars historical fiction, and for the difference between the two genres, read historical fiction vs alternate history.

Similar Series You’ll Love

1. Aubrey-Maturin by Patrick O’Brian

The closest relative to Temeraire. O’Brian’s twenty-one novels follow Captain Jack Aubrey and the surgeon Stephen Maturin through the naval war against Napoleon, with the same period voice, the same detail of shipboard life and the same friendship at the heart of it. Start with Master and Commander, and see our Aubrey-Maturin reading order and Patrick O’Brian author guide.

2. Hornblower by C.S. Forester

Horatio Hornblower’s career in the Royal Navy runs through the same wars, from midshipman to admiral. The books are shorter and faster than O’Brian’s, which makes them an easy next step after Temeraire’s sea voyages. Start with Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, and see our Hornblower reading order.

3. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Clarke’s 2004 novel imagines magic returning to England during the Napoleonic Wars through two very different magicians. Like Temeraire, it is written in a pastiche of nineteenth-century style and asks what a fantastic new power would do to a real war. It won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2005.

4. The Masquerade Series by Seth Dickinson

For readers drawn to the way Temeraire looks at empire, The Traitor Baru Cormorant (2015, published in the UK as The Traitor) follows a brilliant young woman educated by the empire that conquered her island, who sets out to gain power and bring it down from within. It is set in an invented world rather than a historical one, but it shares Temeraire’s interest in what empires do to the people they rule.

5. Southern Victory by Harry Turtledove

For readers who came to Temeraire for the alternate history, Turtledove’s saga follows a world in which the Confederacy wins the American Civil War, all the way into a twentieth century shaped by that split. See our Southern Victory reading order and Harry Turtledove author guide.

For more ideas, browse our best alternate history series and best naval historical fiction.

Adaptations

There is no film or television adaptation of Temeraire. Peter Jackson optioned the series in 2006, when he described it as a meld of two genres he loved, fantasy and historical epic. In 2009 he said he had thought about a television mini-series instead, but nothing was made, and the rights have since reverted to Novik.

The series is available in audiobook. The first six novels were narrated by Simon Vance.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many books are in the Temeraire series?

There are nine Temeraire novels, from His Majesty’s Dragon (2006) to League of Dragons (2016). The series is complete. There are also omnibus editions of the first three books and a collection of Temeraire short stories, Golden Age and Other Stories (2017).

What order should I read the Temeraire books in?

Read them in publication order: His Majesty’s Dragon, Throne of Jade, Black Powder War, Empire of Ivory, Victory of Eagles, Tongues of Serpents, Crucible of Gold, Blood of Tyrants and League of Dragons. The publication order and the chronological order are the same.

Do I need to read the Temeraire series in order?

Yes. The nine novels tell one continuous story, and each book opens with the consequences of the one before. Reading out of order will spoil earlier books and leave gaps in the story.

What is the Temeraire series about?

It retells the Napoleonic Wars in a world where dragons fight as an air force. Captain William Laurence of the Royal Navy becomes partner to the dragon Temeraire, joins the Aerial Corps, and travels the world with him as the war spreads, while the books ask how humans should treat dragons who can think and speak.

Is His Majesty’s Dragon the same book as Temeraire?

Yes. The first novel was published as His Majesty’s Dragon in the United States and as Temeraire in the United Kingdom. The story is the same under both titles.

Is the Temeraire series historically accurate?

It is alternate history, so it is not accurate in the usual sense. The broad course of the Napoleonic Wars and many real people are kept, but dragons change battles, alliances and the fate of whole countries. It is best read as a thoughtful what-if built on real history.

Is the Temeraire series finished?

Yes. League of Dragons, published in 2016, is the ninth and final novel, and it brings the main story to its end. No further novels have been announced.

Is the Temeraire series suitable for teenagers?

The books were published for adult readers, and many older teens enjoy them too. Expect war, battlefield deaths and serious themes such as slavery, so parents of younger readers may want to read the first book themselves.

Who wrote the Temeraire series?

Naomi Novik, an American author who later wrote Uprooted, Spinning Silver and the Scholomance trilogy. Temeraire was her first series, and His Majesty’s Dragon was her debut novel.

Are there Temeraire short stories?

Yes. Golden Age and Other Stories (2017) is a full collection of Temeraire stories, the omnibus In His Majesty’s Service includes the story “In Autumn, a White Dragon Looks Over the Wide River,” and Buried Deep and Other Stories includes Temeraire tales among others.

Can I listen to the Temeraire series as audiobooks?

Yes. The series is available in audiobook, and the first six novels were narrated by Simon Vance. The novels are also available in paperback and as ebooks.

Will there be a Temeraire movie or TV show?

Not at present. Peter Jackson optioned the series in 2006, but no film or series was made, and the rights have since reverted to Naomi Novik.

What should I read after Temeraire?

Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin novels are the closest match for the naval war and the period voice, and C.S. Forester’s Hornblower books are a faster alternative. For more history with a fantastic twist, try Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.

Conclusion

Temeraire is one of the most complete and satisfying series in alternate history: nine novels, one war, and a friendship that holds the whole journey together. It suits readers who love naval fiction, readers who love dragons, and anyone curious about how one change could reshape the Napoleonic Wars.

Begin with His Majesty’s Dragon, or pick up In His Majesty’s Service to have the first three books in one volume. When you reach the end of League of Dragons, Golden Age and Other Stories is waiting.