Had a conversation earlier about whether Temeraire counts as Young Adult, and I feel fairly confident no, it's adult fiction. Not to say it's not perfectly approachable by teenagers-- in fact, I believe a great deal of adult fiction is, that's why we teach it in schools-- but just that I think that was Novik's intention, and its born out by its language, style, and primary themes. All that said-- if we can imagine an alternative version of the series entirely from Temeraire's POV, and that has the potential to be the purest YA that ever YAed. "Hi, my name is Temeraire. No last name, I don't need one. I'm named after one of the most magnificent sailing ships ever, because my captain won my egg in naval battle. Egg? Oh, I suppose I forgot to mention; I'm a dragon. In fact, I'm the only black dragon in all of Britain. My captain-- who's a gentleman, by the way-- and I went to a special dragon training school. The other dragons made fun of me at first because I look different, but I earned their friendship by showing off my keen intelligence, combat prowess, and my special sonic blast abilities that no other dragon has. Now I'm on a journey across the ocean, because it turns out I'm a secret Chinese prince. But despite by noble lineage, I refuse to stay only to enjoy those royal luxuries-- British dragons are being discriminated by a system that views us as little more than rabid animals, and I must lead my fellows to revolution!"
#téméraire#or should i say téméraire lung tien xiang darkness raven way - via @sauvechouris
