Together in one volume, here is the third set of three novels in Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series.

The series revolves around William Laurence and his dragon Temeraire. Laurence is a captain in the British Royal Navy, serving in combat against Napoleon I's navy when he recovers a dragon egg unlike any other known to the British. The egg soon hatches, and Temeraire, a Chinese dragon, is born. Under the impression that an 'unharnessed' dragon will become feral and unmanageable, Laurence becomes Temeraire's companion. Despite the difficulties this causes, Laurence begins to think of the dragon as his dearest friend. This forces a change in the officer's life, drawing him from the prestigious Royal Navy to the less desirable Royal Aerial Corps.

The seventh book has Laurence returned to service and sent to South America in an attempt to secure an alliance with the Inca Empire (which still exists, though reduced, in the series timeline), then to Asia again. In the eighth book, Laurence is partially amnesiac due to injury as Temeraire and the crew deal with new intrigues in feudal Japan and Imperial China before flying to Russia in time to be involved in the French invasion of Russia.