Throne of Jade
Naomi Novik
 After defeating Napoleon's forces at the battle of Dover, Laurence and Temeraire are confronted by envoys from Imperial China, including Prince Yongxing, brother of the Jiaqing Emperor. The Chinese are eager to get their rare Celestial dragon back from the British. Celestials are only allowed to accompany royalty—Temeraire was intended for Napoleon, Emperor of the French—and Laurence, a mere commoner, is deemed unworthy of Temeraire by the Chinese. After several failed attempts to convince Laurence and the Royal Aerial Corps to return Temeraire to China, the Chinese and the British agree to have Temeraire and his flight crew — including Laurence — accompany the Imperial envoys back to China. As the land routes are deemed unsafe, the Navy has a dragon transport, HMS Allegiance, captained by Laurence's former second officer Tom Riley, ferry the Celestial and his crew on a voyage to China. During the voyage, attempts are made on the life of Laurence in order to remove him from Temeraire. In addition, political machinations on the part of the British, French, and Chinese are discovered that threaten the position of Britain in the East, as well as the stability of the Chinese throne. Finally, Laurence has ongoing difficulties with both Captain Riley, a staunch supporter of the slave trade (Laurence himself descends from known abolitionists) and the diplomat Arthur Hammond, sent along to smooth the operation. During the sea voyage, Temeraire catches a respiratory illness from Volatilus, a slow-minded though sweet-natured Winchester serving in the courier corps who visits the Allegiance with dispatches. By use of a posset made using an extremely smelly mushroom, the cooks of the Chinese delegation are able to restore Temeraire to health. This event, though seemingly unimportant at the moment, shapes the next two novels of the series. After their arrival in China, Temeraire gets to meet his family, including his mother, and sees the greatly improved conditions of dragonkind in China: Chinese dragons are citizens in their own right and, amongst other things, may take the Confucian civil service exam. He also begins courting an Imperial dragon named Mei. Laurence, meanwhile, suffers more direct attempts on his life, including confrontations with Yongxing and his companion, the albino Celestial Lien. Hammond is able to deduce that Yongxing has designs on Prince Mianning, the heir-apparent whose dragon is Temeraire's twin brother, and that Temeraire was sent to France not because the Chinese esteem Napoleon but so that Temeraire himself could not be used to complicate the line of succession. Thus, his presence is necessary to lend legitimacy to any puppet king Yongxing intends to set upon the throne. At a theatre production in the British delegation's honor, Yongxing attempts to put his plans in motion, but is prevented by the actions of Temeraire and Laurence, and is himself killed in the ensuing scuffle. As a result, the Emperor of China himself adopts Laurence as an honorary son, at a stroke resolving the issues with Laurence's social status and easing relations with Britain. Temeraire, after much deliberation, decides to return to Britain, partially out of love for Laurence and partially to attempt to bring the greater civil liberties of China back to the commonwealth.