I wrote: > _His Majesty's Dragon_ is the first of a series by Naomi Novik. > Napoleonic era British Navy Captain becomes an aviator in the Dragon > Corps. Not quite as detailed in its descriptions of the period as > Patrick O'Brian, but better than say C. S. Forrester. Snarkhunter (kkoester at email.ers.usda.gov) opined: > An odd comment, considering that Forrester is superior to O'Brian in > everything but dialog. . . . ... To which Howard Brazee (howard at brazee.net) replied: > It appears that "better" in this context means "more detailed > descriptions", which I take to mean technical descriptions. I was, perhaps, a bit sloppy in my comparisons. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire Hornblower saga, but they are light, romantic, and have a tendency toward the episodic. In contrast, my recollection of O'Brian is of a much richer and detailed world populated by real human beings with real joys, sorrows, victories and failings. I admit, I was also leaning fairly heavily on the knowledge that Steve has several times listed O'Brian as one of his favorite authors. :) Casey