Black Powder War (Temeraire, #3)
by Naomi Novik
The Temeraire books are great, far surpassing the rather hackneyed Pern books that define the "dragon rider" genre and leaving books like Eragon in the Kuiper Belt. Novik is bursting with new ideas, and while a few of them fall a little flatter than others, the books are still utterly original.
The books take place in a world best described as "the Napoleonic wars-- with dragons!" That doesn't do much to describe the deep and highly interesting characters, the 19th-century mannerisms, and the general "age of sail" feeling to the series. Temeraire himself is a delight, and promises to remain so.