Books - Temeraire

I have a confession to make. As a library worker I really ought to know better but, more often than not, I judge books by their covers. In fact, I wholeheartedly reject the idea that one shouldn't. Millions of pounds are spent in the publishing industry on ensuring that book covers appeal to the target audience of the book. You can almost always tell at least the genre of a book by its appearance, so why not use that as a primary indication of whether it's worth the effort of reading the blurb?

I picked up Temeraire in my library because the bold cover caught my eye, then read the blurb and thought 'Well you can't go wrong with a dragon, can you?'. Actually you probably can, but Novik doesn't. I found myself becoming genuinely attatched to the wise but childlike Temeraire, and loved the fond relationship between him and his rider. I was very miffed when I went back to the shelf for the next installment, which had been sitting right there when I took the first book, only to find that some inconsiderate member of the public had had the cheek to withdraw it. Disgraceful behaviour.