There are perils in reading which I was never warned about.

For example, have you ever felt a need to use the restroom, and decided to read a book as you sat on the commode?

And then you ended up sitting there reading for so long, engrossed by the book, that your rear end and a foot ‘go asleep’?

No? It’s just me, then?

For the record, the book which caused me a numb butt and number foot is His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik, published in 2006. The writing style for this historic fantasy novel about dragons during the Napoleonic Wars reminds me of Patrick O’Brian’s style for Master and Commander and the Aubrey-Maturin series. Besides those, I see the same style in CJ Sansom’s terrific Mathew Shardlake series, as well as the historic fiction series by Bernard Cornwell — Sharpe’s rifles, Saxon stories and The Last Kingdom — among others.

His Majesty’s Dragon is set in a world where dragons exist, critical for the plot. These dragons think and speak, and display human personality traits. They’re breed and used in war as aerial forces. The focus of this book is a large black dragon named Temeraire, and his aviator, Captain William Laurence. Captaining the Reliant, Captain Laurence wins the dragon egg in a naval battle. After that, the book is about the developing relationship between man and beast. Along the way, we discover how dragons are employed in war, and the social issues about being a dragon aviator. Such fine, and so finely detailed, it’s wonderful story telling.

If you pick up Her Majesty’s Dragon, you might want to limit your toilet reading time. Trust me on this recommendation.