Staff Picks: A combination of classic fantasy and historical fiction, who doesn’t love the idea of dragons in the Napoleonic wars? I certainly do. Picked by Patrick.

This debut novel from Naomi Novik is set in the Napoleonic period and layers history with imagination and fantasy by adding a Dragon Air force to the battle for England.

British flyer Will Laurence and his extraordinary Celestial dragon, Temeraire, gratefully anticipate their voyage home from China. But before they set sail, they are waylaid by urgent new orders. The British Government, having purchased three valuable dragon eggs from the Ottoman Empire - one of a rare fire-breathing Kazilik dragon, one of the most deadly breeds in existence - now require Laurence and Temeraire to make a more perilous overland journey...

Shipwrecked and cast ashore in Japan with no memory of Temeraire or his own experiences as an English aviator, Laurence finds himself tangled in deadly political intrigues that threaten not only his own life but England?s already precarious position in the Far East. Age-old enmities and suspicions have turned the entire region into a powder keg ready to erupt at the slightest spark - a spark that Laurence and Temeraire may unwittingly provide, leaving...

Now, with LEAGUE OF DRAGONS, Novik brings the imaginative tour-de-force that has captivated millions to an unforgettable finish. Napoleon?s invasion of Russia has been roundly thwarted. But even as Capt. William Laurence and the dragon Temeraire pursue the retreating enemy through an unforgiving winter, Napoleon is raising a new force, and he?ll soon have enough men and dragons to resume the offensive. While the emperor regroups, the allies have an...