Temeraire : the throne of Jade / Naomi Novik.

Entitled His Majesty's Dragon in the U.S.

The dragons, used by the British for aerial support in battle, are fully sentient beings of wide-ranging variety, from small speedy couriers that carry a single man to behemoths whose crews and outfitting recall those of World War-era fighter planes. Their affection for their captains is fervent and undying, beginning from the moment when the dragon hatches and beholds the man?or, in some cases, woman?chosen to be his or her lifelong companion. Temeraire hatches out of a Chinese egg captured from a French ship by the British Navy. Captain Will Laurence knows how valuable such a dragon is and that it must be matched with a rider to prevent it going feral; boldly and selflessly, he gives up his Naval career to become Temeraire's captain and bring him into the Aerial Corps. Fortunately, this turns out to be an extremely smart decision. By British standards, Temeraire is a highly unusual dragon, almost a draconian Mary Sue: he's beautiful and brilliant, comes from a strange foreign land, speaks multiple languages with ease, and has martial abilities that no one in the Commonwealth has ever encountered.