For those unfamiliar with the book or the series, Crucible of Gold is part of Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, which can be described as being an alternate history of what the Napoleonic wars would have looked like if all sides had access to dragons. Before anybody raises an eyebrow at that, Novik’s a good writer with a decent working knowledge of the time period, plus – more importantly – a fundamental respect for that time period. That’s kind of needed for good historical fiction: if you treat the inhabitants of a particular era as either overgrown children, or people from your culture wearing funny clothes, you’re doing it wrong. Patrick O’Brian probably would have liked this series, God rest his soul.
Check it out. You can start the series with In His Majesty’s Service: Three Novels of Temeraire (His Majesty’s Service, Throne of Jade, and Black Powder War). They’re great fun.