It's an amazing fantasy series written by Naomi Novik. She's very interesting, actually -- she got degrees in both English Literature and Comp Sci, and worked on the game Neverwinter Nights.
It's set in the Napoleonic Wars, but there are dragons ;o. It may sound corny at first but it's really not.
I recommend it if you enjoy stuff like Tolkien, Robert Jordan, George R.R. Martin, Philip Pullman, etc. Her books have won a lot of awards, and I believe all of them have been New York Times bestsellers. Also, Peter Jackson recently optioned off the books -- this should be a familiar name :P