It's become kind of an established thing that a lot of high fantasy is based on the world from a European perspective. This book takes that a step farther and imagines such a world if it got to a level of technology (and quite coincidentally, a social setup) reminiscent of Jane Austen, with people who would--naturally--study dragons the same way scientists in our world began to study more normal animals. Combined it makes for a surprisingly easy read, although now I've had a little time to think about it I wish there had been even more dragon encounters than we actually got; there were, admittedly, a decent number, I just wanted more. Maybe in the next book.