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The Hornblower Series – C.S. Forester

Set during the peak of the Age of Sail in the Napoleonic era, the books detail the exploits of Horatio Hornblower from Midshipman to Admiral. Full of action and adventure, they manage to include shiphandling minutiae without bogging down the story. Page turners for young and old alike. I would recommend starting with Beat to Quarters (AKA The Happy Return) since the earlier books by internal chronology (yet written later) tend to be of a slightly lesser quality.

Mr. Midshipman Hornblower – This short story collection covers the early career of our young hero, from his first onboard ship experience to his two and a half years of captivity in Spain. By the end, Hornblower is promoted to Lieutenant. Even though it is a short story collection, it flows quite nicely and is more of an episodic novel.

 

Lieutenant Hornblower – The still very young Hornblower has to deal with a tyrannous and insane Captain. He then distinguishes himself by helping in the destruction of a Spanish fortress and taking prizes.

 

Hornblower and the ‘Hotspur’ – Although the action is fast and furious, this one is a mite tedious. Hornblower spends a couple of years on blockade duty off the coast of France. This sort of duty was demanding and harsh, but also monotonous and performed in cold, dreary weather for much of the year.

 

Hornblower during the Crisis – The chronologically fourth novel is unfinished due to Forester’s death. Nothing much happens since only the first 100 pages or so are written. Hornblower is about to become a spy. Also included are a two short stories, the latter showing our hero in old age.

 

Hornblower and the ‘Atropos’ – This one is very episodic in a singularly annoying way. Apart from the one ship commanded throughout, there is no single thread to pull the reader along. Disappointing.

 

Beat to Quarters (known as The Happy Return in the UK edition) – The first novel to be written, this one is a masterpiece of plotting and action. Hornblower, in command of the frigate Lydia, heads to the Pacific coast of Central America in order to make life difficult for the Spanish colonies there. He also has his first encounter with Lady Barbara. The sailing and combat action is excellent, but one should not forget the evolution of the relationship with Lady Barbara. In the beginning, Hornblower strongly dislikes her, but in the end he loves her. And we see the process every step of the way.

 

Ship of the Line – Hornblower takes command of the two-decker Sutherland. He carries out five daring raids against the French, but ends up a prisoner after defeat against overwhelming odds. This one ends in a cliffhanger of sorts as our hero is imprisoned in French oppupied Catalonia. Great action, perhaps even better than in Beat to Quarters.

 

Flying Colours – This picks up immediately where Ship of the Line left off. Hornblower is on his way to Paris to be tried for purported war crimes. Napoleon is trying to score some propaganda points. However he manages to escape and makes his way back to England, where he finds a hero’s welcome. This one is quite introspective in some sections, with Hornblower’s cynicism and doubts coming to the fore. He hates himself in certain ways, not daring to realize how much he means to people. He is afraid of failure despite great success. And finally he cynically realizes how the British use him for propaganda as much as the French meant to. At the end of the book, we find Hornblower widowed with a young son. But Lady Barbara is also widowed. Opportunity awaits, perhaps.

Commodore Hornblower – Our hero is now married to Barbara, and in the landed gentry. He is sent on a mission to the Baltic to ensure that the Swedes and the Russians don’t join the war on the side of Napoleon. Action as usual but not a whole lot of character development.

 

Lord Hornblower – The action moves to the English Channel as the Napoleonic era draws to a close and the French mainland can now be invaded (ahem… liberated). The last part is pretty boring as Hornblower, together with his friends from Flying Colours, fights a guerrilla action against the new Napoleonic regime during the “hundred days” following the Emperor’s escape from Elba.

Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies – A short story collection in all but name. While mildly entertaining, Forester is basically treading water here. A disappointing ending after such great novels as Beat to Quarters and Ship of the Line.

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1812: The Rivers of War – Eric Flint

Another alternate history story from Flint and technically an Assiti Shards novel even if removed from the main thrust of that series. This one, the first of a new series, rewrites the War of 1812. Instead of being wounded in the groin at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, Sam Houston is only grazed in the arm. And so he can participate in the defense of Washington against a British raid. Flint spins an interesting tale of how influential (American) Indians, whites and blacks begin to form strong bonds and plan for the future. It helps if you know some of the history, but even if you don’t, Flint is pretty good at filling in the blanks.

I enjoyed the book mildly, but it is by no means perfect. Flint has a great sense of humor and the book is a page turner. However, he is a bit too in love with his characters, and the smugness with which he describes them is often grating. Having said that, if you liked 1632 and so forth you might enjoy this.

 

 

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Mother of Demons – Eric Flint

This early Flint effort shows signs of his future greatness. Hidden behind the horrid cover and the rather simplistic few humans on a hostile world lie deep layers of meaning. A human colonization ship to another star has an accident. The only survivors to make it to the habitable planet are a few scientists and an historian, along with a host of young children. The natives are in the local Bronze Age. The story tells of how the historian must overcome her fears of the evil she knows the future will hold, and help lead her small band, and native allies.

There is great moral strength in the story. Flint is unfortunately a bit too enamored with the historical concepts he is exploring. He shows greater maturity in later works such as 1632, where he is more subte about the whole thing. That being said, Mother of Demons is a fun read full of Flint’s trademark humor.

The cover and the blurb both annoyed me. While the cover is a very accurate depiction of a key moment in the story, and the blurb does sum up the key players rather neatly, I think they probably scared away a large part of the potential readership.

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1634: The Galileo Affair – Eric Flint & Andrew Dennis

The first of many sequels to 1632 and 1633, this book focuses more on the theological-political impact of the Ring of Fire. The newly formed United States of Europe sends a delegation to Venice. This leads, more or less on purpose, to links with the Vatican and involvement in the trial of Galileo. It is a decent read reading, but there is much less action than in 1632 and 1633.  Overall, this book is nowhere near as much fun as the first two.

 

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Grantville Gazette II – Eric Flint (Editor)

This is the dead tree edition of the second volume filled with “user generated content” in the Assiti Shards Universe. It continues Flint’s experiment with not only opening his universe, but letting other writers actually add to the stories and developing landscape in a major way. Flint does not set strict guidelines, allowing other writers to take his own creation in totally unexpected directions.

The book is a mixed bag. Some of the stories are cute, some are more serious. The novelette about setting up a medical school that fills a large part of the compilation is engaging but fails to pull out all the stops and ends up rather flat. The non-fiction is mostly interesting. None of the content is bad but there isn’t really anything that stands out as particularly good either. It’s interesting if you’re into the other books, but cannot be read as a standalone.

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Ring of Fire – Eric Flint (Editor)

An anthology of stories set in the Assiti Shards Universe. I would recommend reading 1632 and 1633 before this one. The most interesting thing about the Assiti Shards Universe is it’s shared nature. Flint has only set the most general guidelines, and other authors (both professional and non) are free to develop their story lines as they see fit, even if they affect other story lines in a major way. Flint is thus the editor of an evolving history that he has much less than perfect control over. The interesting part of the experiment is that it very much mirrors real history, which is non linear and chaotic.

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1633 – David Weber & Eric Flint

The sequel to 1632, not unexpectedly titled 1633, is just as good as the first novel, if not better. Mr Flint now has the cooperation of David Weber. For the experienced Weber fan, this is discernible in the sometimes slightly long-winded expositions on politics and religion. No matter. The book is very good, especially the last ten chapters. The theme of predestination (or lack of it) is very well developed and thought provoking. The battle scenes are, as one would expect, very well written. The trademark Flint humor is still there, along with, sometimes, a certain gravitas.

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1632 – Eric Flint

1632 is the story of how a West Virginia mining town gets transported to Germany in the time of that most horrible of conflicts, The Thirty Years War.

While it may be slightly formulaic and cliché at times, and not at all as sophisticated as S.M. Stirling, the characters are quite likeable and the story is high adventure at its best. It is easy to think that that the twentieth century was the worst when it came to savagery, but the the people of the seventeenth century were just as bad, if not so systematic, about their cruelty. It is hinted in the book that the death of Gustav II Adolf (Gustavus Adolphus for non Swedes) at Lützen eventually led to the creation of modern Germany and thus, the two World Wars. While this may seem a bit farfetched, I find myself by and large agreeing with the thesis. But I digress. 1632 is just plain fun, easily read in a day or two.

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The Serpentwar Saga – Raymond E. Feist

Another epic tale from Feist, but this one falls far short of the mark. The characters are not as interesting as in previous novels, and the story does not feel nearly as epic as the Riftwar Saga. The antagonist is too simple and stylized. Feists style seems to have suffered. Having said that, if you loved Riftwar, you will probably enjoy this series as well. The series consists of:

  • Shadow of a Dark Queen
  • Rise of a Merchant Prince
  • Rage of a Demon King
  • Shards of a Broken Crown

 

 

 

 

 

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The Riftwar Saga – Raymond E. Feist

Consisting of:

  • Magician: Apprentice
  • Magician: Master
  • Silverthorn
  • A Darkness at Sethanon

This straightforward fantasy saga is very well plotted and written by Dungeons and Dragons aficionado Feist. I am not much into fantasy, but if you want a truly epic tale with kingdoms, magic and so forth, you won’t go wrong with this.

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Prisoner’s Hope – David Feintuch

I had run out of books during a holiday in the Greek islands and had to scurry to a second hand bookstore before I lost my sanity. I had seen the “Hope” books in bookstores before, and hoped (ahem) that the books would be more or less good copies of the Honor Harrington series by David Weber.

I gave up after a hundred and fifty pages or so. The main character is a total bastard, who takes offense at the smallest slight. The author seems to think that military command entails being a despotic father figure. There may have been a story. And don’t get me started on all the religious stuff. Steer clear of this one and go buy the Honor books instead.

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The Hot Gate – John Ringo

The third book in the Troy Rising series picks up where Citadel left off. Dana Parker is transferred to the new Thermopylae station in order to stiffen up a screwed up squadron of Myrmidon assault shuttles mostly staffed by Latin American personnel. To say there is a culture clash is an understatement. Later, of course, the fecal matter hits the rotary air impeller in a big way as the Rangora decide it is time to deal with those pesky Terrans once and for all.

The cultural issues between Anglos and South Americans are dealt with humorously but with very serious undertones. Mr. Ringo has obviously spent a lot of time thinking about this. While it would be easy to think that he is just an American bashing what he perceives as an inferior culture, he is undeniable right about many aspects. For example the contrast between “honor” and “duty”, as well as the problems with a class society.

The way in which things go seriously pear-shaped at the end is vintage Ringo. Massive action. Massive losses. Heroics with that little bit of Ringo humor that just makes it so readable.

Engineer’s Mate Second Class Dana Parker (hang on, you say, wasn’t she a Coxswain’s Mate in the previous book?) is a perfect protagonist for this kind of book. A true hero.

This may be my favorite Ringo ever. The only niggling criticism is the lack of a dramatis personae. This is not much of a problem in the beginning, but lots of characters are suddenly introduced during the final action, leaving me occasionally confused as to who was who.

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Orbiter – Warren Ellis & Colleen Doran

In the beginning of this graphic novel, Kennedy Space Center is shown as a vast squatter camp. Suddenly, the Venture Space Shuttle appears and lands. Apparently, manned spaceflight was abandoned when the Venture disappeared ten years previously.

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Ministry of Space – Warren Ellis, Chris Weston & Laura Martin

This graphic novel assumes that the British gained rocketry knowledge after WWII instead of the Americans and Soviets. The British Empire prevails and establishes a substantial space presence. The art is crisp and brings to mind of 1950s space visions. The plot and characters are caricatures of the British. Lots of daring and stiff upper lip. Plenty of fun but it felt a little short.

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When the Tide Rises (RCN VI) – David Drake

After the mild disappointment of volumes four and five, Drake is back in good form. Leary is sent on a mission to destabilize what one might charitably call a banana republic in order to relieve pressure from a Cinnabar stronghold. The Bagarian Republic is modeled after South American revolutionary governments, complete with generalissima and corrupt politicians with plenty of unearned decorations. Needless to say, Leary and Mundy manage to perform several daring raids in order to complete the mission.

Clarity returns to the series, then. Leary, Mundy and their companions on the Princess Cecile are as outrageous and entertaining as ever. The action scenes are frequent and of the usual high Drake class. Character development of some of the supporting players is emphasized, definitely a good thing. This book has made me eager once again for the next installment.

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Some Golden Harbor (RCN V) – David Drake

Lt. Leary, sans ship, is sent to Ganpat’s Reach as an advisor. His mission is to untangle a messy inter-system invasion that threatens the interests of a Cinnabar ally. Conveniently, he can hire his own former ship, the Princess Cecile, and most of the Sissies, to convey him. On arrival, he finds a complex web of intrigue and machinations.

I was rather disappointed by this installment. While it was entertaining enough to keep me going, the plot felt haphazard and overcomplex. The three system polities involved weren’t sufficiently fleshed out, and I was often confused about who did what and to whom. Individual scenes were top notch as usual, but the arc of the plot was muddled.

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Robots and Empire – Isaac Asimov

On the “Spacer” planet of Aurora, the woman Gladia’s life is a long succession of days filled with ennnui. Despite being descended from the first humans to settle other planets, her society is stagnating. Spacers live long, empty lives. Robots run all menial work and intricate rules of conduct control much of life. Into this drops D.G. Baley, descendant of Elijah Baley of The Caves of Steel and The Robots of Dawn (when Gladia met Elijah). Baley is a “Settler”, part of a new wave of colonizers from Earth who are much more dynamic than the Spacers, and are overtaking them in influence. The Settlers oppose the Spacers. He asks Gladia to come with him to help investigate a mystery. Meanwhile, powerful men plot the defeat of the Settlers.

This is the last Robot novel by Asimov. It is part of his efforts to unify the Robot series with the Empire/Foundation series. Asimov has great ideas as usual but I found the writing hopelessly tedious. The fact that the Spacers are amazingly annoying people, haughty, self-centered and stuck up, does not help matters. I kept thinking that if I met Gladia I would have wanted to slap her. She is constantly bitching and moaning about trivialities.

As usual with Asimov, there is almost only dialogue and very little actual action. That is not a bad thing per se, but here it has been taken to an absurd extreme. Robot Daneel and Robot Giskard spend page after page discussing events (such as there are) in excruciating detail. No eventuality or possibility is left undiscussed. One character, on two separate occasions, refuses to listen to something he needs to hear until he is convinced that he needs to hear it. Both times it is a 5-10 page ordeal. I know Asimov is trying to make the point that Spacer society is stagnating and is stuck with all these rules, but it makes reading very boring. Overall, that would be the word to describe this novel: boring.

I made it two thirds in before giving up.

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The Way to Glory (RCN IV) – David Drake

Leary has finally been promoted, but due to political machinations he is not given a new ship command. Instead, he is assigned as the executive officer of a paranoid Captain whose last move was to violently quash a mutiny by massacring the perpetrators, one of whom was a senator’s son. Leary cannot play humble, and ends up squarely in the sights of his superior.

The series certainly isn’t becoming dull, but I find that Drake missed an opportunity here. The main plot complication in the early part of the book is the contrast and conflict between Leary and Captain Slidell. However, Leary quickly manages to get himself assigned to detached duty, robbing the readers of a whole raft of interesting situations. If you can look past that, this is still a strong book in the series, though not quite as good as those preceding it.

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The Far Side of the Stars (RCN III) – David Drake

At the beginning of the third RCN book, Lt. Leary is beached on half pay after peace has broken out between the Republic of Cinnabar and the Alliance of Free Stars. Through an unexpected turn of events, he is able to once again take command of the Princess Cecile, which has been sold out of navy service but is chartered as a yacht by a wealthy foreign couple who want to venture far into the lawless “north”. Their aim is adventure, gambling, big game hunting, but also a search for an elusive relic, the Earth Diamond.

As is now usual with these books, the main plot is not very linear, with many subplots seemingly there to provide amusement and adventure rather than support the main plot. And as is also usual, I didn’t mind at all. Not totally unexpectedly, Lt. Leary finds a way to return to navy service both himself, his crew, and the Princess Cecile. The action is fast, furious and humorous and maintains the high standards of the previous books.

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Lt. Leary Commanding (RCN II) – David Drake

After the heroic deeds on Kostroma in With the Lightnings, Leary is unexpectedly permitted to retain command of the captured corvette Princess Cecile. Mundy becomes an intelligence officer for Cinnabar’s elusive spy chief, Mistress Sand. Leary and his crew must catch up with a squadron en route to prevent a rebellion on a vassal planet. Through high level machinations, one of their passengers is the putative heir of the planet’s ruling family.

The main plot is not terribly strong, but it doesn’t matter much. This series is about high-flying adventures, exciting locales and interesting characters, not exact plotting. There is a certain disjointed feeling to the story. For example the incident with the pirates could have been a self contained short story and feels like an excuse to provide some amusing action more than a necessary story element. But as mentioned, all that doesn’t really matter. Revisiting Daniel Leary and Adele Mundy is a treat unto itself.