Hornblower

C. S. Forester, "Hornblower in the West Indies"

2011-03-19 · in Books, Hornblower · 50 words

Hornblower versus French rebels (and his conscience), pirates, and the weather, with asides on steam tugs and canned goods. But this one's really about Hornblower himself rather than the circumstances or the technologies, and the sinking realisation that the war — along with his career — is over for good.

ISBN 0330101420.

C. S. Forester, "Lord Hornblower"

2011-03-17 · in Books, Hornblower · 58 words

Lord 'Oratio 'Ornblower liberates France by being in the right place at the right time purely by accident — which means that large chunks of this are Hornblower without the usual naval gubbins, giving him a chance to develop as a character a bit more. It's an interesting experiment even if I'm not convinced it's very successful.

ISBN 9780140015362.

C. S. Forester, "Hornblower and the Atropos"

2011-03-13 · in Books, Hornblower · 57 words

Further episodes in the adventures of (at this point, in 1805) Captain Hornblower. The pre-credits canal boat sequence is worth the price in itself.

There's a remarkable amount of plot packed into this slim paperback; these days it'd be three times the length. Hornblower's active resistance to being developed as a character helps, of course.

ISBN 33002325X.

C. S. Forester, "The Young Hornblower"

2007-05-08 · in Books, Hornblower · 132 words

An anthology of the first three Hornblower books: "Mr. Midshipman Hornblower", which is itself a collection of short stories, "Lieutenant Hornblower" and "Hornblower and the Hotspur". (That is, the first three chronologically; they were written as backstory long after Hornblower's ascent to Lord.)

These are roughly contemporary with the first couple of Aubrey-Maturin books, which I've also read recently, so I had a nagging feeling of familiarity throughout -- confirmed by "Hotspur" which ends with the same naval battle as "Post Captain". I suppose there are only so many battles you can write about in a Napoleonic naval saga, although in this case Forester certainly did it first! (I assume the crossover possibilities have already been adequately explored in fan fiction...)

Recommended for fans of the genre; Forester's reputation is well-deserved.

ISBN 0140119396.

C. S. Forester, "The Commodore"

2004-01-15 · in Books, Hornblower · no content

(No content.)

C. S. Forester, "Flying Colours"

2004-01-11 · in Books, Hornblower · no content

(No content.)

C. S. Forester, "A Ship Of The Line"

2004-01-10 · in Books, Hornblower · no content

(No content.)

C. S. Forester, "The Happy Return"

2004-01-05 · in Books, Hornblower · 80 words

My copy's a hardback published in 1940; my parents bought several boxes of old books at auction, and this was one that I pulled out. In more modern editions it's entitled "Beat To Quarters", which makes slightly more sense given the storyline.

The first book to be written in the Hornblower series, although not the first book chronologically. Having looked around for more information on the series after reading this, most people suggested reading them in the order they're written.