Am I the only person in the world finding these books a bit Meh!

Picked up the whole series at a charity event (jumble sale) hoping it might bee Sharpe at sea.

Read Master& Commander, Post Captain and started HMS Surprise… but getting fed up.

Is it really worth pressing on ?

Sale it to me..and make me continue.  I’m all adrift at sea 😉

I love the books, the way he creates a sense of history & the way the characters interact is just fantastic. They are also brilliantly funny at times. I don’t think I have read any historical novels which seem to depict the past quite so vividly. For me there is a sweet spot in the series between books 3 & 8-ish. Master & Commander isn’t really like the rest of the series, Post Captain is him beginning to find his feet. The later books are a bit formulaic with the pair of them apparently permanently voyaging the globe, playing their instruments and eating toasted cheese.

But at the end of the day we all have different tastes, so maybe they aren’t for you.

I’ll try and press on with HMS Surprise.

I loved the books, found them superb.

However, about 20 years ago, I read his words in one of his prefaces where he made the point that there are limitless true amazing stories in the world.

I figured he was right and immediately gave up fiction.

So thanks to O’Brien I gave up fiction.

Post Captain is a bit of a drag in terms of events but I love the storytelling of it, and the massive jumps in style and feel depending on whose story’s being told and what’s happening in it, like there’s a dozen different narrators. Jack’s slow realisation that Stephen is actually a stone dead bad-ass is beautifully done.

My favourite series of books. Read them all through in order 4 or 5 times now and always found them amazing each time. I found that from HMS Surprise onwards they really got there stride with my favourites being the Mauritius campaign and desolation island.

Only ever read post captain.

I used to love the Alexander Kent Blothelio books. Found them better than hornblower

About half way through after ten years. Definetely for the mind with time to spare. Maybe i will finish them when i finally retire to my yacht in the med..

What’s even more amazing about those tales is that there actually were characters like that in the RN at the time, eg Lord Cochrane, whose life is well worth a read.