This review is for the complete 11-book series of THE HORNBLOWER SAGA by C.S. Forester, which I just finished reading last night.[Note: Individual books have individual star ratings (mostly 5-star, a few 4-star), but the descriptive review will be the same for each, and encompass the entire series, as follows.]Actually, I just finished reading the complete series for the second time, the first being as a teenager some 30 years ago.It's remarkable to me that I have only just this moment realized that my own timeline regarding the two readings corresponds almost exactly to the age progression experienced by the main character in the course of these 11 novels.It's a 30-year journey unlike any other I have ever taken in books - full and deep and satisfying.This is the epic saga of fictional British naval hero HORATIO HORNBLOWER, who goes from a 17-year-old midshipman to a 46-year-old admiral during the "golden age of sail" which encompasses the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century.I'll list the 11 books in chronological order (not the order they were written), which is the best way, I believe, to read them:- MR. MIDSHIPMAN HORNBLOWER- LIEUTENANT HORNBLOWER- HORNBLOWER AND THE HOTSPUR- HORNBLOWER DURING THE CRISIS- HORNBLOWER AND THE ATROPOS- BEAT TO QUARTERS- SHIP OF THE LINE- FLYING COLOURS- COMMODORE HOWNBLOWER- LORD HORNBLOWER- ADMIRAL HORNBLOWER IN THE WEST INDIESI've read other sea-faring novels, but to me, Forester earns the crown.Why?Many reasons, but I'll list just three:1. All the rousing action you could ask for in a well-paced adventure series...2. ...coupled with a complex main character. This is the true secret of the Hornblower books - that Hornblower himself is not some one-dimensional, infallible, faultless hero. On the contrary, he is filled with self-doubt and doesn't always choose the best course, especially in personal matters. But by building the main character this way, Forester allows you to recognize, empathize, and eventually care deeply about him - rooting for his success rather than merely expecting it. It's this complex characterization that complements and actually allows for the heroics of the plot - because it all comes at a price.[One price is so high that, as a teenager, I couldn't believe that Forester had actually done it. I can't go into detail because this is a spoiler-free review, but something happens that is so devastating that literally for entire books afterwards, I kept expecting Forester to make amends. But it doesn't happen. And finally, as an older adult - knowing it will happen, knowing there will be no reprieve - I realize Forester was saying, "This is the price of war."]3. The Language of Sailing Ships: I'm not nautically-minded, and there is much use of nautical language in these books. But rather than being annoyed, I had a very different reaction. First, I learned a few things. But much more importantly, I also grew to appreciate the language itself, whether I understood its technical details or not. To me, it became like poetry. Or even music.And I loved it.All 11 books.It's an investment, to be sure.But, for those "able-bodied", a wonderfully entertaining journey awaits.Should you set sail?Aye-aye!
“Ship of the Line” by CS Forester is more than a swashbuckling tale of adventure in the Mediterranean. Here. Horatio Hornblower enters into command of a third rate battleship as a senior post-captain, on HMS Sutherland. The loneliness of command is now full upon him. He is willing to take his part in the Napoleonic Wars in an old, unweatherly 74-gun ship with a crew of 600 or more and a group of lieutenants each with his own problems that interfere with his ability to carry out his duties objectively, and the difficulties of outfitting and crewing a large warship. Bush, though still Horatio’s loyal First Officer, is keen for promotion, outstripped as he has been by the younger Hornblower. He is eager to demonstrate his own leadership, having the crew traversing the ratlines, setting resetting sail, so the crew is faster and smarter, and he, though reduced to a one-legged old salt, will be more likely to win command of his own ship of the line. Hornblower has become gloomy in part due to his dull life with his wife, the plain, clinging Maria and her socially ambitious mother. Maria is pregnant with their “third” child, though likely to die like the first two who died from smallpox. Hornblower is still haunted by the spectre of his adulterous love Lady Barbara Wellesley, the sister of the Duke of Wellington. He is the more confounded when he must entertain her with her new husband, Rear Admiral Sir Percy Gilbert Lighton, K.B., who is also Hornblower’s new commanding officer. To renew his affair would add insubordination to impropriety. Despite the moral concerns that give the novel some ethical depth, it also gives insights into the tedium of naval warfare, including convoy duty where Hornblower behaves with ruthless efficiency towards East India Company ships who try to save on sail by lagging behind, out of the safer square. do not like the regimen of the Royal Navy. There is also a gale which overtakes the squadron, and the flagship Pluto is almost capsized. With typical aplomb and resourcefulness, Hornblower personally ties a thick line to drag the ship from harm, once again showing that the Royal Navy couldn't manage as well without him. But ultimately HMS Sutherland meets Four French ships of the line, which broke out of a blockade to the north. Though it would be highly improbable for any other captain, Hornblower cripples two of them, but is overwhelmed by the others, and is in a position to make an honourable surrender, the French prize being no more than a useless shell. Despite the lionisation of Hornblower, “Ship o the Line” is a commendable book that provides insights into naval warfare in the age of tall ships, as well as the Napoleonic wars, and the formation of character of capable commanders. It is also a celebration of courage.
Do You like book Ship Of The Line (1999)?
This book is the sixth of the Hornblower saga. He is now in command of the Sutherland that has been ordered to assist in the Mediterranean in the hope of harassing Bonaparte's souther shores. Many of the Hornblower exploits, as outlandish as they often seem, are actually based on the true accomplishments of Lord Cochrane whose biography I read several years ago. Sometime the adventures take an amusing turn. The captain and a group of volunteers take the captain's barge ashore after spying a French coastal vessel slowly making its way along a seemingly impregnable inland waterway. They successfully surprise the small ships' crew by swimming naked, armed only with cutlasses strapped around their waists, out to the ship in the middle of the canal. They banish the crew to the ship's dinghy and set the ship afire. They discover upon swimming back to the shore that the enemy have destroyed their clothes so they are forced to march through some fields and across the beach in a rather uncomfortable state. The image created of nine swarthy seamen being piped back aboard the Sutherland is just too preposterous to be a complete fiction. I suspect this tale is based on one of Cochrane's real feats.
—Eric_W
Hornblower was the inspiration for Star Trek's Captain James Kirk, as well as Cornwell's Sharpe. Hornblower is more cerebral and socially awkward than Kirk (or O'Brien's Aubrey), more educated and refined than Sharpe. In his own right, Hornblower is certainly an engaging and complex character and the series is an interesting study in leadership, and a fascinating portrait of life at sea in the Age of Sail during the Napoleonic wars. I think the best books in the series run from Hornblower and the Hotspur to Flying Colours when he captained ships of his own. Hornblower has his faults, his moments of self doubt, and his dealings with women... well. But especially in the course of reading several books he begins to feel real in a way few fictional characters do. I'd say he's easily as indelible and remarkable a literary creation as Sherlock Holmes--and just as brilliant in his field as Holmes was as a detective. This isn't my favorite in the series, but it is considered one of the best by many, the middle of an arch between The Happy Return and Flying Colours. Few books, in and out of the series, gift us with such rousing adventures at sea.
—Lisa (Harmonybites)
Not the best of the Hornblower series, but entertaining enough in parts. Strangely enough, I enjoyed the beginning and end the most and found the middle to be rather unremarkable. The opening chapters deal with Hornblower's troubles in getting his ship ready to sail and for some strange reason I actually enjoyed these chapters. It also deals rather briefly with his relationship with his wife, but it's mostly about his struggles in getting his ship ready to sail, and his inner doubts about how that will affect his career and reputation. I wouldn't expect most people to really care to much about the logistics of provisioning and manning a ship though. The end of the book sees his ship facing long odds in a battle and then ends on a cliff hanger. I planned on reading the next book regardless, but I don't appreciate books (even if it is part of a series) that don't have their own resolution. The description of the battle is excellent though -- I found myself just slogging through the middle of the book, but sped through the last few chapters.The middle of the book was rather dull even though it contained several battles (on land and sea) and a storm that ravaged his squadron. My problem with these chapters was that Horatio was never really in danger; his luck always held (although I will grant him that it was often due in part to his own preparations) so there was never a sense of conflict.
—Tim
