Whilst looking for something totally unrelated, I happened upon a familiar series of naval related fiction - the Hornblower series. Naval fiction is not something that I am overly familiar with - though I will preface this by saying that I did enjoy the Hornblower TV series (with Ioan Gruffudd) and had seen Master and Commander (with Russell Crowe).
Which, quite naturally, got me thinking - how many other series were out there? So here is a brief selection for you to begin your own high seas adventures!
Horatio Honblower by CS Forester
Horatio Hornblower is a fictional Napoleonic War-era Royal Navy officer who is the protagonist of a series of novels by C. S. Forester. He was later the subject of films, radio and television programs, and C. Northcote Parkinson elaborated a definitive biography.
The original Hornblower tales began with the 1937 novel The Happy Return (U.S. title Beat to Quarters) with the appearance of a junior Royal Navy captain on independent duty on a secret mission to Central America. Later stories filled out his earlier years, starting with an unpromising beginning as a seasick midshipman. As the Napoleonic Wars progress, he gains promotion steadily as a result of his skill and daring, despite his initial poverty and lack of influential friends. After surviving many adventures in a wide variety of locales, he rises to the pinnacle of his profession, promoted to Admiral of the Fleet. (source: Wikipedia)
Master & Commander by Patrick O'Brian
Master and Commander is a nautical historical novel by the English author Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1969 in the US and 1970 in UK. The book proved to be the start of the 20-novel Aubrey-Maturin series, set largely in the era of the Napoleonic Wars, that O'Brian continued working on up until his death in 2000.
The novel is set at the turn of the 19th century. It follows the young Jack Aubrey who has just been promoted to the rank of Master and Commander, and Stephen Maturin, a destitute physician and naturalist whom Aubrey appoints as his naval surgeon. They sail in HM Sloop of War Sophie with first lieutenant James Dillon, a wealthy and aristocratic Irishman. The naval action in the Mediterranean is closely based on the real-life exploits of Lord Cochrane, including a battle modelled after Cochrane's spectacular victory in the brig HMS Speedy over the vastly-superior Spanish frigate El Gamo. The novel puts the reader into the times in every aspect, from the ways of the Royal Navy on sailing ships to the state of science and medicine and social status. (Source: Wikipedia)
see also: The Ships of Jack Aubrey and Jack Aubrey's World
The Bolitho Books by Douglas Reeman
The Bolitho novels are a series of nautical war novels written by Douglas Reeman (using the pseudonym Alexander Kent). They focus on the military careers of Richard Bolitho and later, his nephew Adam Bolitho in the Royal Navy, from the time of the American Revolution past the Napoleonic Era. (Source: Wikipedia)
see also: Fiction DB for full list of titles and also Books Series In Order
Matthew Quinton Journals by JD Davies
The series of nine novels centre on the adventures of Captain Matthew Quinton, one of the young "gentlemen captains" promoted by King Charles II of England despite their almost complete lack of experience of the sea.
We open the series in 1662 - Quinton, having sunk the first ship he was given to command, is surprised when the King gives him captaincy of H.M.S. Jupiter with orders to stamp out a Scottish rebellion. In a country of divided loyalties, Charles II needs someone he can trust, and – with an elder brother deep in the King’s confidence – Matthew is one of the few eligible candidates not serving in the Mediterranean.
But now Quinton must face an unruly crew, suspicions of murder, stirrings of conspiracy and the angry seas. Will treason be found in Scotland… or is it lurking closer to home?
The final book - Ensign Royal - ias a rip-roaring historical novella, set four years before Gentleman Captain. Matthew Quinton, eighteen years old and an ensign in the Royalist Army in exile, is sent by his older brother the Earl of Ravensden into the heart of Oliver Cromwell’s England. Surrounded by enemies, he soon becomes tangled in a dark web of conspiracy…
see also: Goodreads and Historic Naval Fiction
Fighting Sail Series by Alaric Bond
The ‘Fighting Sail’ Series gives an insight into the world of the seamen and naval officers who fought during the Revolutionary War, a chance to experience an exciting period of history, to view the men and the ships, and sample the extremes of life at sea. (Source: Alaric Bond's website)
His "Fighting Sail" series of novels, set during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, differ slightly from the standard formula of the "hero who becomes an admiral". Instead they chart the course of several characters, from both lower deck and commissioned ranks, and give a dramatic and authentic insight into life aboard a man of war during the age of sail.
see also: Historical Naval Fiction and Goodreads
Bliven Putnam Naval Series by James Haley
Adventure series featuring young midshipman Bliven Putnam (great-nephew of Revolutionary War hero Israel Putnam) as he begins his naval service aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise. The second installment chronicles the build up to the biggest military conflict between the United States and Britain after the Revolution—the War of 1812. Whilst the third sees Captain Bliven Putnam taking on pirates in the Philippines and diplomatic relations in Hawaii.
see also: James Haley's website and Goodreads
Revolution at Sea Saga by James Nelson
The Revolution at Sea Saga, sometimes known as the Isaac Biddlecomb Series, is a series of five novels written by James L. Nelson, published from 1997 to 2001. The Revolution at Sea saga focuses on Isaac Biddlecomb and Ezra Rumstick, former smugglers for Isaac's surrogate father (and later father in law) William Stanton. Over the course of the series, Biddlecomb and Rumstick become increasingly involved with the naval aspect of the American Revolution (specifically 1775 - 1777), which brings them into contact with historical figures such as Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. (Source: Wikipedia)
see also: Historic Naval Fiction and Goodreads
Nathan Peake Series by Seth Hunter
A prisoner or a Philadelphia dandy, a wild beast, a gypsy, a seafarer, a pied piper, a sorcerer and a magician...
Peake was the son of a retired English admiral and an active American revolutionary, steering a wild tack between the two whilst doing his best, often in difficult circumstances, to serve Mad King George, his often devious Prime Minister William Pitt - and the officers and men of the King's Navy. But he was also an American agent in Europe, one of a select group of secret agents answering directly to General Washington and known, on that account, as 'Washington's Boys' . Series is set during the wars with Revolutionary France (specifically 1793 - 1798).
see more @ Goodreads and Nathan Peake website
Alan Lewrie Naval Adventures by Dewey Lambdin
Dewey Lambdin's 25 book historical fiction series follows the naval adventures of Alan Lewrie. Starting in 1780 as a young midshipman in The King's Coat, 17yo Lewrie rises in the ranks (and though on somewhat dubious grounds, to a baronetcy) and sees some of the greatest naval battles of the American Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. In the worthy tradition of Hornblower, Aubrey, and Maturin, his exploits echo with the sounds of crowded ports and the crash of naval warfare. An officer and a rogue, Alan Lewrie is the ultimate man of adventure.
read more @ Macmillan Publishers and Goodreads
Lord Ramage by Dudley Pope
Nicholas, Lord Ramage is a fictional character, the protagonist of a series of 18 sea novels written by Dudley Pope. Ramage was an officer in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. He is a contemporary of Horatio Hornblower, but unlike the latter, who never fought in a large fleet battle, Ramage participated in both the Battle of Cape St. Vincent and the Battle of Trafalgar. Most of the novels are based on real events in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
see more @ Nicholas Ramage and Goodreads
Adventures of Charles Hayden by S Thomas Russell
These books are historical fiction about HMS Themis, a Royal Navy frigate under the command of Lieutenant Charles Hayden, at the time of the French Revolution.
Born to an English father and a French mother, Lieutenant Charles Saunders Hayden's career is damned by his mixed heritage. Assigned to the HMS Themis, an aging frigate under the command of a captain reviled by his crew for both his brutality towards his men and his cowardice in battle, Hayden is torn between honor and duty, as the British navy engages the French in a centuries-old struggle for power.
Kydd Sea Adventures by Julian Stockwin
This series of 22 novels about the Royal Navy tells the story of young Thomas Paine Kydd, a young wig-maker from Guildford, who is pressed into service on a British battleship, the Duke William, in 1793. Set during the Napoleonic era, the action takes Kydd far and wide, from the shore of the fledgling Americas, to the battle of Trafalgar, and throughout the Mediterranean and to the Dutch East Indies. These are the stories of one man's journey from press-gang to Admiral during the Great Age of Fighting Sail.
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