| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best book by Dad since the other one,
By John Worrall (Foster City, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Any Approaching Enemy: A Novel of the Napoleonic Wars (Hardcover)
Once again, Worrall has shocked the literary community, including (but likely not limited to) his own children, who, in a bizarre example of a phenomenon known as role-reversal multiplicity, were convinced that their father would never amount to anything twice.
In Any Approaching Sequel, the leading characters are forced to contend with their contrasting (or at least significantly different) value systems while trying to survive the rigors of life at sea (large boats, crusty sailors, no TiVo, the French). Without giving away too much plot, it's safe to say that the reader (that's you, right?) will be able to comfortably enjoy reading a novel in the genre they love (just like in Sails on the Horizon, you actually feel like you're at sea while you read the book, especially if you read in the pool) while experiencing a plot that C.S. Forester and Patrick O'Brian have not penned themselves. If you enjoyed Sails on the Horizon, you should buy this book. If you have not yet enjoyed Sails on the Horizon, the best plan is to buy both books (better odds). If you didn't like Sails on the Horizon... well, you probably bought one from a bad batch, so the best plan is to keep trying until you get a copy that works for you. Also, you probably aren't reading this review.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wit, adventure and nautical detail - O'Brian fans rejoice!,
By
This review is from: Any Approaching Enemy: A Novel of the Napoleonic Wars (Hardcover)
With a nod to Patrick O'Brian - Jack Aubrey even makes a cameo appearance - Jay Worrall's second Charles Edgemont novel combines rousing adventure on the high seas with historical detail, ethical conflict and romance.
It's 1798 and, though only in his mid-twenties, Charles is captain of his own 28-gun Frigate, "Louisa." The war with France is deadlocked, with France's maverick young general, Napoleon Bonaparte, winning on land, and Britain controlling the seas. But Napoleon conceives of a plan to upset the balance by amassing a large French fleet to invade Egypt by sea, and then move his force into India to attack British possessions there. As the story opens, Admiral Horatio Nelson's small squadron of seven ships (one of which is Charles' "Louisa") in the Mediterranean has just gotten wind of the French build-up and received orders to investigate the French naval base at Toulon. But before they can get underway, a horrific three-day storm (which Charles spots before anyone else) scatters the ships. While a rendezvous had been agreed in case of just such an eventuality, the anxious Nelson has not waited. The badly damaged senior of the frigates at the rendezvous decides that Nelson has returned to Gibraltar and orders the rest of the squadron to follow suit. But Charles and the other captains convince him to let the "Louisa" check in at Toulon first before meeting up at Gibraltar. Nelson is not at Toulon, but Charles does not follow his orders and return to Gibraltar. Instead he follows the rumors and goes looking for Nelson and the French, spending several months avidly wandering the seas and coasts and getting into plenty of excitement along the way - not all of it military. Worrall employs an ingenious and brazen (if not wholly believable) stratagem to get Charles and his strong-willed Quaker wife Penny together without losing any sea time. Worrall, brought up Quaker in a military family, also seizes this opportunity to explore battle ethics (an oxymoron?), and the captain's conflict between his duty to his country and keeping his wife safe. Penny must come to grips between her pacifist beliefs and loyalty to her husband. Worrall's portrayals of both sail close to the wind of stereotype but manage to avoid running aground. Charles, the forefront of his mind occupied by seamanship and military strategy, accepts without question his age's view on women. Penny, educated and capable, strives to persuade and educate without spurning 18th century (but progressively Quaker) standards of wifely position. It will be no surprise that Charles eventually manages to find Nelson and the French and play a crucial role in the historic Battle of the Nile. Worrall's first in the series, "Sails on the Horizon," established him as a talented writer as engaged with the structure and character of daily shipboard life as he is with the moments of crisis and war. Charles comes across as a brave confident, expert seaman with just enough moral compass to be interesting. His primary weakness is a reluctance to deal with personal conflict, which leads him into virtually his only errors as captain. The prose is witty, salty and engaging and the bouts of action - weather or battle - are as breathless as they are vivid. Those who enjoyed the young captain's first appearance will find this adventure even better and Charles' physical daring and moral complexity should attract a growing fan base. --Portsmouth Herald
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally, a historically recognizable Quaker character!,
This review is from: Any Approaching Enemy: A Novel of the Napoleonic Wars (Hardcover)
I don't know a lot about naval history, but I do know Quaker history, and I'm so tired of seeing Quakers--especially women--depicted as meek and retiring, which was so much not the case! They travelled the world, unaccompanied by men, raising all sorts of ruckus. So I hugely enjoyed watching Captain Charles Edgemont's reaction to having his wife (not a Quaker himself, he had no idea what he was getting into when he married her!) appear on the scene, accompanied by Molly, the former prostitute she redeemed and took under her wing in the first book of the series. Poor Charles has no idea what he's gotten himself into, and of course there is the small matter of French warships to be dealt with as well!
In "Persuasion," Jane Austen, whose brothers were in the British Navy during the same period in which this novel is set, created a very likable admiral's wife who had lived aboard with her husband, but even the lively Mrs. Croft was no Penelope Brown Edgemont. I enjoyed Worrall's earlier book, "Sails on the Horizon," but this sequel is edgier and more suspenseful. In addition to figuring out what to do with his wife, Edgemont is saddled with a rebellious first lieutenant. His previous first officer, Bevan, now has his own ship, but there are regular opportunities to continue their witty repartee. And the final, exciting battle scene, resolves a mystery of the Napoleonic Wars that even I had heard about.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
|
|
