Customer Reviews

Any Approaching Enemy

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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

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.

The start of this book was amazing. The level of details and the authors ability to make you be there in the storm was great reading. Some wonderful comic moments between Bevin and Edgemont and others. The story flowed so well. A wonderful start to the book and I found it hard to put down and take a break. That is until Captain Edgemont found his wife in the middle of the Mediterranean.

It is inconceivable that 2 women traveling together would manage to get into the Mediterranean and eventually end up finding her husband's ship. Then, for the Captain to even allow her on board whilst being in very hostile waters. The book took a huge turn for the worse when we find Penny battering her husband (the captain) to stop firing as he is destroying a French ship. Even when Captain Edgemont comes to her rescue and saves her, she still is not happy about the fighting.

The way Edgemont handles his first officer is laughable. Getting his friend Commander Bevin to delay sailing with dispatches so he can help repair Louisa would find all of them hanged. Just when I thought things would get better with the packing off of his wife, we then have some silly action at the end with Edgemont being the one responsible for blowing up the French Flag Ship and killing 1000 sailors.

With Edgemont now on his way back to England, you just know the first part of the 3rd book will see more of his wife. I just hope the author leaves her behind early in the book.

I loved this book! I liked it even better than "Sails on the Horizon", the first book in the series. The characters are real, multi-dimensional, and believable. The scenes at the Battle of the Nile were very real. Worrall clearly knows his wooden ships and the people who sailed in them. I can hardly wait for the next one.

The leading characters from the splendid Sails on the Horizon are present and accounted for in this action filled sequel. I'm generally not a reader of seafaring military sagas, but Worrall's books really are very appealing. There isn't a cardboard character among them, and the dialogue alone makes them worthwhile. Penny and Molly's arrival and rendevous with the Louisa at Sir William Hamilton's home in Naples is somewhat unbelievable but engaging nonetheless. There is more naval lore and much more time at sea this time, but enough interplay between Charlie and Penny as well as Daniel and Molly to make me happy. A great book.

If you have discovered Patrick O'Brien, you have probably devoured the twenty or so Aubrey/Maturin volumes followed in prompt succession by the Hornblower novels of Forester. If you have not, then even Mr. Worrall will forgive your putting his book down while you promptly have the literary experience of a lifetime--they are that good. Indeed, young Aubrey makes a cameo in this book. Unfortunately, because the bar has been set so high, the efforts of other authors to create works in this genre often fail to measure up.

Three cheers, then, for Mr. Worrall who has convincingly demonstrated in this second book of his Charles Edgemont series that he has the potential to stand with the best. This second work focuses a bit more upon the characters and a bit less on the action, which though it seems to disturb other reviewers is actually quite necessary. Without engaging and fully-developed characters, the action is merely an historical recital. Too many books of the genre rely entirely upon the author's encyclopedic knowledge of nautical arcana while forgetting that the reader has to be invested in the story.

Mr. Worrall succeeds because his characters are moral and good yet complex enough to remain interesting. He is also unafraid to introduce the reader to the great Admiral Nelson to a degree curiously avoided by other authors. Though the surprise appearance of Mrs. Edgemont was somewhat contrived, the marriage of our protagonist makes for a narrative free from the cheesy romance-novel type of story that traps many other works of this genre.

I have very, very high hopes for this series and highly recommend both of the volumes completed to date.

A captain in the British navy during the war against France in the late 1790s shows initiative, daring, brains, courage against the enemy and the courage to disobey his superiors when they make the wrong call and lives are at stake. The adventure in this novel involves being separated by storm from his group and left to his own devises as he sails enemy infested and the somewhat uncharted {to the British} Mediterranean Sea looking for the French squadron of greater numbers and superior firepower that could crush him if he finds them.
The beauty of this book is in the Captain's Quaker wife who ends up on board with him during the adventure. A strong, believable character that the author uses to show conflicts between personal beliefs and duty, man and woman (during a time when woman were thought [by men] to be incapable of mental agility or prowess), respect, the power of compromise and love; an interesting insight into the power of Quaker beliefs.
The author's command of the details of sailing and being a sailor in the King's navy are very good. The battle scenes are fair; C.S. Forester for me rules at the top of this genre with the Horatio Hornblower series, his battle scenes being a genius of naval command and authorship. If the Hornblowers are 5s, this book is a 3.5 to 4, worth reading if like the sound of the sails and the roar of the cannon.

My dad had me read the Hornblower series as a kid, and I remember thinking of Forester's stories when I picked up Worrall's first book and then this one. I must say, anyone who enjoyed the Hornblower books should without question give Worrall's a try. Though I enjoyed Sails on the Horizon, Any Approaching Enemy is clearly a better book. As with the characters for any sequel, the characterization of Penny, Charles, and the rest of the returning cast (except perhaps Molly) is better defined, and the reader's familiarity with each makes for a better reading experience. If you're interested enough in this genre to be reading this review, you should go ahead and order both books. You'll thank me later.

All fans of Horatio Hornblower should try this series. Worrall's novels have the same kind of understated tone, unlike the Dewey Lambdin or Alexander Kent novels. Also, Worrall is a much easier read than Patrick O'Brien -- he makes no attempt to recreate the language of the Napoleonic Era. He just tells a good story and it makes for an enjoyable evening of escaping into a different time.