Customer Reviews

THE GUN KETCH

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For those with in interest in tall ships and the sailing navies, this novel covers a time period not well covered by other authors, i.e., the period between the American Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, when most of the British Navy was laid up out of service and pirates roamed the West Indies. Lambdin does an excellent job researching the information for his novels. While this book is one out of a series about the naval and amorous adventures of Alan Lewrie, the main plot stands alone and Lambdin fills in the reader with any incidental information on events from earlier books. A highly recommended book for filling in that time period of history.

Lieutenant Alan Lewrie is enjoying a few weeks in England, in between the completion of his anti-pirate adventures in the Far East (as recounted in The King's Privateer) and taking up his new assignment in command of the gun ketch ALACRITY as part of the Bahamas Squadron. Such a small vessel doesn't ordinarily rate more than one commissioned officer, but on the Navy's books it's a "sloop," so Capt. Lewrie finds himself with a first officer, the rather prim but engaging Arthur Ballard, who actually is Lewrie's senior in terms of naval experience but seems to harbor no jealousy about their relationship. (In fact, the two soon become friends as well as trusting colleagues and it's apparent Ballard is destined to become "Bush" to Lewrie's "Hornblower.") Alan spends much of his time ashore with the Chiswicks in Surrey (the family he helped rescue in _The French Admiral_) and is dismayed to find that Caroline Chiswick, for whom he has a soft spot, is being matched off by her uncle to the swinish heir of the local baronet. Suddenly, Lewrie finds himself doing what he never expected: getting married. And, rather than leave his bride in Plymouth, he allows her to talk him into taking her to Nassau with him. Naval novels set in peacetime sometimes have to go far afield to find an entertaining plot, and Lewrie's domestic adjustments, together with a struggle against another set of pirates (and the corrupt civil and naval officials with whom they are in league) make for an engaging yarn.

However: The author seems not to understand the distinction between an exclamation mark properly used in dialog ("Kill them!") and its thoroughly annoying, rather gushing use in narrative (He killed them!). Though perhaps that's just sloppiness after the initial success of the series. And while he has become quite good at descriptive passages, especially those of the sea around the Bahamas (where he obviously has spent some time sailing himself), he also seems too willing to limit most of his principal characters' conversations to the same period slang, used over and over again. Lewrie is brighter than that. (I'm getting awfully tired of "ram-cat" and "caulk" and "putting the leg over" and "buttock-brokering" and "heel-taps" -- that one always in quotes, for some reason.) I don't much care for the smugness of Lambdin's Introductions and Afterwards, either.

Still, it's a good series with good plotting and (mostly) good character development and excellent detail on ship operations and tactics of the period, and I shall certainly keep reading.

IF YOU HAVE NOT MET EITHER LAMBDIN OR LEWRIE IN EARLIER BOOKS, YOU SHOULD FIRST READ The Kings Coat, The French Admiral, The Kings Privateer or The King's Commission BEFORE YOU READ The Gun Ketch. I issue this caution because you cannot possibly appreciate the shock of learning that Alan Lewrie is married (!) without first reading at least one (preferably all) of its predecessors. I was HORRIFIED to find in the opening pages that LT Alan Lewrie was being married on the first pages. But then, so was he! (The author shares with you the thoughts of Lewrie -- which is what make him charming.) The story that follows is a delightful story of the sea, pirates, good (and ACCURATE) sailing descriptions. Alan Lewrie is lovable because he is so real and down to earth. He is more of a person than Hornblower or Bolitho, although I commend to anyone either of their authors (Forester and Kent, respectively). I note with interest that a previous reviewer has the same opinion (see RPE01@AOL.com from Cleveland, below.), although we would differ on what the "Trilogy" consists of. In any case it doesn't matter. This is good, solid writing; well-researched, greatly peopled with colorful characters that you come to care about, and the sea adventure is unparalleled. THIS IS GOOD STUFF!! READ IT. You won't be disappointed. And I think you will come to like Dewey Lambdin, as well. I suspect there is a bit of Alan Lewrie in him.

This review is only to cover the quality of one of the two available Kindle editions. The rating applies to the quality of the writing, not the quality of the "printing" that is so poor in the edition I purchased.

I recently purchased this book for my Kindle. Because I purchased it on a mobile device website, I did not notice there are two Kindle editions for this book...the first time I've seen that and I purchase a lot of Kindle books. The cheaper edition, (both are from "McBooks Press") which is dated April 1993, looks like a poorly scanned document, with numerous reproduction errors like pages folded so the scan didn't work leaving words and sentences that are illegible in some areas and parts of letters chopped off on every page. I'm requesting a refund from Amazon for this version and hope to purchase the more expensive and hopefully better quality ebook. Overall the typeface in this edition is really awful and hard on the eyes.

Otherwise these are an excellent set of naval adventures that I'm very much enjoying.

Dewey Lambdin does an excellent job portraying the image of living and working a wooden sailing vessel as well as give a feeling for what it was like in the British navy of the late 1700s. Unlike other authors who use the British navy as a setting for a plot, the author evokes the feeling that you are part of the character and the story is happening to you. The protaganist is a normal young man who was kicked out of the house for being to hard a child to handle (supposedly). Part of the assocoation with the protaganist comes from the down to earth situations he gets himself into. Like any other young 'buck' in his late teens, early twenties, he doesn't always think with his head on his shoulders when he is looking for a good time. This is definately the series for you if you want an honest look at life in the King's navy with the attending comradere, boredom and technical details. It is not for those who feel that thinking/acting like a sex a sex starved young man is unacceptable. I suggest you start reading as early in the series as you can. Start with 'The King's Coat' (if available, it might be out of print), move on through 'The French Admiral', 'The King's Commission', 'The King's Privateer', 'The Gun Ketch' and 'HMS Cockrel'. 'For King and Country' is a trilogy that begins where the protaganist begins to settle down and contains 'The King's Commission', The King's Privateer' and 'The Gun Ketch'. It will be interesting to see how the author handles the young man coming of age. That telling of that kind of transition is what will really determine if the author is as good as he appears to be.

All of the the Lewrie novels to date have been good, with more realism (and much more sex) than Forester's Hornblower and much freer, less wooden writing than all but the first few of O'Brien's Aubrey/Maturin. The sex gets a little obtrusive sometimes, but not overly so. Many of the Lewrie novels are distressingly hard to get. Contrary to an earlier review, the "King and Country" trilogy consists of King's Coat, King's Commission, and Gun Ketch and it is a great place to start if you can locate it. If you like this series, see also the following historical naval series -- James L. Nelson (Biddlecomb -- Revolutionary War -- e.g., "Force of Arms"), Alexander Kent (Bolitho -- Napoleanic Wars -- e.g., "Command a King's Ship"), and Richard Woodman (Drinkwater -- Napoleanic Wars -- e.g., "An Eye of the Fleet" -- hard to locate in USA, easier in Canada & UK). Consider also the historical army novels of Bernard Cornwell. The Sharpe novels are great, the Starbuck Civil War series good but not great.

I began reading the Alan Lewrie series hoping for something similar to Patrick O'Brian's astonishingly good, truly definitive 18th century sea-faring novels. Given O'Brian's superb language, plotting and characterizations I was probably aiming too high, but I found Dewey Lambdin's tales enjoyable in another way.

If attention to detail is the mark of a serious historical novelist then Lambdin scores very highly. The Gun Ketch is no different than the earlier works in the series in this respect, laced liberally with nautical and period substance and minutia, sometimes self-consciously so as if the author paused every now and then in his storytelling to consult his authenticity barometer and decided the page need a fresh lashing of sailing terms and background detail. This doesn't seriously add to or distract from the story because the story itself is pretty much by the numbers: our hero Alan works his way through several set pieces, spends too much time pondering if he really wants to be a sailor and ends up a bit better off than before. In the process he meets and defeats pirates, enjoys some domestic pleasures with his wife, and becomes a father. And there are several exciting ship to ship and ship to shore engagements that Lambdin excels at depicting.

The great thing with these novels is that as one reviewer commented, they are morish, without engaging the same sort of loyalty I feel for O'Brian's characters. If you enjoy late 18th century seafaring tales, with generous helpings of bawd and bravado, packed with rich detail, but occasionally in need of an thoughtful editor, you can't go far wrong in picking up Lambdin's novels.

I love historical fiction, and this book is time traveling at its very best. The author does an amazing job of taking you back to this fascinating time period immediately after the American Revolution in both Britain and the British-held colony of the Bahamas. Life on a British naval vessel comes alive, as does life onshore. The book is extraordinarily well researched, the characters just jump off the pages, and the action/adventure story line will keep you reading long after bedtime. One aspect of this book that will throw you for a loop is the dialog, which is all written in late 18th century phrasing, sprinkled with lots of slang spoken by sailors on British ships of the time. I found myself wondering what they were actually saying ... but that just added to the realism and thrill of this fantastic read!

very entertaining series. easy to get hooked. if you like the aubery series (e.g. master & commander) you will like this also.

Dewey Lambden is a C.S. Forester with a sense of humour and sex. He makes OBrien seem wordy and Alexander Kent seem pale and prissy.