King's Captain: An Alan Lewrie Naval Adventure (Alan Lewrie Naval Adventures) [Hardcover]

Dewey Lambdin (Author)

Book Description

Series: Alan Lewrie Naval Adventures | Publication Date: December 18, 2000

Following the footsteps of Horatio Hornblower and Jack Aubrey, whose ripping adventures capture thousands of new readers each year, comes the heir apparent to the mantle of Forester and O'Brian: Dewey Lambdin, and his acclaimed Alan Lewrie series. In this latest adventure Lewrie is promoted for his quick action in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, but before he's even had a chance to settle into his new role, a mutiny rages through the fleet, and the sudden reappearance of an old enemy has Lewrie fighting not just for his command, but for his life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The ninth book in Lambdin's Alan Lewrie series (The King's Coat, etc.) begins rousingly enough with the famous British defeat of a Spanish armada at Cape Saint Vincent in 1797. Lewrie comes in for some glory by trusting Nelson and participating in an apparently foolhardy maneuver that ensures victory for the English. After a short visit at homeDdreaming all the while of anticipated prize moneyDLewrie is made captain of the brand-new frigate Proteus. Before he sets to sea, though, Lewrie and his officers are ensnared in the mutinies at Spithead and Nore. The tars are petitioning for fairer wages, medical care and shipboard treatment. Lewrie faces a fierce enmity from a seaman he isDerroneouslyDsure he has never met before and spends most of the book planning to wrest HMS Proteus away from the mutineers. Eventually, of course, he does, and again, of course, Lewrie comes out on top. The delivery of a last-minute anonymous letter detailing Lewrie's extramarital escapades acts as a teaser for the next book. It is impossible not to compare Lambdin's Lewrie adventures to Patrick O'Brian's dazzling Aubrey-Maturin seriesDand the comparison does not favor Lambdin. O'Brian would probably have dealt with the Nore mutiny in a chapter or two: Lambdin takes considerably more pages. There is less seamanship here and practically no memorable characters. Language veers from the quaintly archaic to the brashly anachronistic: "Do-able, d'ye think?" Despite efforts at painting Lewrie as a forerunner of Flashman, there's no real humor. Also, Lambdin's afterword explaining doings at the Nore should have been a foreword. Readers desperate for an O'Brianesque fix may squeeze some enjoyment out of Lambdin's latest, but they will perhaps not be surprised to discover that Alan Lewrie is no Jack Aubrey. (Dec. 15)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Lambdin supplies another rousing installment in his excellent naval adventure series featuring stalwart Commander Alan Lewrie. Fresh from a stunning victory against the formidable Spanish Armada in the Battle of St. Vincent's Cape, Lewrie is promoted and rewarded with the command of an enviable new warship. Shortly after being installed as the captain of the H.M.S. Proteus, he must contend with a treasonable mass mutiny, a bitter enemy bent on revenge, and several rather complicated romantic entanglements. A rip-roaring sea yarn brimming with riveting action and lusty diversions. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; 1st edition (December 18, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312268858
• ISBN-13: 978-0312268855
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,455,390 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dewey Lambdin is the author of fourteen previous Alan Lewrie novels. A member of the U.S. Naval Institute and a Friend of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England, he spends his free time working and sailing (he's been a sailor since 1976). He makes his home in Nashville, Tennessee, but would much prefer Margaritaville or Murrell's Inlet.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars in Which both our Hero and our Author make "Post Captain", November 23, 2000

By 

F. Goodman (boynton beach, FL, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: King's Captain: An Alan Lewrie Naval Adventure (Alan Lewrie Naval Adventures) (Hardcover)

Patrick O'Brian set the tone and future development of his masterful seafaring series in book two, 'Post Captain', and Dewey Lambdin appears to have chosen to change tack and emulate the master's style and direction here in book nine of his fine series. In 'King's Captain', he appears to have decided to grab the opportunity to fill the void left by Mr. O'Brian's passing. Previously we were presented with a rollicking naval adventure series; now we seem to be settling into a more subtle, complex view of our hero and the socio-political events of the time. In this installment, Alan Lewrie joins Horatio Nelson in glory at the Battle of Cape Saint Vincent, is finally promoted to post-captain, spends a lot of time attempting to adjust to home, hearth, wife and children before being rescued from his ambivalence about this stagnant life by the mutinies at Spithead and the Nore. Not much else happens, but this consciously slower pace allows us to watch Lewrie's personal development and Lambdin's literary development as much more attention is placed on period detail, language, pun and allusion to the delight of O'Brian fans. Loved the "Are You Being Served?" schtick, though perhaps a slim paintbrush rather than a trowel might have improved the application. One criticism: stop with the "quotation marks" around each charming 'period' word; we Aubrey/Maturin fans can handle this stuff straight. Fans of this feisty series, don't worry! 'Ram-Cat' Lewrie is still handy with pistol and sword, Lambdin's tongue remains firmly in his cheek throughout and it is not he who makes any claims of picking up O'Brian's mantle, but I for one am loving it! "Three Cheers...!"...

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lewrie Grows Up?, December 15, 2000

By 

S. Christensen (Midland, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: King's Captain: An Alan Lewrie Naval Adventure (Alan Lewrie Naval Adventures) (Hardcover)

As a huge fan of this series, I was a bit disappointed in the last installment (Jester's Fortune) as I felt there was just not enough of the action or womanizing that made the first few novels so much fun. King's Captain also suffers a bit from this, but in place of the action we get to see Lewrie mature some. Rather than one novel after another in which the character stays the same but just rises in rank (which, considering how good the first books were, wouldn't be all that bad) Lambdin is showing Lewrie turning from his rakish former self into a family man, even if Alan does chafe a bit in the presence of his own children. I could wish for a bit more of the old ramcat in the future, but King's Captain did keep my interest, and I enjoyed seeing how Lewrie dealt with mutineers, and how he reacted to a bit of his past coming back to haunt him. Now that he's been made post, and has a new frigate to command, perhaps we will get to see Lewrie in a few more adventures that bring him the prize money he always seems to need.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Closer to Patrick O'Brian's High Literary Standards, June 21, 2001

By 

John Kwok (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: King's Captain: An Alan Lewrie Naval Adventure (Alan Lewrie Naval Adventures) (Hardcover)

While "Kings Captain" won't replace O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series for literary quality, it does rise towards the latter with its political intrigue. Lambdin has given the reader a fascinating look at what living conditions were like in England in 1797, and how they set the stage for the Royal Navy mutinies at Spithead and Nore. Newly promoted Captain Lewrie comes across as a younger, more earnest Jack Aubrey in this fine Napoleonic era yarn. Those who mourn O'Brian's passing and seek new naval adventures may not be disappointed at all in the latest installment in the Alan Lewrie naval adventure series.