Customer Reviews

A King's Commander: The Alan Lewrie Naval Adventures #7 (Bk. 7)

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

 

 

In this seventh installment of the adventures of Dewey Lambden's Alan Lewrie naval adventure series, our hero is finally and permanently "on his own bottom", with command of a captured French corvette renamed, in British service, HMS Jester after Adm. Hood's opinion of Lewrie himself. Our often unorthodox hero continues his association with Capt Horatio Nelson along with the proto-spy Twig, the villainous Capt Choudas, and with some regrets, the lithesome Phoebe Arentino. As the coalition moves to choke the French Republican Government's attempts to conquer its neighbors, Lewrie finds HMS Jester assigned to Nelson's squadron interdicting Republican army's plans to resupply by sea. In the mean time Lewrie has given up a doomed attempt at chastity, and set up a home away from home with Phoebe. Through it all his active conscience continues to pain him with thoughts of Caroline and the children back in England. Throughout this series Lambden has continued to surprise us with the depth of character of Alan Lewrie. At the surface he is bluff, bold, confident beyond the level of cockiness, but underneath he struggles with self doubt. With this installment, Lambden takes Lewrie to a new level of internal struggle as he fights with himself to be faithful to his family in the face of overwhelming temptation and even orders from above. All of the action, adventure and intrigue are here, seen through the eyes of rich, fully developed characters. Robert Heinlein once said "good science fiction is good fiction." I would like to say that good historical fiction is good fiction. Dewey Lambden continues, with this book, to write good fiction.

Taking place in 1794, A King's Commander is an excellent novel about naval war in the Mediteranean. In the book, newly appointed Commander Alan Lewrie leaves the loving arms of his wife Caroline to sail his sloop, HMS Jester, to Corsica. There he becomes re-involved with his French mistress, Phoebe, and Captain Horatio Nelson in his campaign to wrest control of the island from the French.
I really enjoyed this book. Lewrie is an interesting and entertaining character, a combination of Horatio Hornblower, Jack Aubrey, and Harry Flashman. And, while he can sometimes be a jerk, he at least realizes he's being a jerk. He also seems to be evolving with each new book. Dewey Lambdin likes to flesh out his supporting cast too (including Nelson), taking care to make them seem like real people and not just props for Lewrie. (Though Lewrie's main French antagonist, a returnee from a previous novel and suitably dangerous, is a bit too evil.)
The book has a bit of everything: desperate naval battles, political intrigue and espionage, illicit romance, and humor. The only part I had a tough time with was when Lewrie's lover Phoebe speaks. The author has her talk half English and half French which makes for heavy going. But it doesn't happen too often and with a bit of work the reader can mostly figure out what she's saying.
If you like the works of C.S. Forester, George MacDonald Fraser, or Bernard Cornwell, I think you'll really enjoy this book too.

Must say, there was less of the "English with a French accent" in this book than the last. Still, there was enough to slow things down. Other than that, a good read. Well, off to #8 I go.

The Alan Lewrie Naval Adventures, are,perhaps one of the best series in this genre ever created. The author manages to prserve the flavor of the period without resorting to the wordy pomposity of an O'Brien. Lewrie is an engaging rogue. Fully as good as Kent's "Bolitho" series--which I also reccomend. THis Novel sees Our Hero in his first real independent command, the Sloop Of War HMS "Jester" and off to Corsica. A first class read

If you have not read any of the "Lewrie" stories you are in for a treat. Start with the first one "The Kings Coat" and the then follow this young officer's career. While some of the stories are better than others, as a collection they are superb. The characters are well developed and most of the stories move along nicely. May be addictive. Well researched in Naval history and architecture. Thanks Dewey!

A great read. The adventures of Captain Lewrie keeps the reader's interest from beginning to end.