Customer Reviews

Kydd: The Admiral's Daughter

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

While reading this work, I was struck by what must have been a Herculean research effort. The myriad details of the English coast, and the look into the vast differences between social classes was excellent. However, the fact that I noted the quality of the underlying research effort while I was reading the story says something about the quality of this reading experience. When I read Kydd, I expect to be transported back into that time. Supporting details are important, but they should not impinge on the overall story line and the quality of the reading experience. The balance between the supporting details and the ability of the story line to dominate your attention seemed to be a bit off in this effort.

I got the impression that the author hurried the last twenty percent of the final story. This might explain my dissatisfaction with how the story concludes. The entire book seemed to be setting up a battle royal with the primary protagonist, but instead ended up with a particularly non satisfying, and I must say unrealistic ending to that particular aspect of the story line. For example, its understandable that Kydd's men were not carrying fire arms, but their protagonists?? The highly competent enemy basically falls on Kydd's sword??

Kydd's complete lack of social sensibilities ends up causing considerable harm to his and his Admirals social position. This quite rightly earns Kydd his first true enemy, an Admiral no less. Yet when Kydd suffers the grounding of his ship, and then is not present for several days to take care of final repairs, the Admiral responds by removing Kydd's privilege to sleep off his ship?? This before Kydd has any victories... I would think the Admiral would have been well justified to remove Kydd from command at that point, particularly when the Admiral would know that would be the worse punishment for Kydd.

I also note that the Kydd novels seem to be developing a familiar pattern where Kydd snatches personal despair from the jaws of victory. I really like the Kydd character. I hope the author does better on the next journey. Perhaps the in-shore squadron for the next go?

This book disappointed me because the author has the main character take an action which is completely outside of the personality of the intelligent and ambitious man so far portrayed. Also, that action was unthinkable and socially unrecoverable for a gentleman of the early 19th Century. Sadly, the book was demonstrating that navagating the waters of society at that time was as difficult and complicated as commanding a sailing vessel. This was ruined by the sudden and unrealistic turn of events. I hope the author does not repeat this mistake in his next volume.

THE KIDD SERIES HAS BEEN PROMISING IN TRACING THE PROGRESS OF A PRESSED MAN FROM FO'CASTLE TO QUARTERDECK, AND HIS CHALLENGES IN LEARNING HIS NAVAL TRADE WHILE ALSO ENCOUNTERING A HARDENED UNFORGIVING CLASS SYSTEM. IN ADMIRAL'S DAUGHTER, THE AUTHOR LOSES TOUCH WITH HIS HERO, LOSSES TOUCH WITH THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SEA STORIES TO THE READERS OF THIS SERIES, AND PROVES HIMSELF INEPT AND UNCONVINCING INEPT IN WRITING ABOUT WOMEN. HIS AFTERFORWARD LEADS ME TO BELIEVE THAT SUCCESS MADE HIM LAZY AND SELF-INDULGENT. THIS IS REALLY A DREADFUL BOOK.

Readers looking for a naval adventure may be disappointed. The novel seems to be more about time ashore and romantic entanglements. Captain Frederick Hoffman's "A Sailor of King George" has discussions about an officer's tendency to spend time on excursions ashore.

The time is 1803, and the fleet has been mobilized. Details of the time period and actual events will be found in "The War for all the Oceans" by Roy Adkins and Lesley Adkins. Commander Kydd is back in command of a sloop, but finds himself chasing privateers and smugglers along the English coastline between Lands End and Plymouth. Most of the activity at sea is against the elements, and you learn a lot about the coast of Cornwall. There is some activity against smugglers, similar to the details found in C. Northcote Parkinson's "Devil to Pay," and a little action against a privateer. That is interspersed with Kydd's social and remantic entanglements and his relationships with his sister and with his friend Renzi.

The novel has some well researched details about sailing in bad weather, the hazards of the coast of Cornwall, life in fishing villages, and the English class structure. That is counterbalanced by the fact that it sometimes seems to be a novel in search of a plot. The main character, Kydd, has some triumphs and tragedy, but it can be hard to find a central focus unless you are interested in his love live.

In cases where naval action occurs, it seems a little brief, almost like an afterthought.

This latest Kydd novel was a real disappointment. The plot consists of many short (1-2 page) subplots comprising Kydd's lengthy, immature romantic adventures, with almost no naval action. Here's an officer who "growls" at his men and officers, pining like a moonstruck child over his possible entry into high society. Worse, Stockwin's "Maturin" clone, Renzi, has become, in this novel and the preceeding Australian adventure, a genuine nutcase. An interesting character in the earlier novels has evolved (or perhaps degenerated is a better word) into an entirely uninteresting piece of baggage. My reading of the series may end with this book - I'll have to read the reviews on his next 5-6 novels before I purchase another. I just don't know (or like) where this series is going.

Julian Stockwin's "The Admiral's Daughter" is the eighth book in his Kydd series. These books are set in the Napoleonic-era Royal Navy and follow in the same vein as C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower and Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin books.

In "The Admiral's Daughter," Commander Kydd, based in England for the first time in a while, faces various challenges: the challenge of commanding a ship with a war-time mission, the challenge of gaining acceptance in British high society, and of course the challenge of winning over a lady. Unfortunately, this book does not live up to the earlier Kydd novels, as there is too much stilted action ashore and not enough action at sea.

Also, the reader would have benefited from a map in the book - unless he was infinitely familiar with the Cornish coast or lugged an atlas around instead.

This is a very good series and I will continue to read future books, but "The Admiral's Daughter" is one of the weakest published so far. I know that Stockwin can write better ones and look forward to the next one.

It's 1803 and Thomas Kydd, once a pressed man, subsequently a quarterdeck officer in the Royal Navy by his own talents (and more than a little luck), now commands a brig-sloop, an unrated vessel much too small to have a place in the line of battle. Kydd, having been stranded ashore following his adventures in the Mediterranean and left unemployed by the Peace of Amiens, is now back in command and finds himself assigned to exactly the sort of duty his ship was designed for: Patrolling the southern coast of England and watching for incursions by privateers as well as French National ships. He is also to assist in the government's never-ending campaign to suppress smuggling. Only a very small fraction of goods brought into the country at this time ever paid duties, which taxes were the sole support of Britain's navy -- and smuggling, as Stockwin accurately portrays it, was not a romantic endeavor but a case of often violent organized crime. This is Kydd's first experience of his country's very difficult home waters and a hair-raising time he has of it, too. The story follows his pursuit of a particular privateer and its extremely skilled captain, who turns out not to be what one would expect, and his initially fumbling attempts to catch the Cornish smugglers in the act. Ashore, he becomes enamored of Persephone, the daughter of his admiral, whose plane of existence is several levels above his. Kydd can be devious when he wants to be and he gradually wins over not only the girl -- the catch of the season -- but her protective mother. And then everything gets turned topsy-turvy when he meets someone else. Will Kydd really destroy his own career and his chances to move up in society? Will his sister and his closest friend ever speak to him again? (The latter, Nicholas Renzi, now reincarnated as a "ethnical" philosopher, is becoming a narrative liability in the series and probably should be sent back to Australia.) This eighth book in the series is somewhat episodic (but so is life in the military in wartime) and deals more with matters of the heart than with the French (we never actually see a French ship in the entire book), but it's still rather weak and soapy compared to those that have gone before -- and the author again shows a tendency to rush the ending in an unconvincing and reader-annoying manner. And the ending is much darker than has been the author's habit.

This book is first of all a soap opera and secondly a sea adventure. It probably is first rate soap opera and a second rate sea adventure. Having said that I would say second rate is a bit harsh on the sea adventure. I enjoyed the limited sea action scenes in the book. I do hate soap operas. I am a huge fan of Patrick O'Brian and read every one of his books. This book disappointed me so much because I felt that Stockwin was a fresh new author that had the flavor of O'Brian. It was soap opera like predictable. It seems that this book and his next are similar to one of O'Brian's novels, which was difficult to read but had a great ending. Let us hope that is the case. I am taking a break from Stockwin to save up my energy before reading Privateer's Revenge. I am rooting for Stockwin to write a great read like his previous books.

The tangled romance of Kydd, who rises from the ranks to command and to woo an admiral's daughter. More a land than a sea adventure.

As usual Stockwin has pulled from the depths yet another intriguing novel, with a blending of characters and events that keep you turning the pages.