Lords of the Ocean [Paperback]

James L. Nelson (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Pocket Books, nd (1999), c (1999)
• ASIN: B000GQWATW
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

More About the Author

I was born in a log cabin in the sea-side town of Lewiston, Maine.... Okay, maybe not a log cabin. And maybe Lewiston isn't exactly a seaside town. Despite that, my interest in ships and the sea began early, reading Hornblower and building ship models. In high school I built a fifteen foot sailboat, and with a friend, an eighteen foot canoe.
I graduated from Lewiston High School in 1980, if not with honors then at least with a diploma. After a year of hitchhiking and motorcycling around the country, I attended the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, later transferring to UCLA Film School (Official Motto: '...but what I really want to do is direct...') , from which I graduated in 1986. After working in the television industry for two years, I realized that I could not stand a) the television industry, b) Los Angeles and c) being ashore. In 1988 I joined the crew of the Golden Hinde (rhymes with mind), a replica of Sir Francis Drake's vessel of 1577. There I met a foretop person named Lisa Page, whom I beat out for the job of bosun. Lisa vowed then and there to marry me and make me pay for that for the rest of my life.
Leaving the Hinde in Houston, Texas, I worked aboard the brig Lady Washington (after my time she played the Interceptor in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie) and the ship 'HMS' Rose, (Surprise in Master and Commander, also after my time) I sailed aboard Rose for two years, as Able Bodied Seaman and Third Mate.
In 1993, I 'swallowed the anchor.' Lisa Page, made good on her threat and we married that year. The following year I finished By Force of Arms, my first book. I've been a full-time writer since then, with fourteen books either published or in the process of being published. My books have sold in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain. My 2003 title Glory in the Name was selected as the winner of the American Library Association's W.Y. Boyd Award for Excellence in Military Fiction.
Recently, my writing has expanded to include non-fiction. My first work of non-fiction was Reign of Iron, a detailed look at the ironclads Monitor and Merrimack (Virginia). More recently I completed a book about the Revolutionary war naval battle that took place on Lake Champlain. That book is called Benedict Arnold's Navy.
Lisa and I now live in Harpswell, Maine (which really is a seaside town), with our four children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lords of the Ocean, September 21, 2000

By 

CCPO E. Johnson, USNR (Oak Park, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lords of the Ocean (Revolution at Sea Saga, Book 4) (Hardcover)

As an officer in the United States Navy, I was often frustrated with modern naval fiction. The great writers, O'Brian and Forrester wrote about the Royal Navy and mentioned the US Navy only in passing. Thank God for James L. Nelson! Now American readers can be proud of their own great naval heritege which Nelson truly brings to life! I couldn't put Lords of the Ocean down. Filled with action,intrigue, and historical accuracy, Lords of the Ocean is a book that I will be recommending to commanding officers to put on their command reading lists.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good book for the Arm-Chair Privateer.., September 29, 1999

By 

Victor H. Rossi - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lords of the Ocean (Revolution at Sea Saga, Book 4) (Hardcover)

James Nelson takes his fictional hero, Captain Biddlecomb, into new realms of adventure in the fourth book of his revolution-at-sea series. The first chapter is a riveting account of Washingtons retreat from Long Island, in which our hero plays a key role. In keeping with historical fiction, the book borrows from the privateering escapades of Jean Paul Jones and the European political activites of Benjamin Franklin. Privateering is always perilous but more so when raiding the shipping of a country that considers the raiders nothing more than renegade subjects. This is a good read, but only four stars because politics [even historical politics]is a subject that I read to get away from. The book changes venues often, but stays with events of history. Nelson can be incredibly creative and at times you get the feeling that here is a period fiction writer that is staying too close to historical facts. Of course, if he was writing period fiction, someone would complain that he doesn't follow the facts closely enough. Buy the book and decide for yourself..

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lords of the Ocean, June 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Lords of the Ocean (Revolution at Sea Trilogy #4) (Paperback)

I really enjoyed this book. I think it's probably his best work since By Force of Arms. Nelson is doing even better at character development, which makes this book a highlight for me. Not only does he bring Biddlecomb across as a very human sort of hero, he also paints a very vivid picture of many of the remaining cast of characters. His description of the on sea actions remain, as they always have been, superb. I would not have thought that a book centering around getting Benjamin Franklin to France would have been all that interesting, nor would I have thought you could work a lightning rod into a good sea story. Nelson, however, pulls both off admirably.