Customer Reviews

The Privateer's Revenge: A Kydd Sea Adventure (Kydd Sea Adventures)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Stockwin does it once again! A spell is cast over the reader to haul them into the world of Thomas Kydd, an English lad who has risen from a pressed man of the lower deck to the quarterdeck over a series of novels. This story picks up where "The Admiral's Daughter" leaves off, with Kydd in agony over the loss of his bride to be. He goes from low to lower as his career is driven upon the rocks and he must use all of his ability, strength and character to overcome these obsticles. His friend and shipmate, Nicholas Renzi, is drawn into the world of early naval intelligence and becomes a key in the struggle to overcome the injustice heaped upon Kydd. His keen mind an asset to the forces that do battle with the forces of Napoleon. In this novel we get to experience the world of privateers, letters of marque, and we learn of the many differences and similarities between them and naval service. Kydd experiences his disappointments and rewards in this journey through another stage in his life and career. I see this as a pivetal period in Kydd's life, one in which he gains strength and experience that will stand in his stead in the years and books, to come. Well done Stockwin!!!

We have just finished reading The Privateer's Revenge received 2 October 2008. Once again, Julian Stockwin delivers a thoroughly researched and wonderfully exciting page turner. My Husband and I have admired all nine Kydd books for their historical accuracy and the author's complete command of the Royal Navy in the time of the wars against Napoleon Bonaparte. The Privateer's Revenge is rich in detail, adventure and imagination. Julian Stockwin is truly the present day heir to the reputations of Patrick O'Brian and C.S Forester.

"Privateer's Revenge" is the ninth book in Julian Stockwin's "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 first book, Kydd was initially a pressed seaman, but Kydd has now earned a king's commission and command of his own ships. In "Privateer's Revenge," Kydd is sailing the Channel Islands both aboard a king's ship and in command of a privateer. Although the story stretches credulity at times, Kydd's adventures are interesting and exciting.

I do have two minor beefs with this book and the entire series: the lack of maps and the dialect Stockwin writes in. Sea-faring adventures are heavily dependent on geography, and each book has taken place in a different locale (one that Stockwin travels to to research). It would be very helpful to the reader (who, like me, may be reading the book on a nice beach or boat somewhere without easy access to an atlas or a computer) to include a basic map of the area. Also, Stockwin's conversation is written in an approximation of the dialect of the times, but I find it distracting and difficult to read.

"Privateer's Revenge" is one of the better Kydd novels with plenty of interesting subplots and action. Anyone who has enjoyed Horatio Hornblower or Patrick O'Brian will enjoy these books.

This book is a bit more down than usual, since it continues the story of "The Admiral's Daughter". Kydd's despair and suffering drag him to the edge of the abyss and Renzi is unable to help, though he is desperate to assist Kydd. We continue to see Kydd as a sympathetic and admirable character. Stockwin again delivers another voyage into the Napoleonic era and a world far different than ours, but peopled with characters we recognize all around us. The usual fascinating bits of history, the historical figures and the times all come alive once again.

Having read all the previous installments in the series, I anxiously awaited this volume. What a let down. The plot was tedious. Character development thin. Commander Kydd seems to have lost his way in life, as Stockwin lost his way with this installment. What a stinker. I will buy the next one, though, hoping for return to the previously excellent writing.

I recently received a copy of "The Privateer's Revenge" , but i have not read it yet , so this is not a review . Since none of the other reviews i read mentioned it , i thought i would let people know that "Privateer's Revenge" & "Treachery" are one & the same book . On the page that lists the authors other works , it says that "Treachery" was the release title in England . Maybe this will prevent someone from buying both & wasting money .

In this ninth book in the series, Commander Thomas Kydd, once a pressed man, then a warrant officer, and most recently captain of a sloop-of-war in British home waters, has been brought to desperate despondency by the sudden and tragic death of his fiancée. Unfortunately, Kydd has also made a bitter enemy of his port admiral by spurning his daughter in favor of a country girl. The admiral gets rid of him by sending him off to the Channel Islands -- the closest thing to exile he can devise. Kydd becomes a favorite of Sir James Saumarez, a native Guernseyman, but then is the victim of a plot to strip him of his command and he finds himself ashore and sliding fast into poverty. He refuses to return to England as long as there's any chance of identifying the villains who have ruined him -- but he may starve to death first. Meanwhile, his closest friend, Renzi, has gone off to the neighboring island of Jersey in search of employment and ends up as confidential secretary to Commodore the Prince d'Auvergne, who has been looking after exiled French royalists but who is also deeply involved in running an intelligence network in Napoleonic France. There's a plot afoot to kidnap Bonaparte, in which Renzi is caught up, to his great distaste; spying, however logically necessary, is no occupation for a gentleman. The story alternates between the two stories, with Renzi venturing behind the French lines while Kydd becomes a privateer captain, and it's not a bad narrative -- especially the practically details of financing, fitting out, and operating a privateer. However, the author makes the same error (in my opinion) that he made in Command, in which a six-month voyage from England to Australia is compressed into two or three pages. Here, the entire privateering episode, on which the book actually turns, is crammed into the last third of the book (barely 100 pages), when it should have been given its own novel. The result is that a great many supporting characters in this section are only sketched in, Kydd is made to jump from episode to episode, and his third successful voyage as a private man-'o-war isn't even described at all, but merely summarized in a single sentence after his return. It's as if Stockwin reached his page limit and was forced to throw out a couple hundred pages of expanded narrative. The stories themselves are generally first rate, the characters of Kydd and (much less so) Renzi are very well done, and the period details, both civilian and naval, drip verisimilitude. If only the author weren't in such a rush.

I consistently find Julian Stockwin to provide great adventure tales. Very accurate detail on the British sailing navy.

If you liked Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey & Steven Maturin adventures, this is as good as it gets. And it's very good.

i have read all of stockwins books. his previous book was disappointing. this book was on target. it had the taste of the sea in it. it followed the formula that made his novels a joy to read and promises more ahead.