Customer Reviews

Ramage and the Dido

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

 

 

I'm glad to have this volume in print again, but it's perhaps the most disappointing in the series. It's the last installment in an unfinished saga by the late Dudley Pope. Everything here is MUCH too easy for Ramage (still a captain) and his trusty, rich, and invulnerable Calypso crew, now shipping out in the Dido, a formidable 3rd rate "74" ship of the line. In some ways (simple lingo, explanatory vignettes, lots of action) this last volume is an easy introduction to nautical fiction. Or one could say there's lots of padding, one too many books in the series. After the unique setting of the penultimate novel #17, fighting the exotic Saracens, Pope is so tired that he even has Ramage return to the scene of one of his greatest accomplishments in the Caribbean (#7 Ramage's Diamond) and substantially repeats the same achievements to a still finer degree. Ramage fights five nearly bloodless ship battles and leads a cutting out expedition in boats. It's pretty incredible, Ramage is never at a loss for tricks and the French always are. I never felt much tension, suspense, or terror in the story, not strong points in Pope's prose anyway.

Yes... A cruel ending for this great string of novels... Dudley Pope died before he could finish this series and the ending of the last one "...Dido" is a gigantic cliffhanger... Clearly he intended to go on to the end of the "Age of Sail"
This literally screams for a "Fan Fiction" addendum... So get busy all you budding writers.... Ramage has yet to "hoist his flag at the mizzen"

"BarBQue"

This is the last installment of Dudley Pope's Ramage series. Our hero, Ramage, has finally been given command of a ship of the the line. He is sent ot the Caribbean to deal with the French there. He singlehandedly wins the war for the British in the Caribbean. As another reviewer has mentioned, everything really is too easy for Ramage. Never a tight spot he can't get out of very easily. Why then five stars? This series is really not meant to be very realistic. It's a superman sort of series. The hero always gets out of every jam with little problem. If you keep that in mind, you can enjoy the series. The other reason for five stars is that there is plenty of action--lots of fighting in this book. Not a lot of down time. Also, it's an easy read--the language is easy and it just keeps moving along. So, if you want a simple, hero-oriented series to introduce yourself to the naval fiction genre, this is for you. If you want blood and guts, real life navy, then you might want to move on to something else.
I am a bit surprised that this is the last in the series. The last line even indicates that there is more in store for Ramage. No loose ends are tied up. Yes, I know that Pope passed away--but nearly a decade after thsi was published. Seems like he could have pumped out a few more and had Ramage finally retire. Oh well. It's been fun to read this series. I've reviewed all the books in the series, so have a look at them to see if this is what you want. I enjoyed them.