Customer Reviews

So Near, So Far

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

 

 

_So Near, So Far_ is the weakest of the Delancey novels. None of the series are particularly strong on supporting characters and general characterization, and this one does even less. But where it really breaks down is in the plotting.

The story is made up of several distinct and disjoint episodes, which sometimes works in adventure stories, but usually there is a connecting thread or series of lessons that builds to the finish. Not here -- a chapter ends and that's it, except fot an occasional reference to prior events thrown in for forms sake.

An example: A steam driven ship and its inventor are introduced, built up, and brought back a chapter or so later. At this point -- in the course of a single page -- it is sent on a mission, damaged and sunk. (It had me thinking of the Mark Twain story where, repeatedly, inconvenient characters wander out into the yard, fall down the well, and drown.)

There are also several odd shifts in tense or point of view. It's a bit odd to suddenly find two sentences written as if from looking back over Delancey's entire career slotted into the middle of a page of present tense narration.

One of my favorite parts of books of this type are the supporting characters -- Forester's Brown and Bush, Kent's Herrick and Allday, etc. The only distinctly drawn character here is a spy -- and he is distinguished by being mysterious.

I'm a fool for this kind of story -- have read the Forester/Hornblower (multiple times), Kent/Bolitho, Parkinson/Delancey series in their entirety, all but one of the Maynard/Lamb tales, and have five of the Pope/Ramages.
The Parkinson stories are noticeably weaker than any of the other series, and _So Near, So Far_ (which was very hard to find -- many thanks McBooks for the new edition!) was a major disappointment.

The Delancey novels appear to have been written out of order. Dead Reckoning, the last novel in the series, has a copyright date that indicates it was written two years before the present novel. The present novel fills in details of Delancey's career during and immediately after the Peace of Amiens. It explains his marriage to Fiona, and his promotion to Captain. It is not great literature, but I don't think it merits the one star given by a previous reviewer (there are ratings between one and five - I reserve one star for really awful books).

While I would not recommend the novel as a stand alone novel, it is an essential part of Delancey's career if you are a Delancey fan. The main problem seems to be that the author got carried away showing off his historical knowledge, and included a bit too much detail when you wanted to get on with the action. It does have a plot, largely related to Napoleon's plan to invade England, once Delancey goes back on active duty. It involves action on shore, secret agents, etc.
It does get into the English political system, covers patronage and influence, and raises the interisting question as to whether it would be good or bad if the Prime Minister was killed, i.e., would the war progress better with someone else in charge.

Patrick O'Brien wrote a similar novel, "Post Captain," in the Aubrey series, covering the same time period, but with better writing. Dudley Pope wrote a similar novel, "Ramage & the Guillotine," putting Ramage ashore gaining information about a French invasion fleet. You have to check copyright dates to determine who was borrowing ideas from whom.