Ramage's Challenge (The Lord Ramage Novels) (Paperback)

by Dudley Pope (Author)
Key Phrases: poop lantern, quarterdeck ladder, quarterdeck rail, Sir Henry, Santo Stefano, General Cargill (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Takes over the helm from Hornblower. -- Daily Mirror

Product Description
His first command, thrust upon him in the grim heat of battle, led Captain Lord Ramage to a daring rescue on the shores of Tuscany. Now, years later, he is faced with new orders returning him to the Mediterranean. Since the outbreak of fresh hostilities between Britain and France, Admiralty spies have been hunting for British officers and allies trapped on the mainland, among them Ramage's first love, Gianna, the Marchesa di Volterra. Reports from these spies send Ramage back to the Tuscan coast, where Bonaparte holds a group of hostages for an unknown fate. But have the Admiralty's sources found the hostages' true prison? Still grieving over the disappearance of his wife, Sarah, Ramage must lead the daring crew of the Calypso into enemy waters, venture deep inland where Napoleon's invincible armies wait, locate the hostages, and- against all odds-bring them to safety!

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: McBooks Press (March 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159013012X
• ISBN-13: 978-1590130124
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #207,713 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Should be renamed "READER'S Challenge", June 26, 2008

By	Dr J (Salem, OR United States) - See all my reviews

This is one of the oddest books I've read in the Royal Navy genre. Pope must have been out to lunch when he wrote this one. There are three things that make this such a weak book. First, Pope keeps repeating himself. We're told something, and a few pages later, we get exactly the same thing. Did Pope just forget what he had written? Although this series really needs to be read in order, Pope does give enough review in each book for each to be read by itself. But within the same book?
Secondly, the premise of the story is just not very interesting; Ramage is sent out to rescue some admirals, generals, and lords who were vacationing in France during the peace and are captured and interned in Italy. He rescues the men through a ruse, but their wives are kept somewhere else (more about this later). The battle is good, but too short. And ya gotta read a LOT to get to the short battle. All in all, it's just not very interesting. Finally, execution of the story is absolutely ridiculous. Ramage has orders from on high to rescue the officials--no mention of their wives. After the initial rescue, he has followed his orders to the letter of the law and can return to England. The question remains whether he'll rescue the wives as well. The silly part is that none, not one, of the men try to take over or even convince him to do so! Even the admiral sits by and watches Ramage mull everything over in his mind. Either these guys are fools or don't care much about their wives. I don't know many men who would just let their wives rot in jail--wouldn't every guy pull rank (orders be damned!), take over the ship and rescue his wife? Of course! The whole thing is just plain silly.
Repetition, dullness, and silliness make this a weak, very weak, book.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Back to the Beginning, December 20, 2002

By	tertius3 (MI United States) - See all my reviews

Ramage and his happy crew sail back to adventure off the Tuscan coast of Italy again, haunts where he first rescued the beautiful Gianna, the Marchesa of Volterra, escaping from the heel of Napolean. Now she's presumed to be his victim again, but will Ramage happen upon traces of her, or of the wife he married just before she disappeared at sea? In the meantime he has been tasked by the Navy to rescue some noble (and well-hidden) hostages, and he must try several ruses to outwit the clever French. This story and its allusions will make more sense if you've read Ramage no. 1 (and the rest of the series).

Among the interesting vignettes Pope loved to slip in are how to up anchor on a lee shore or cast a log line to determine ship's speed. Usual McBooks excellence in typography, with those lovely swash capitals (oops, the swashbucklers appear in no. 17). This time the cover art is misleading, since this is another story featuring Ramage's ingenuity, guile, tact, and luck rather than bloodthirsty battle.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Weak link in the Ramage chain, October 12, 2002

By	James L. Duppenthaler (Geneva, Switzerland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've read all the Ramage novels and I'm a fan. This is just a friendly suggestion to the reader that when you get to this one you might consider to proceed rapidly through the first half of the book. Read the first sentence of each paragraph and then decide whether to read the whole paragraph or not. The author gets especially carried away with descriptions of things we, the seeker of naval action, don't give a damn about -- local vegetation, birds, geographical names (and their histories). Mr Pope can be forgiven for waxing on about his interests (because he has given us so many exciting stories up to this point), but I voted to pass up large portions.

Make no mistake, the exciting part does eventually arrive, but even then is a bit rushed and abbreviated. And, the ending definitely leaves a bunch of loose threads (e.g., what happens to the duel between Ramage and the obnoxious General?).