rusty_halo | Beat to Quarters & Master and Commander

I’ve started reading British naval historical novels set in the Napoleonic era. (I think this is a result of running out of Sharpe books and so moving from land to sea. That and an annoying subway commute.)

I finished C. S. Forester’s Beat to Quarters last week.

It was mostly an enjoyable adventure story, which took a while to get into but ended up gripping me once the action got going. The battle sequences were riveting, and I was able to follow them easily without knowing much of the naval jargon. I was most surprised by how well-written the lead was; he's a brilliantly competent captain but an alternately adorably and annoyingly insecure man. I liked how much the book focused on exploring Hornblower's character and on the love story. (It did take a lot of effort to overlook the egregious racism and sexism, but, you know, historical novel.)

Now I'm about a quarter of the way into Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander. Is it just my slash goggles, or is this supposed to be a love story? Because, wow. Ho!yay galore. I'm not getting much from Jack Aubrey at the moment, but Stephen Maturin looks like he's going to be a really cool character. I have to say, though, that I'm finding a lot of the naval jargon in this one to be flat out incomprehensible, but the characters and plot are enough to keep me enjoying it anyway. I'll reserve judgment until I finish.

After I finish Master and Commander, I'll decide which series to continue reading. I liked the Hornblower character best, but I like the Aubrey/Maturin relationship best. So we'll see. :)

Current Mood: thoughtful emoticon

thoughtful

Originally published at rusty-halo.com. Please click here to comment.