Booklog 7/2024: C.S. Forester: A Ship of the Line - Hornblower #7

[jacey]

Audiobook.

This is the second published Hornblower book, but the seventh in chronological order, set in 1810 at the height of the Napoleonic wars. Captain Horatio Hornblower, now aged 39, has at last been given command of a ship-of-the-line, the 74-gun Sutherland, an unwieldy 2-decker of Dutch design, considered the ugliest and least desirable ship in the British Navy. He’s brought his old crew with him (mostly) but the Sutherland is under-manned and Hornblower needs to recruit or press (or steal from other ships) 250 men, and it would be nice if some of them had actually seen the sea before. His mission – to sail the Catalonian coast with the fleet, is likely to be for 2 years, so he leaves his dull wife, Maria, behind, pregnant. By the time he sees her again he’s likely to have a toddling child – he hopes. His exploits include protecting ships of the East India Company convoy, and doing damage to the enemy both at sea and along the coast. There’s a surprise ending which has sent me straight to the next book, Flying Colours. Christian Rodska’s reading is clear and appropriate.

Comments

[watervole]

I really love Christian Rodska as a narrator.

[jacey]

He certainly fits in with the Hornblower ethos.