Suffering from Patrick O'Brian deprivation

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I miss Stephen and Jack. Can anyone help me out? Which, if any, of the other naval writers are worth reading? Or, failing that, is there some other series of historical novels featuring characters I can care about more than I do my actual, real-life friends? Is Sharpe as fab as Sean Bean makes him seem on telly? Can a person warm to Hornblower?

I can't trust the reviews on Amazon, I don't think half of those people read the books they're talking about at all.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Thursday, 15 April 2004 14:26 (twenty-one years ago)

A friend of mine is reading the Horatio Hornblower series, but I'm pretty confident that P O'B blows them away.

You could try the Nathaniel Philibrick (sp?) non-fiction stuff, like The Heart of the Sea (is that the right title?), about a whale attack and the survivors, or something Glory something, about US naval expeditions in the mid 19th-c.

― 57 7th (calstars), Thursday, 15 April 2004 14:35 (twenty-one years ago)

Try James L. Nelson he'd done a vareity of series and eras. See http://www.jameslnelson.com/

― Ike Stephenson (Ike Stephenson), Thursday, 15 April 2004 14:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, I've known other Patrick O'Brian fiends who try Hornblower afterwards, but the reports are that it's pretty humorless stuff, and the battles are not as well described. Plus it misses out that all-important secret agent stuff as well.

I have tried Nathaniel Philbrick. It just doesn't ease the pain. Hmm, I like the look of this Nelson bloke. Are the books good? Have you read any of them?

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Thursday, 15 April 2004 14:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Capt. Frederick Marryat. Both O'Brian and Forester were pretenders. Marryat lived what he wrote about (well, perhaps not Children of the New Forest, but he lived the maritime stories).

― SRH (Skrik), Thursday, 15 April 2004 17:36 (twenty-one years ago)

I'll second SRH's recommendation for Marryat. I've read ' Mr. Midshipman Easy' and , while it's light fare, he does have the credibility to have lived and written during the time period, and i believe, he served with Cochran, who is purported to be the model for Lucky Jack. I read Easy as part of the 'Heart of Oak' series of sea tales, compiled by the guy(s) who have anthologized O'brian's world in 'A sea of words' and so forth. Hard to find, but selected for their relevance to O'brain's fans. I would recommend 'The Wing and Wing' by James Fennimoor Cooper, also part of the series, a truly great story. Also, read 'Mutiny on the Bounty', 'Two years Before the Mast', a 'Race for Madmen' (about the first solo race around the world) and, as 57 7th suggested, the 'Heart of the Sea'. After those....try another genre for a while.

― Docpacey (docpacey), Thursday, 15 April 2004 19:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Okay this is a long shot recommendation - George MacDonald Frasers "Flashman" series. Fascinating and very accurate historical series covering the second half of the 19th and some of the 20th century. Main character is the Harry Flashman the bully from Tom Browns school days - who goes on to become the greatest "hero" of the british empire. Flashman is a likeable character in that "lovable rogue who would not hestitate to sell his best friend down the river (or into slavery) to save his own skin" kind of way.

― oblomov, Friday, 16 April 2004 03:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Good recommendations all. You have done well, my friends.

Oblomov, I read the Flashman books years ago, and you're right, they are great. They're probably what turned me on to the historical novel in the first place. I do remember thinking 'but these are real people! Is it legal to claim they did those things?'

I was very easily confused as a child.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Friday, 16 April 2004 11:29 (twenty-one years ago)

have you seen those "Captain Hervey of the Dragoons" books? The writer claims that they are just like the Aubrey-Maturin books, only about an officer in the dragoons, who ride horses.

I get the impression they are complete rubbish.

You know the Flashman books - in what sense is the main character actually likeable?

― DV (dirtyvicar), Wednesday, 21 April 2004 18:04 (twenty-one years ago)

I've also seen a "Midshipman Bolitho" series at bookshops that I get a rubbishy impression about as well. The Sharpe books are my airplane reading, not comparable to O'Brian really. I like the telly version better, anyway. Personally I'm eagerly anticipating "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" for my Napoleonic era secret-agent kicks. Or go with the route a friend of mine did when looking for more "real boy's own stuff" and read Dumas.

― Jocelyn (Jocelyn), Wednesday, 21 April 2004 18:35 (twenty-one years ago)

You know the Flashman books - in what sense is the main character actually likeable?

He's funny. And roguish. And resourceful. I can't remember a lot else about him. Actually, I can. He's like Blackadder. If you like Blackadder, you'd like Flashman. They're essentially not that dissimilar, except that Flashman is not quite as much of a physical coward. He just doesn't see the point of dying for king and country when you could be making a few bob and keeping your head down.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Wednesday, 21 April 2004 20:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Flashman's a rotter! From trying and failing to speak various foreign languages I envy people who can just pick up the lingo without breaking sweat (like Flashman). None of that likeable anti-hero stuff washes with me.

― Mikey G (Mikey G), Thursday, 22 April 2004 12:44 (twenty-one years ago)

To the question about Sharpe: you should defenitely try it out. The Series is a treat but only about 10 % of the books... Try starting with Rifles first, it's not too long and it should take you right in...

― Yseult, Wednesday, 5 May 2004 07:19 (twenty-one years ago)

I liked the Sharp series, especially the first half. But at the top of my list, when you're finished with O'Brian, is Jane Austen—that's who his style reminds me of mostly, when the boys aren't in battle. Everything always comes down to money, class and status, don't it?

― Donald, Wednesday, 5 May 2004 13:30 (twenty-one years ago)

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