August 2, 2010
The sails are mostly slack in Stockwin's latest Thomas Kydd sea adventure. It's 1805, and as the British prepare for Napoleon's expected invasion of England, Kydd, a rising star in the Royal Navy, is given command of a frigate and ordered to join admiral Lord Horatio Nelson's forces in the Mediterranean. Much of the story is taken up with historical naval activity such as the British blockade of French ports and Nelson's pursuit of the French fleet across the Atlantic and back, with all of the sailing leading up to the Battle of Trafalgar, where the British defeat the combined French and Spanish fleets. Unfortunately, Kydd plays no part in the epic sea battle. In fact, Kydd and his ship spend most of this tale patrolling and carrying messages between fleets. Stockwin is a master of vivid, accurate narratives of seamanship and Napoleonic era naval warfare, but the lack of suspense and uneven bouts of action leave this series installment feeling limp.
September 15, 2010
Some novels have a built-in audience. Fans of the Thomas Kydd series, which has seen its hero go from a young wig maker to commander of a British naval vessel squaring off against Napol'ons invading forces, will flock to this eleventh installment and with good reason: the books, which incorporate actual historical events, are well-written mixtures of high-seas adventure and character-based drama. In this novel, which retells the Battle of Trafalgar from a new perspective, Kydd is instrumental in Horatio Nelsons victory in one of historys most famous sea battles. Its impossible not to enjoy the bookeven newcomers to the series will be caught up in the spectacle, in Stockwins colorful characters. Ideal for fans of Dewey Lambdin, Bernard Cornwell, and, of course, Patrick OBrian.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)