5/5 stars – A great read. Historical naval fiction done well
I have been looking forward to this book for a while. I read some of C.S. Forester’s Hornblower and an awful lot of Alexander Kent’s Bolitho series in my late teens and early twenties and I loved the vivid pictures of naval life both depicted and was swept away by their adventures. So, a pretty tough act to follow but Roger Burnage meets the challenge admirably. The book has an interesting author’s note at the beginning which I found quite fascinating and it was a good lead into what was to follow.
The story centres around Lieutenant James Merriman. Injured in the line of duty and having lost his ship, he is travelling by carriage from the Admiralty to his home in Chester. Nursing his wound, Merriman is uncertain of his future with peace between England and France, but he is soon called into action. Given a new sloop to command with orders to patrol the Irish Sea and assist a Treasury Agent called Mr Grahame in the uncovering of any plots between Irish dissidents and the French, things soon take a dramatic turn and it falls upon young James Merriman to sort things out.
The story was written in a very engaging way. The narrative is sharp and punchy and does not dawdle between scenes with wasted exposition, and it is told with a flare for life in the late 1700s. The language and places, shops and inns all reflect life in that period and I love historical books (even fictional) that teach you a little something.
Merriman cut a stoic Britishness that made him very likeable. He is quite no-nonsense outwardly but as the reader you get to see all his doubts and worries. I loved the shipboard life. The integration of the ship’s crew and officers, working out the strengths and weaknesses of each. The language was spot on and I must say that Roger Burnage knows his ships-of-the-line. The sailing and handling of the ship were well done and the battle scenes were abruptly brutal and non-discriminatory in their carnage.
Overall, a thoroughly engaging book and I am looking forward to reading about Commander Merriman’s next adventure. If you are a fan of O’Brian, Forester or Kent and are looking for a new author in this vain then I highly recommend these books to you.
A D Green 