Hornblower and the Atropos (Hardcover)

The book's main disappointment for me is the absence of the redoubtable William Bush who plays such an important an interesting role as Hornblower's foil and partner in most of the novels. I missed Bush. I think you will, too.

As occurs increasingly in the books in the series, Hornblower comes into contact with famous people of the day. Hornblower's success with the Hotspur has won him friends in the Admiralty, and even higher places.

You will enjoy this book much more if you refer to the maps in the Hornblower Companion as you read this book.

Much of the appeal of the Hornblower series is involved in the naval engagements. While this book will make it seem like all of that is going to be missed here, just be patient.

One of the most interesting parts of this book comes when Hornblower uncharacteristically makes a rather large mistake, and has to face up to the fact that he may have no honorable way out. This situation reminds me of the Star Trek episode where Captain Kirk describes how he handled the insoluble problem provided to each cadet at Starfleet Academy. Yes, there is always a way out.

Be curious about all that is around you, and consider how it can be turned to new advantages . . . when you change your assumptions about what is most important!

We see him on a long canal boat ride and explore the great Canal network that revolutionized England in the days before rail. It's not what we're used to but we share the marvel of Hornblower, although ours is a model of past ingenuity while his is of the present.

We see him planning an elaborate event again in an error without stopwatches and radios. We see the complexity of the event and all that must be done to make it.

We see that details of refitting to a greater degree then anywhere else in the series as he gets a ship with a crew not ready and a dull first officer, the reliable Mr. Bush is of course aboard a ship which fought at Trafalgar and Mr. John Jones proves as ordinary as his name.

The climax of the story takes place in Turkish waters with a dozen twists and turns to make a mission successful.

This volume gives us backround of all the tasks of a captain including some of the more mundane ones. Its a different view that any other we'll get till much later in the series when those details will not be his problem.

If you demand non stop action then this volume of the series will be slow to start for you, if not then you'll like it as much as I did.