NekkidBlogger Bookblog » historical fiction

The Guineaman, by Richard Woodman

Nekkidblogger — Fri, 13 May 2011 19:30:32 +0000

The Guineaman is the first book in Richard Woodman’s William Kite trilogy. It is set in the middle of the eighteenth century. The main protagonist is a young man, son of a town apothecarist, who is forced to flee the scene of a crime, and heads to the coast of England where he is offered a position as surgeon on a ship involved in the slave trade.

William Kite takes it the job and thereafter endures the perils of the slave trade and his repugnance for it; yellow fever and the rapid promotion its toll among his shipmates brings him; the terrible treatment of the slaves by the slavers; the rapes of the female slaves; and in the end falling in love with a slave girl he names Puella.

Finally he lands in the West Indies, at the outbreak of the Seven Years’ War. He has enough of the slave trade already. And now he insists on quitting his job, and goes ashore with his beloved Puella.

There he is befriended by Mr. Mulgrave, a wealthy, civilized, rather Dickensian merchant, and offered a job in his trading company as his clerk. He does his job admirably, and soon becomes a wealthy man – a merchant, ship captain, and a trader. And eventually he sets his course for England with his black bride to attempt to clear his name and start a new life.

This is a well-written and in many ways good maritime fiction book. Richard Woodman knows naval history and he obviously has studied the slave trade as well. The Guineaman is an interesting book, with an interesting protagonist. The plot is intriguing. Also, I founds it interesting to read a martime fiction book where the hero is not a navy officer. This is a book I recommend for fans of Richard Woodman and readers interested in historical maritime fiction.

New books by Julian Stockwin and Bernard Cornwell – historical fiction

Nekkidblogger — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 22:21:01 +0000

Two new, very interesting releases of historical fiction books:

Invasion: A Kydd Sea Adventure, by Julian Stockwin

Julian Stockwin is releasing the 10th book of the very popular Kydd series. Now rumors fly of Napoleon’s planned invasion of England, and British naval commander Thomas Kydd is sent to liaise with American inventor, Robert Fulton, who has created “infernal machines” that can wreak mass destruction from a distance. The new inventions by Fulton are the submarine and torpedo. Fulton strongly believes in their power, but they require further development and testing. And despite his own scruples, believing that standing man-to-man is the only honorable way to fight, Kydd agrees to take part in the crucial testing of these weapons of mass destruction, which just may decide the fate of England.

A very interesting new release, to say the least! Link to order the book: Stockwin’s Invasion (Kydd Series) from Amazon US, amazon UK (to be released October 15, 2009).

The Burning Land (Saxon Chronicles, book 5), by Bernard Cornwell

Cornwell is releasing the fifth volume in the bestselling Alfred series. We are now at the end of the ninth century. Even though they have failed previously, the Danes still want to conquer Wessex. And now KingAlfred of Wessex is in bad health, and his heir has no experience. The Danes see a new chance. They are lead by a great warrior, Harald Bloodhair, a new leader of the Vikings. On the side of Alfred, Uthred, his very reluctant warlord, is perhaps the greatest asset. He is cunning and smart, and leads Harald into a trap defeats the Vikings at Farnham in Surrey. This is a major defeat for the otherwise victorious and proud Vikings, perhaps the greatest ever. The Burning Land is a well crafted novel which tells the story of how England survived the Viking onslaught, and a magnificient new tale from Bernard Cornwell.

Available for order at Amazon UK: The Burning Land

A Calculated Risk, by Katherine Neville

Nekkidblogger — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 21:40:21 +0000

I read this book largely because I have recently read The Eight by the same author, and liked it a lot. However, this is a much shorter book than Neville’s first book, The Eight, somewhat more humorous, and not nearly as good. To some extent it may be read as a satire on the world of banking.

The heroine of A Calculated Risk is Verity Banks. Verity is a computer expert. Currently she is a vice-president of
the Bank of the World in San Francisco, in charge of Electronic Funds Transfer.

When her boss turns down her proposal for a tighter security system at the bank, Verity decides to break through security, hide some money where no one will find it, and then put it back, to show everyone how easily it can be done. However, when she seeks advice from her former mentor, Dr. Zoltan Tor, he surprises her by giving her a challenge that adds a new twist to her own plan: Which of them can steal $1 billion, and invest it to earn $30 million in only three months? (The money will be returned, and no one will be injured.)

If Verity wins, Tor will get her a job at the Federal Reserve that she wants. If Tor wins, Verity will come to New York to work for him. However, while working on their scams, Tor and Verity stumble on a plan by members of the Vagabond Club, a club of CEOs of major corporations, to take over the Bank of the World in a financial coup, possibly sending the U.S. economy into a tailspin.

I enjoyed A Calculated Risk, but in my opinion it is not in the same league as The Eight. Both Zoltan Tor and Verity Banks are very likable characters, and the relationship between them interesting. As well, the plot is interesting, but the drive is somewhat lacking. The pace is a tad too slow and the side-stories not quite interesting enough.

The Bomb Vessel, by Richard Woodman

Nekkidblogger — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 03:26:23 +0000

This is a book in the excellent and very realistic historical fiction series from the Age of Sail by Richard Woodman, featuring Nathaniel Drinkwater. This books, The Bomb Vessel takes place early in the Napoleonic Wars, and covers the time period from September 1800 to July 1801. Nathaniel Drinkwater has returned from the Red Sea and is on shore without a ship. However, by a stroke of fortune he is given command HMS Virago, a bomb tender which is a 40-year-old former mortar ship. In outfitting the ship, Drinkwater smartly transforms her into a bomb vessel by loading heavy mortars into her hold.

At the same time, he is also forced to deal with a problematic situation that his brother has gotten himself into by murdering his girlfriend and her lover.

Virago, with other known characters such as Mr. Rogers, Tregembo and Mr. Q, joins Nelson’s fleet bound for Copenhagen and Drinkwater has ample opportunity to distinguish himself at the first Battle of Copenhagen in April 1801. And being a man that wants to make something of himself, he throws himself into whatever action he can find. In the end, he is personally congratulated by Horatio Nelson and promoted to Commander.

Drinkwater has developed into a tough and skillful man. As Tregembo states, “Men don’t cross the lieutenant too successfully, zur, leastaways not sensible men”‘. He is a tough and quite formidable fighting man even though his wounds from 20 years of service start to bother him. Drinkwater is quicker tempered and less introspective than Horatio Hornblower, but still in many ways reminds me of him. He is very willing to take risks, has a good understanding of tactics, and no fear in battle. In many ways Drinkwater is a more believable hero than Hornblower!

The Bomb Vessel has great descriptions of the Battle of Copenhagen. As well, Woodman’s descriptions of the historical characters involved seem to be very good. The book is a quick but very entertaining read. One of the better in a very good series!

Audacity, Privateer Out of Portsmouth, by J. E. Fender

Nekkidblogger — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:23:05 +0000

This is an interesting nautical fiction novel by J.E. Fender. This is the second volume of the Frost Saga, the story of one Geoffrey Frost, a mariner from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, who is a great navigator, excellent naval commander, and a fierce armed combatant. He is also a gentleman, somewhat philosophical and learned in history, philosophy, and other fields. And, finally, he is a businessman. He does not like to waste time – time wasted is business lost for Geoffrey Frost, regardless of whether he employs himself as a trader or as a captain of a privateer.

Geoffrey Frost has entered the American Revolution on behalf of the colony of New Hampshire, commanding a captured British sloop o’ war and sailing out of Portsmouth to harass the British fleet. And as Frost doesn’t like to waste time, the story about him too moves fast, with little time spent ashore and lots of nautical action compared to most of the novels about naval warfare in the age of sail.

The story in Audacity, as in the first book in the series, is set during the American Revolution. Here Frost and his crew engage an English frigate very smartly, destroy another English Navy ship, and capture several British trading and supply ships. For Frost and his crew, that means a very nice sum in prize money, and it also serves to enhance Frost’s reputation and influence.

Audacity is very entertaining, rich on historical detail, and has great descriptions of the naval actions the ship engages in. The weakest part of the book is in the exceedingly conceited manner of behavior of the some of the characters, most notably Frost himself. He speaks as if he was reading from a government document or the small print clauses in an insurance policy. I think it is fairly unlikely that anyone ever stood on a quarterdeck and emitted any of the pompous speeches that Geoffrey Frost is guilty of.

Overall, I view Audacity as a very nice read, entertaining, and quite interesting as it deals with the Civil War and the emerging navy of the US. And I enjoy ther hero, the smart and brave Geoffrey Frost a lot!

Praise:

“This entertaining novel .. offers historical detail .. plenty of action, and unforgettable characters.” —Booklist

“The battle scenes are plentiful, the historic references neatly woven in ..”—Concord Monitor

“A seafaring yarn of the American Revolution, Audacity plunges into action and claps on sail.”—The Historical Novels Review

Dead Reckoning, by C. Northcote Parkinson

Nekkidblogger — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:54:27 +0000

Dead Reckoning is the fourth book in the Richard Delancey series by C. Northcote Parkinson, and a very good one at that. We have now reached the year 1805, during The Napoleonic wars. Richard Delancey has married a former actress, Fiona, and is very happy. He is made post, brought back into the service, and given command over the old 32-gun frigate Laura. He is happy to be given command. However, his orders are not exactly what he would prefer as a recently married man. He has been assigned service in the Far East. He must part from his young wife for an unknown period of time.

There is a lot of naval action in this novel. There is convoy escort, a special assignment to chase down a French privateer that disturbs trade, an attack on Mauritius, as well as a bloody fight against two French frigates. In several instances Richard Delancey shows both courage and intelligence. His ingenious strategies while escorting a convoy of East Indiamen is very entertaining. So is the demonstration of pure willpower in the attack against a French privateer.

Delancey is a creative, solid, smart and very likeable officer in Her Majesty’s Navy. Dead Reckoning is thick with excellent plots and smart thinking. It is perhaps the best in the series so far, and certainly one that increased my interest in C. Northcote Parkinson’s series! Being a fan of nautical fiction, I rank this series highly!

Links to C. Northcote Parkinson’s books at amazon US, amazon UK, and amazon CAN.

The Fight for Rome, by James Duffy

Nekkidblogger — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:44:14 +0000

In this second novel in the Gladiators of the Empire series, which continues to tell the story of Quintus Honorius Romanus, the gladiator going by the name of Taurus, we meet again the key characters of James Duffy’s first novel, Sand of the Arena. We meet Quintus, Lindani and Amazonia only a few months after the events in the first book.

It is now AD 69, and it is the Year of the Four Emperors. Emperor Galba has been assassinated, and Otho is engaged in a fight against Vitellius for the throne. But Otho has too few soldiers on his side, and now gladiators are recruited as soldiers for Otho.

>At the same time, at a gladiator ludus in Africa, Quintus’ arch-enemy, the slave Lucius Calidius, gets a second chance. Julia, who is newly widowed and now sole owner of the Romanus shipping business, comes to rescue Lucius, and soon they find themselves in comfortable circumstances in Alexandria and Caesarea, courting Vespasian, the fourth contender for the Roma throne.

The Fight for Rome is a good and very entertaining novel. However, the plot is a little farfetched – as it places a gladiator in the center of the vast struggle for control over the Roman Empire. But if you accept the plot, this is a good, pretty well researched and very interesting novel. The fighting scenes seem very realistic and the relations among the characters are very interesting and well described. The Fight for Rome is a good historical fiction novel which I recommend.

>Praise:

“A well-written story of ancient Rome, comparable to novels written by Simon Scarrow and Michael Curtis Ford . . . an exciting portrayal of gladiatorial combat.”

— The Historical Novels Review

“Duffy combines a sure sense of character and narrative with an extraordinary knowledge of the world of the Roman arena. It’s an exciting, thrilling novel. I’m looking forward to more in the series.”

— John Maddox Roberts, Author,

SPQR historical fiction series

Links to James Duffy’s Gladiators of the Empire series at amazon US, amazon UK, and amazon CAN.

The Wicked Trade, by Jan Needle

Nekkidblogger — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 18:43:46 +0000

This is the second book in the continuing story of Midshipman William Bentley, in Jan Needle’s realist and grim naval saga. The story of William Bentley is set in the early 19th century. The Wicked Trade is quite different from A Fine Boy for Killing. We catch up with William Bentley, survivor of the bloody Welfare mutiny, as a midshipman on the press tender Biter, a ship tasked with recruiting sailors to the Royal Navy – which mostly meant sending out press gangs and capturing able or not so able men.

William’s earlier experiences have stripped away his last traces of innocence, but his service in the London River-surrounded by corruption and greed-teaches him new lessons about the darker side of city life. When Biter is reassigned to combat the “wicked trade” of smuggling, Bentley and his fellow midshipman friend, Sam Holt, are soon drawn into a complicated conspiracy after two customs men are brutally murdered by a well-organized smuggling gang. Greed, corruption and betrayal reach high levels in the navy and the government, and the two midshipmen soon are way over their heads in a cesspool of savagery and duplicity.

The story is multithreaded, and mostly very well told. It is a book about smuggling, press gangs, whores, and love and class relations in England at the time. The books is not for the soft reader – it has some very brutal scenes (some nasty amateur dentistry for instance). As Jan Needle says, his project with this series of books is:

“What I am trying to do in my books is to get behind this myth, to show an age of desperate, ruthless struggle. In the eighteenth century, the British Navy carved out, with blood and violence, a huge portion of the world. The losses were enormous – but not from warfare, mainly. Firstly came disease, then accident: the peril of the sea.”

And he does manage to get behind the myths. In many ways The Wicked Trade is an outstanding book, even though I thought the ending was somewhat lacking and much too “lucky”. I to some extent feel Needle should concern himself a little bit more with the plot and the story, and a little less with gruesome details. Also, the plot, while exciting, doesn’t have the gripping quality of the first book in the series. However, for the most part, the characters are strong, vivid and well drawn.

Overall, The Wicked Trade is an entertaining but gruesome swashbuckler, albeit without the glory of a Hornblower, the class of a Ramage or the naval action of the Alan Lewrie series. Instead Needle gives a thoroughly grim and accurate portrayal of naval existence and the life of the poor. Prepare to be horrified!

The Iron Pirate, by Douglas Reeman

Nekkidblogger — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:36:08 +0000

The Iron Pirate is a chilling World War II thriller. It is a book about Prinz Luitpoldt, a Hipper class 8-inch cruiser, one of the strongest German cruisers. The action takes place in 1944. The book is written mostly from a German point of view. The hero of the book is the captain of the German cruiser, Kapitan zur See Dieter Hechler. As Douglas Reeman writes: “In war it is inevitable that only one side can triumph, but honour and self-sacrifice are not the sole attributes of the victors”. The Iron Pirate is a respectful thriller which shows exactly this.

The German heavy cruiser Prinz Luitpold had always been lucky in battle. To the beleaguered army on the Baltic coast she was their one remaining symbol of hope. But now it is the summer of 1944, and on every front the war is going badly for Germany.

When the order comes to leave the Baltic to attack and destroy enemy shipping in the Atlantic, Kapitan zur See Dieter Hechler knows that once out in the vast killing ground it will only be a matter of time before the hunter becomes the hunted.

Douglas Reeman’s expertise shows through every page. His description of life in Nazi Germany after four years of total war is also very convincing. To me this was an exciting, enlightening, and good book .Very entertaining, well written and easy to read as well.

Links to books by Douglas Reeman at amazon US, amazon UK, and amazon CAN

Heart of Oak, by Alexander Kent

Nekkidblogger — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:11:09 +0000

See also our reviews of the books written by Douglas Reeman under his real name!

The year is 1818. The war with France has ended. Captain Adam Bolitho is given command of the newly commissioned frigate Onward and sent to North Africa on a diplomatic mission to accompany the French frigate Nautilus in a show of solidarity.

He knows he is lucky – the voyage should be easy, but Adam now finds that he longs for a chance to marry the beautiful Lowenna and settle down on the Bolitho estate in Cornwall. Instead he must deal with the envy and ambition of his officers, hidden agendas among his men, and the former enemy’s proximity.

Then the Nautilus becomes a sacrificial offering on the altar of Empire, and the hunt is on for a treacherous foe. Suddenly every man must discover for himself whether the brotherhood of the sea can transcend old hatreds and an ocean of blood.

In this latest Bolitho novel from the master of nautical adventure Adam Bolitho faces one of the most difficult decisions of his career. Will he find the courage and resourcefulness he needs when diplomacy fails and treachery cries out for vengeance? This is so far the latest books in the Bolitho series, and actually quite good!