Review: I'm a Sucker for Old Sea Stories
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 27, 2014
I have to admit, I just love old sailing stories. I have read all of the Hornblower series way back in high school, and the Alexander Kent books, and Patrick O'Brien's works has a shelf of its own in my study.That said, I found this book readable, but not really engaging. There were a number of reasons for this. First of all, I didn't really get a good sense of the society he attempted to spend so much time speaking about. O'Brien gives you that is short time, while Williams seems to not hit the nail on the head.Second, I got totally tired of the same old discussion in his head about what the Navy had done to him. I got that the author was attempting to say that the character had issues with how he had turned out, but he didn't even seem to get anywhere with that, other than to reiterate it.Lastly, I was not impressed with his grasp of sailing. The lines and shrouds of a ship only appear confusing to someone totally new to a sailing ship, yet the author appears sometimes to approach them as if they are a great mystery. The actual sailing descriptions I must admit that I didn't quite get. Perhaps I was just tired by that point. However, even in the opening scenes, where the United States fights the Macedonian, I wasn't clear what his point was and how his sailing maneuvers were to make a difference.On the plus side, I must say that weaving in some historical figures and some of the conditions of early America and its government, and discussing one of the very real issues that don't make it into history books, namely the potential session of New England over the War of 1812, was brave, and appreciated. A well done on that.So overall, it was OK. It isn't up to O'Brien's level of detail and accuracy, but not many are. But I didn't just quit reading it in the middle and say I was done. I may or may not get the next in the series; I have not yet made up my mind. Perhaps that says it all.