The Honored Dead: A Novel of Lt. Cmdr. Peter Wake, U.S.N. in French Indochina, 1883 (The Honor Series)
*Starred Review* The seventh novel in the Honor series, which traces the career of Peter Wake, a nineteenth-century American naval seaman, is so vividly written that it’s easy to forget Wake is a made-up character. The book purports to be Wake’s first-person account of his mission to Indochina, in which a seemingly simple assignment (deliver a presidential message to the king of Cambodia) becomes a months-long odyssey in which our hero is set upon by pirates, gangsters, and even a nasty typhoon. The author introduces this volume (the first in the series narrated in the first person) by explaining how a manuscript, chronicling Wake’s adventures in Indochina, was found in a trunk in the attic of a recently deceased elderly woman; he also includes chapter endnotes, elaborating on some of the historical elements of Wake’s account. Fans of the Honor series will enjoy the shift in narrative point of view: Wake has a strong voice, and it is fascinating to see his world and his time through his own eyes. Readers unfamiliar with the series may want to start with an earlier volume to get a better sense of the author’s writing style, but no doubt they’ll wind up reading the entire series, including this volume, in due course. Highly recommended for fans of naval fiction, especially Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin series, C. S. Forester’s Hornblower novels, or anything by Bernard Cornwell. --David Pitt