โ Scribed by Lambdin, Dewey
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
Comparisons will be made between Midshipman Alan Lewrie and Forester's Horatio Hornblower, but this auspicious beginning of a series has a very modern sensibility. In 1780, at the age of 17, our hero, bastard son of Sir Hugo Willoughby, is already a practicing rake in London. Caught in flagrante with his sluttish half-sister, he is banished to the Navy in a nasty ploy by Sir Hugo to rob the boy of his inheritance. During Alan's year on the 64-gun Adriadne , on the American-built schooner Parrot and on the frigate Desperate , he becomes an adept, even valiant sailor. There are foes at sea (a snotty fellow midshipman, a sanctimonious captain, American rebels) and ashore (Sir Hugo and minions), but there are also friends, notably Lt. Kenyon, skipper of the Parrot , and Lucy Beauman, beautiful niece of an admiral. Lambdin's crisp, gory action scenes possibly are marred for landlubbers by heavy nautical jargon, but graphic ribaldry involving a couple of older ladies needs no translation.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Lambdin's Alan Lewrie stacks up well with C.S. Forester's Hornblowe r and Alexander Kent's Bolitho as a fictional naval officer. In this first novel, Lewrie, at 17, is unwillingly made a midshipman in the British navy of 1780. He sails first in a ship-of-the-line, later in a schooner, and finally a frigate. Storms, battles, duels, and difficulties begin to change him from a spoiled fop into a competent officer who is slowly coming to take pride in his hard service. Lambdin makes his character very human and believable. Questions about his background and prospects are left intriguingly unanswered. Lambdin also demonstrates a good enough grasp of sailing and 18th-century sea warfare to satisfy readers of this genre, who are quick to catch any mistakes. A good yarn that promises to become a good series.
- C. Robert Nixon, M.L.S., Lafayette, Ind.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
๐ SIMILAR VOLUMES
In 1870 Alan Lewrie was a precocious seventeen-year-old living in London. Found in bed with his half-sister, he was sent off to the navy to be out of sight -- and perhaps lost at sea. Much to his surprise, Alan took to the sea, and before long proved himself as a seaman. The King's Coat is a novel o
"Featuring Commander Alan Lewrie ... Lewrie is promoted for his role in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent and awarded command of a new frigate. His future seems assured, but before he's even had a chance to settle into his new role, mutiny blazes through the fleet, and Lewrie finds himself battling an
### From Publishers Weekly The ninth book in Lambdin's Alan Lewrie series (The King's Coat, etc.) begins rousingly enough with the famous British defeat of a Spanish armada at Cape Saint Vincent in 1797. Lewrie comes in for some glory by trusting Nelson and participating in an apparently foolhardy
In the seventh novel in this exciting series, Alan Lewrie is now commander of his own ship, HMS Jester, which participates in the spectacular British victory over the French at the famous battle known as the Glorious First of June. From there Lewrie is dispatched to the Mediterranean to inform Admir
### From Library Journal In this fourth book of the series begun with The King's Coat ( LJ 5/1/89), Lieutenant Alan Lewrie, Royal Navy, continues his adventures in the Far East. Assigned to a ship disguised as a merchant vessel to check on French activities among local pirates, Alan finds plenty of
### From Publishers Weekly Fans garnered by Alan Lewrie (in The King's Coat and The French Admiral ) will gladly follow the 19-year-old scamp in his latest maritime adventure. In 1783, three years after being forced into the Royal Navy, Alan has risen to first lieutenant on the brig Shrike. Command