Rating: 
Summary: Exciting Short Stories about Hornblower's First Voyages
Review: Mr. Midshipman Hornblower is the prequel to the Horatio Hornblower series. Written as the sixth book chronologically, it covers the very first times when Hornblower served in His Majesty’s navy. My recommendation is that you read it first, so that you can follow Hornblower chronologically along over his career as it develops. Since much of service aboard a naval vessel is routine, C.S. Forester gives us the high spots of Hornblower’s first years in the form of short stories beginning at age 17 when he entered the navy. Each story is nicely balanced among the following qualities: Hornblower’s inexperience; the rapid shift of circumstances that can occur at sea; Hornblower’s physical and psychological weaknesses and courage to overcome them; the demands of honor; the importance of thinking clearly, getting good information, and making a swift decision; the benefits of discipline; and the brotherhood of all seaman before the dangers they face. Those who are interested in the war between Britain and France after the French Revolution in 1789 will find the material to bring those events to life in a vivid way. I learned a lot about the details of naval warfare as it was conducted then. The weakness of most short story writers is that their plots and resolutions often become overly predictable. These short stories are predictable only in their originality and unpredictability. As such, I found myself drawn forward, wondering what rabbit Forester would next pull out of the hat. This is just the sort of book that I loved to read as a teenager, and I could feel the years peeling off as I raced through the stories. This book would be a wonderful gift to a teenager who likes adventure tales based on historical events. Readers will be reminded of how embarrassing and emotionally daunting it can be to launch off to operate in the adult world at age 17. Unlike many adventure books, Hornblower serves the dual role of hero and morally-inspired man. It’s too bad that so much modern fiction chooses to develop the action without developing any character in the process.
Rating: 
Summary: A classic "must-read"
Review: I have finally begun to read Forester's Hornblower series, starting chronologically with respect to the fictional world of course. This is one series I've been intending to read for quite some time, and I don't plan to stop with just the first book.
As opposed to great and wonderful descriptions of naval battles, Forester uses a series of loosely connected short stories to acquaint the reader with the Hornblower character. Traveling from place to place, ship to shore, command to command, Hornblower is thrust into various situations which begin to define his command style and ability. I urge everyone who is looking for a good classic to read, begin reading the Hornblower series. A little fun fiction helps you out every now and then.
Rating:
Summary: Stand lively there.
Review: Mr. Midshipman chronicles Hornblower's first years in the navy. The life of a Midshipman was hard indeed, although arguably better than an ordinary seaman. From his first use of "for'rard" to his first terrifying climb up the mast we begin to learn "the ropes" along with our hero. As time passes and he has various trials and adventures he begins to become the leader and expert sailor of later tales. One of the best part of the whole Hornblower series is the accuracy and detail with which the life aboard vessels is depicted. You can almost feel the deck pitch. Great beginning to a great adventure series.
Rating:
Summary: Great Sea Story.... (4.5 stars)
Review: ...When I was younger, I read a few of the Hornblower books and decided to shelve the series until I had them all. As other readers have indicated, this book is not the first written. However it is the first in chronological order of Hornblower himself. All that said, this was a really good book. The first night, I read over 100 pages without stopping. It's really not a flowing story as much as a collection of short stories about the life of a particular midshipman in 1794. He is first stationed on a Line of Battle ship. CS doesn't really describe the ship much, but by what the surroundings seem to be like and the number of officers, I'd say she is a two decker of 74 guns or so. On this ship his life is one of misery until he gets a fair shake from the captain. On he goes to a frigate and the real adventures begin. Enough said, I don't like to tell the story. You can read it. This is a good book. Easy to read. Each chapter is 20 - 30 pages and tells an entire short story. They are unconnected stories(other than the characters and the ship).... They can be read individally. I look forward to finishing the entire series. I too have the companion book. This is a good tool to help the reader keep up with the actual locations of the stories and some of the history surrounding this period in time.
Rating:
Summary: Mr. Midshipman Hornblower Five Stars
Review: Imagine being sent away from your family and the way of life you have known, to be put in charge of men twice your age. This is what happens to young Horatio Hornblower. For his own good and the good of England he is sent to serve on a frigate fighting France. Throughout the book, Hornblower has to achieve feats of skill such as sailing his own ship, leading cutting out expeditions on enemy fortresses, following strict Naval discipline and all the while trying to gain the respect of men twice his experience and experience. When reading Mr. Midshipman Hornblower you learn to feel for young Horatio. He is like a graceful and intelligent swan that has to glide across a rocky and uncertain lake. Through his successes you feel success, through his defeats you feel defeated. Teenagers learn how lucky they are that they did not live at the turn of the eighteenth century in England. C. S. Forester weaves a tale of daring, suspense, adventure and loyalty all through the eyes of a young man trying to work his way through the discipline of the Navy. Every success, victory or accomplishment Hornblower achieves make you feel like you have achieved something as well! This is a truly suspenseful piece of literature.
Rating:
Summary: Classic adventure reads
Review: The book introduces the a young seventeen-year-old Hornblower introduced to the harsh life of being a sailor and an officer at sea around the time of the Napoleonic wars. The book is divided into ten chapters which are each short stories in chronological order showing how Hornblower develops his skills as a sailor and leader aboard various vessels spanning around four years of his life. The stories are lively and the focus of the writing was made into moving the storyline by using action and putting the characters in danger or conflict at the cost of describing the scenery or the mindset of the characters, those things that bring a vibrant picture and emotion to the circumstances of the book. Also the book throws about nautical terms left and right as well as archaic dialogue that is usually not expected from a 20th century writer. But considering that the writer is Engish I can understand the elitist, forgive me for the accusatory overtones, approach towards the writing style in the dialogues. Just make sure you've got a reference source to look up nautical terms like mizzen, larboard, three bells in the forenoon watch, so that you don't get lost in the jargon. The book will be more satisfying and fun similar to learning a new language. If you like vivid descriptions of a story I would suggest an author like Bernard Cornwall. I remember his descriptions of the ships to be much more complete than Forester. This book is pretty good but yet this is the only the first book I've read in the series and not enough to judge whether it would merit reading the rest of the books in this series.
Rating:
Summary: Great series of books
Review: I became entrapped by Hornblower 45 years ago. My bookshelf isn't complete (never has been) without a full set right there where I can get to them when the urge strikes to read them all again. Seems to happen every 2-3 years. I thoroughly recommend them for young and old.
Rating:
Summary: The beginning of the series
Review: Mr Midshipman was an interesting fictional story taking place during the late 18th century, during the Napoleonic Wars. It was the 1st book of its kind that I have about this time period. This book, for the most part, reads pretty well. I had also bought The Hornblower Companion to help me follow the series better. It was a big help using this companion because of the diagrams and maps it has which helps a reader follow the action better. The tough part about reading this book was the nautical terms being used. I did several searches for nautical terms on the internet, in which I had printed. This did not help 100% however, since some of the terms I still could not find. I plan on buying the next book in the series, Lieutenant Hornblower; hopefully it will go a little easier for me!
Rating:
Summary: One of the most engaging books written.
Review: I started this series and couldn't stop. I looked forward to every one and it was heartbreaking when the series came to an end. Horatio is one of the best characters in fiction history. I'd buy them all now and get it over with as you're going to do it anyways.
Rating: 
Summary: 3.5 stars -- a nice beginning
Review: As the chronological beginning of C.S. Forester's epic Horatio Hornblower saga, Mr. Midshipman is reasonably good. It is a collection of ten stories following Hornblower from the first moment he steps on board a ship (and promptly gets seasick) to his early triumphs that bring him to the brink of promotion. In this novel, we begin to see the characteristics that will turn Hornblower into the one of the most compelling figures in literature -- courage and daring, yes -- but also self-doubt, introspection and his overwhelming sense of honor and duty. We see the boy that will become a great man. The only reason it does not get more stars is the episodic nature of the work. It took me a while to warm to the character and get an idea of what was going on. Granted, some of this is deliberate, as Hornblower is often enigmatic. Also, as in most of the novels of the series, the naval terms and history were often poorly explained, forcing me to bone up on the history of the Napoleonic wars and the Royal Navy. Of course, that's a *bonus* is you're a history buff like me. For other readers, it might be a little frustrating. But it is by no means a dramatic flaw. As a stand-alone novel, Mr. Midshipman Hornblower is good. As the beginning of the epic Hornblower series, however, it is a must-read and will only whet your appetite for the outstanding novels to come.
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