Rating: 
Summary: Interesting story of life in a small ship during a major war
Review: Not a lot of action in this one. Still, it was interesting.I guess that if you are following the career a a naval officer over his lifetime, there will be a point where he is not actually in the middle of the fight. This book was one of those. Hornblower has been given a secret mission to recover the payroll of the invasion fleet of the previous year. There are four tons of gold and silver. The government is badly in need of fres cash. The treasure lies on the bottom under 110 feet of water inside of a ship that capsized and sank upside down. To accomplish this mission, Hornblower has been given an expert in slavage and three pearl divers from India... Enough about the story. The book was well written. The hardships of the officers and men of a small ship, far from home and away from the fleet. Good reading. This is a part of naval life that is seldom written about.
Rating: 
Summary: Full price for quarter book
Review: OK, Hornblower is an alltime classic hero. However, since Mr. Forester died before finishing this book, why are we expected to pay the same as one of his other complete adventures for the start of one along with the notes of how it should end up? Yes they threw a little end of Hornblower's career short story in to boot, more of a inside joke by the author than a real adventure. Still, my advice, save your money. On a day off, go to the library or Barnes and Noble and spend 30 minutes reading this tale, don't buy it!
Rating: 
Summary: Very satisfying
Review: Only Rustad's superb WWII novel The Triumph and the Glory can rival the C.S. Forester books for quality. If you love historical fiction like I do, you know what a truly enjoyable experience Forester's sea novels are, they are so real, so vivid, so beautifully written !
Rating:
Summary: Tense and action-filled
Review: The fifth volume: in which we find Hornblower, as a newly made Post Captain, riding the seiche wave on a canal boat(!), walking a tunnel, organizing Lord Nelson's funeral*, having a child, preparing for sea in a panic, contriving an adventure while fog-bound, conducting diplomacy in Ottoman Turkey, diving for treasure, eluding one powerful opponent and precipitously encountering another! In short, another eventful and rip-roaring adventure tale on the high seas. The difficulties in handling the (ill-fated) funerary barges are an unusual feature of this story, as are the the details on the diving practices of the day. It is gratifying how little--or how skillfully concealed--repetition there is among the authors who write novels set in the same years of the Age of Fighting Sail. This is a full-fledged continuous novel** of Hornblower in his first command after being made Post Captain, and not a collection of vignettes like some other Hornblower books. *The sort of music that might have been played to accompany Lord Nelson's funeral can be heard on a Herald [UK] CD: #232, ASIN: B00003OT8U.) **The negative review by Wood Hughes refers to CRISIS (#4) and not to ATROPOS.
Rating:
Summary: Atropos: Slow Start, But Worth It!
Review: The fourth novel in the Hornblower series takes it's time getting started, but once the action is engaged it doesn't let go. The story begins with Hornblower and his family travelling to London where Hornblower has been called to organize the funeral of the victor of Trafalgar, Admiral Nelson. After saving a near disaster to his career, Hornblower is ordered to search for sunken treasure off the Turkish coast. Along for the ride is a German prince and his aide who have a lot to learn about seamanship. And finally, Hornblower must make a choice about whether to accept the office of post Captain in a foreign navy or 'in spite of all temptations to belong to other nations, to remain an Englishman.' The novel really doesn't pick up until after Hornblower leaves England but it soon gains momentum and doesn't stop. C.S. Forester is truly one of the greatest writers of the 20th century and 'Hornblower and the Atropos' will attest to that.
Rating:
Summary: Hornblower and the Atropos - good read
Review: This is the 4th of the Hornblower series that I've read. I agree with one of the other reviewers that it is a little slow at the beginning. However, the funeral scenes are very humerous, and I found Hornblower's dilemma escaping from the Turk's akin to a good 'locked room' mystery by John Dickson Carr or Agatha Christie. I feel that Hornblower is more than the wooden character described by some reviews; I like his introspection. Most of all, however, I relish Forester's vivid description of sailing and the sea. Often a translater would be helpful, though.
Rating:
Summary: It's numero cinco
Review: You are hooked. You can't get loose. Buy it.
Rating:
Summary: It's numero cinco
Review: You are hooked. You can't get loose. Buy it.
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