Rating: 
Summary: "A Nation At War With Itself"
Review: Another winner by David Poyer with "Fire On The Water." A Nation at war with itself as a Southerner fights battles within himself as well as on the high seas!
Rating:
Summary: "A Nation At War With Itself"
Review: Another winner by David Poyer with "Fire On The Water." A Nation at war with itself as a Southerner fights battles within himself as well as on the high seas!
Rating:
Summary: Great Civil War Novel
Review: Beginning to end, a great read. Captured the spirit and feel of the times, great description of ship board life and early civil war action. Well drawn characters, enjoyed it from beggining to end and already hoping for sequel.
Rating:
Summary: A Navy Classic
Review: David Poyer has once again demonstrated his leadership talent in telling an unique Navy story. This novel will be a Navy classic alongside such books as the Sand Pebble. It brings into the reader's face the struggle between those who wore the uniform between their allegience to their respective states or to their country. It was only after the Civil War that Robert E. Lee is said to have remarked that before the war he was a Virginian and afterwards he was an American. This novel is a glimpse into that gray area just before full hostilities broke out. It is captivating and it will keep you turning pages. If you can only read one historical Navy fiction this year, then this is the one.
CAPT David E. Meadows, USN
Author of THE SIXTH FLEET series
Rating:
Summary: A Navy Classic
Review: David Poyer has once again demonstrated his leadership talent in telling an unique Navy story. This novel will be a Navy classic alongside such books as the Sand Pebble. It brings into the reader's face the struggle between those who wore the uniform between their allegience to their respective states or to their country. It was only after the Civil War that Robert E. Lee is said to have remarked that before the war he was a Virginian and afterwards he was an American. This novel is a glimpse into that gray area just before full hostilities broke out. It is captivating and it will keep you turning pages. If you can only read one historical Navy fiction this year, then this is the one.
CAPT David E. Meadows, USN
Author of THE SIXTH FLEET series
Rating:
Summary: Engrossing -Well Written
Review: Excellent and well written account of the early days of the Civil War.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Historical Fiction
Review: Fire on the Waters is the first novel in a projected series of books set during the Civil War. The action of the entire book takes place during the month of April 1861, but there's no lack of conflict and danger. The fictional U.S. sloop-of-war OWANEE begins and ends the novel at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, but in between she attempts to bring relief supplies to Fort Sumter, hunts a Confederate battery on the Potomac, and plays a critical role in the destruction of the Gosport Navy Yard.The novel focuses on Elisha Eaker, a tubercular young volunteer officer who joins the Navy to achieve independence from his domineering father, a wealthy New York merchant who is as ruthless with his family as he is with his competitors. Poyer's creation of Eaker as the protagonist is a smart move, because it allows the reader to see OWANEE and her crew through the new officer's inexperienced eyes. We get to learn the working of OWANEE's engine room, for example, as it is explained to Eaker by the ship's chief engineer. It's an effective technique for introducing readers to a time and technology that lies beyond most peoples' experience. One of the fun things about Fire on the Waters is the parade of historical characters that appear throughout the book. Virtually every important person connected with the U.S. Navy in April 1861 is present, including Gideon Welles, Hiram Paulding, Benjamin Isherwood and Charles Wilkes among others. Some, like Gustavus Fox, play a pivotal role in moving the plot along, while others add important color to a scene or event. The Army is represented, with Eaker's brief encounter with Major Anderson and Captain Doubleday inside beleaguered Fort Sumter, and Horace Greeley and Frederick Douglass even make brief cameos. It's a credit to Poyer's skill at crafting the plot that the regular appearance of these figures doesn't seem like a historical novelist's attempt at name-dropping; rather, they all turn up in a plausible sequence of events and never steal the scene from the main focus of the book, the fictional officers and crew of U.S.S. OWANEE. Even without the dust jacket's announcement of Fires on the Waters as the first in a series of novels, it's obvious that the book was written with that intent. Two major characters in the book "go South" during the course of the novel, leaving unresolved plot threads that will have to be sorted out later. One or the other of these men, no doubt, will be conning C.S.S. VIRGINIA into Hampton Roads two or three novels hence. A significant sub-plot in the novel involves Eaker's cousin Araminta Van Velsor, who is betrothed to Eaker and who is also struggling to get out from under the stifling "protection" of Eaker's father. This story is less fully developed than Eaker's, and appears to exist as much for the sake of a change of scenery in the novel as for anything else. Miss Van Velsor is not fully explored as a character. Her rebellion against her uncle's domination is mildy interesting, but it's difficult for her personal struggle to count for much in readers' minds when contrasted against the momentous events her cousin is witnessing. One hopes that she will play a more important role in future volumes of the series. Poyer's book is a good read, and unlike O'Brian's over-adulated work, it never seeks to impress the reader with the author's command of obscure linguistic or culinary trivia. There's not a pretentious word in this book. If you want a good sea story on a subject that has been almost entirely overlooked by
Rating:
Summary: David Poyer earns another Bravo Zulu with Fire on the Waters
Review: Fire on the Waters, the latest from acclaimed author David Poyer, earns a well deserved Bravo Zulu (Naval Shorthand for Outstanding Job)for the superb job he has done on this Civil War tale of two navies. His ability to keep multiple sub-plots moving, nautical and period details both accurate and interesting, and keep a lively pace are once again showcased to their fullest extent. His ability to keep a plot twist hidden until the last instant was just one more thing that kept me reading until the wee hours of the morning. I could not put this book down. His characters are sympathetic and interesting, and most importantly, believable. I have read most of Mr. Poyer's books, and once again he has not disappointed me. My only regret is that I have to wait for the next one to come out. This book, like all his books, leaves me eagerly anticipating the next. Mr. Poyer is an outstanding author of Naval Fiction, both contemporary as well as historical, and he has successfully crossed into other genres as well. I highly recommend ANY book he has authored. Bottom line: BUY THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Good stuff
Review: I decided to try this book because I am a fan of historical fiction in general; naval fiction (O'Brien) and Civil War (Shaara) in particular. I actually picked up a Country of Our Own first and was only partway into that book before I went out and purchased this one to start over at the beginning. I was very pleased. There are several interesting characters, the main ones being Ker Claiborne, the conflicted Southern officer and Elisha Eaker, a young Northern idealist. The setting is superb. We get a real sense of the building anxiety and tension among shipmates as political events unfold. I would say that this book has a little less action and is more character focused than most in the genre. But you get the sense that much more action is set to occur in the next installment. Here the big question was would there or would there not be war. We readers all know that a bloody explosion is coming but the characters in the novel can't quite see the future. My only complaint about this novel is the whole storyline involving Elisha's fiancee, Araminta. It really doesn't contribute much at all. I get the feeling it was put in as filler to provide a change of scenery, given that the events of the book only cover a couple of weeks' time. There's one scene in particular where she attends an abolitionist meeting that seems so much historical name dropping. I was lost and confused by what she was trying to do at the end of the book and the final revelation involving her character was totally lame and cliché.
Rating:
Summary: Great Historical Fiction
Review: I decided to try this book because I am a fan of historical fiction in general; naval fiction (O'Brien) and Civil War (Shaara) in particular. I actually picked up "A Country of Our Own" first and was only partway into that book before I went out and purchased this one to start over at the beginning. I was very pleased. There are several interesting characters, the main ones being Ker Claiborne, the conflicted Southern officer and Elisha Eaker, a young Northern idealist. The setting is superb. We get a real sense of the building anxiety and tension among shipmates as political events unfold. I would say that this book has a little less action and is more character focused than most in the genre. But you get the sense that much more action is set to occur in the next installment. Here the big question was would there or would there not be war. We readers all know that a bloody explosion is coming but the characters in the novel can't quite see the future. My only complaint about this novel is the whole storyline involving Elisha's fiancee, Araminta. It really doesn't contribute much at all. I get the feeling it was put in as filler to provide a change of scenery, given that the events of the book only cover a couple of weeks' time. There's one scene in particular where she attends an abolitionist meeting that seems so much historical name dropping. I was lost and confused by what she was trying to do at the end of the book and the final revelation involving her character was totally lame and cliché. Good riddance to her.
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