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.
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: A good historical novel
Review: I sometimes think that David Poyer is a well-kept secret of a growing cadre of devotees. In my opinion, his best work so far is Thunder on the Mountain. It is an historical novel of the Depression era, describing a wild-cat strike at an oil refinery in Pennsylvania. This book succeeds brilliantly in the same way: it evokes an era. Mr. Poyer has done his homework, and many threads of the Civil War era are articulated in this book, particularly the confidence of Northerners at the outset of the Civil War that the rebellion of the Southern states would promptly be put down, which was the prevailing opinion at the time, as strange as that may seem to us who know how cataclysmic that struggle turned out to be. I admire Mr. Poyer's novels of the modern Navy. But here he goes beyond his characteristic acumen in developing characters, as his protagonist wrestles with the elemental struggle of liberating himself from dependence on his wealthy father, through the epiphany of horrendous loss of life in warfare. As always, the dialogue sparkles. This is a worthy book, and I share other reviewers' eagerness for the publication of further works in this trilogy.
Rating:
Summary: Well done! But not a book for everyone
Review: If you know Bernard Cornwell and Richard Sharpe, and if you know Patrick O'Brian and James Aubrey, then you'll really like and appreciate this book. If you quickly consume Clancy books, you'll like this book. But, if you're not comfortable making sense out of old dialect and historical references, then stay away.
Poyer's skills have grown in such interesting ways. His first books were technothrillers with a tiresome "crazy captain" theme. (Gimme a break, Dave!) But he has expanded in awesome style. For the right folks, "Fire on the Water" is a great read!
Rating: 
Summary: A great new series for fans of David Poyer's naval fiction
Review: If you're a fan of David Poyer's Dan Lenson novels you owe it to yourself to check out Fire on the Waters. One of David Poyer's greatest strengths as a writer is his ability to accurately portray navy life. He has now taken this a step farther, giving us insight into a more unfamiliar time in the navy's history -- the transition from sail to steam. Once again he has painted vivid images of life in the navy at the time, meshing actual characters in our navy's history with his fictional characters to create a compelling story. Apparently this is the beginning of a new trilogy and I can't wait for the new novels. I highly recommend this novel to anyone looking for a good sea story.
Rating: 
Summary: Cinders in a Mud Puddle
Review: One would have hoped that Fort Sumpter beseiged and bombarded, Old Glory hauled down before a jeering Charleston, and Norfolk Navy Yard aflame had inspired a more engaging and consequential story than this one. And too, that an author so intimately in touch with the modern Navy had stuck closer to the truth of its history. But sadly enough, Poyer's flat-figured characters bob around in front of these historical spectacles as they were fastened to puppeteer's sticks, tediously and repetitiously satisfying what must have been the author's one- or two-element lists of their respective key traits. Here is the powerful and ruthless financier; the headstrong orphan heiress; the noble but superstitious fugitive slave; the hot-headed engineer, full of technological dreams; the callow but emergingly courageous young man (too bad about his tuberculosis); the sage and terrible naval captain, true to his orders in spite of his Southern principles (he holds no brief for slavery, mind you); the sage and gracious naval lieutenant, true to HIS orders in spite of HIS Southern principles (HE holds no brief for slavery, either). Apparently Southern principles had nothing to do with slavery, but in any case, novelistic principles have nothing to do with this book: nothing happens to cause any of these characters to change in the slightest. But Poyer's worst sins are against U.S. naval history. The shabby old warship of his story, the "Owanee," Southern-sympathizing Captain Trezevant in command, is a stand-in for the redoubtable U.S. sloop-of-war Pawnee, Union-sympathizing Captain C.D. Rowan in command. The Pawnee under Rowan's command saw vigorous continued service into the war. Rowan did not desert the Old Flag as Poyer's Trezevant does. One would think from the "Owanee's" example that the wardrooms of the Navy were full of Southern sympathizers. While many Navy men did go south, in truth the pre-Civil War Navy was an institution dominated by New Englanders, and the Confederacy had a correspondingly small pool of talent from which to draw its officers and ratings. The book's only account of naval combat is laughably unrealistic: returning from the burning of Norfolk Navy Yard, the "Owanee" and and the Cumberland are surprised in the Potomac by an armed Confederate schooner. The little ship dances around them, delivering salvos with its small guns and dealing much death and destruction. The Federal warships wallow in confusion, and the stealthy Conferderate glides away into a fog bank without suffering a scratch. No such action occurred. The Pawnee and the Cumberland returned from Norfolk Navy Yard without encountering an enemy ship. One can hardly begrudge the author of a historical sea novel an invented naval action, but the action invented should be something that could have happened. Where in the annals of the Civil War is there an account of two United States line ships bested by a mere schooner? Apparently, these non-slavery-upholding Confederates of Poyer's were capable of sailing rings around mere Yankees. Is there a Margaret Meade Award of Confederate Apologia, for which Poyer is trying? Perhaps winning it will ingratiate him with the Southern sons in today's Navy.
Rating:
Summary: Flat-Figured Characters, Misleading History
Review: One would have hoped that Sumter besieged and bombarded, Old Glory hauled down before a jeering Charleston, and Norfolk Navy Yard in flames had inspired a more engaging and consequential story than this one, and that an author whose works are required reading at the U.S. Naval Academy had depicted the Navy's history less misleadingly. The flat-figured characters of this nautical melodrama bob about in front of these historical spectacles as if attached to puppeteer's sticks, tediously and repetitiously exhibiting their respective key traits. Here is the ruthless and powerful financier; the independent-minded young heiress, his ward; the callow but emergingly courageous youth, his son; the hotheaded engineer, dreaming of technological change; the noble but superstitious fugitive slave; the sage and terrible naval captain, true to his orders in spite of his Southern principles (he holds no brief for slavery, mind you); the sage and gracious naval lieutenant, true to HIS orders in spite of HIS Southern principles (HE holds no brief for slavery, either). It would seem that slavery had nothing to do with Southern principles, but in any case, novelistic principles have nothing to do with this book: during the course of this tale, none of these characters changes in the slightest. One would think, from the rate at which the officers of Poyer's fictional USS Owanee flock to the Confederate cause, that the wardrooms of the navy were teeming with Southern sympathizers. But the pre-Civil War navy was an institution dominated by New Englanders, and of the officers from the South, only about half chose to leave the navy. Poyer's Owanee, a warn-out vessel whose fictional captain eventually joins the rebellion, is a misleading stand-in for the USS Pawnee of real life, a redoubtable ship whose captain, Commander Stephen C. Rowan, served with distinction throughout the war, eventually commanding the Navy's most powerful ship, the New Ironsides. (Rowan later rose to the rank of Vice Admiral.) A technical curiousity is that Poyer gives his Owanee an unusually shallow draft, which was indeed characteristic of the Pawnee, but only gives her five guns, though the Pawnee mounted twelve. The most misleading part of the naval account comes last, when a Confederate schooner catches the USS Cumberland and the "Owanee" by surprise in the Potomac and inflicts considerable destruction before gliding away unharmed. That no such engagement actually took place is, perhaps, nothing to be held against a writer of fiction. But historical fiction should at least be plausible. When, at any time in the history of sail, did a mere schooner get the better of two United States line ships? It seems that in Poyer's Civil War, these non-slavery-upholding Confederates could sail rings around mere Yankees. We eagerly await the sequel, when we expect to see the destruction of the Kearsarge by the Alabama and the ironclad Virginia's triumph over the Monitor.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Salty tale
Review: The young hero of this 1st volume of a trilogy has advanced consumption. I cannot see how he will survive a trilogy. He decides to go sea for the invigorating air. This is a twist from the usual swashbuckler where the hero is a robustious periwig.
It works because of the author's nautical and historical acumen. The male La Traviata coughing up his lungs is overstated and a little inconsistent with life on a 19th century sailing steamer..
Rating:
Summary: A good introduction to David Poyer...
Review: This Civil War novel by retired navy captain David Poyer was certainly a good introduction to his writings. "Fire on the Waters" , although is heralded as the introduction to a three volume series , does much more than serve as a vehicle to introduce the requisite cast of characters ; it certainly gets the characters in their places and definitely distinguishes the "good guys" from the "bad guys". From the start we are introduced to young Elisha Eaker , the son of a New York financier Micah Eaker , who joins the navy as an officer-volunteer. As he reports aboard the U.S. Navy steam sloop Owanee , several other primary characters in the drama to follow -- primarily Lieutenant Ker Clairborne , the executive officer , and Commander Trezevant , the Captain of the Owanee -- are brought into focus. The regular Navy men are somewhat taken aback by young Eaker , since the man appears to be in poor health as well as inexpreienced. Eaker has volunteered for several reasons : to escape his totally domineering father and to either postpone or avoid an arranged marriage to his cousin , Araminta van Velsor. In addition , we find that "Eli" as he comes to be named throughout the story , is also suffering from tuberculosis! Captain Trezevant allows Eli to sail on board the Owanee due to the political climate -- many of the lower officers on board the sloop have resigned their commissions and headed South prior to the looming outbreak of hostilities in 1861. The first real mission is a voyage to Charleston , S.C. in the relief of Fort Sumter. Eli amanages to distinguish himself to the satisfaction of the "regulars" and is accepted aboard and commissioned properly. At the outbreak of war , many others leave the Union Navy and because of their loyalties to their homes and families join the Confederacy. To reveal any more detail than this would belabor the issue and reveal too much that the reader should discover on his own. Altho I labored a little adapting to the author's style at the start of this book , I found the novel to be highly entertaining
and rated it four stars. Only a few warts on this one. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book on Unusual Topic
Review: This is a interesting topic for a book. This book also describes the days before the beginning of the Civil War. The characters are deep, if not a tad melodramtic. It is refreshing to see a female character in a "war story". The book's strength is in its description of events in the beginning of the Civil War. Another ineteresting theme is the anguish and confusion of the officers as they deteermine their loyalties. A final strength is Mr. Poyer's technical detail of both steam and wind propulsion. Overall, an excellent sea yarn about an obscure subject.
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