Rating: 
Summary: Another fabulous Hornblower adventure!
Review: I liked this novel tremendously. In this one, Hornblower is dispatched to the Baltic in command of a squadron of British vessels, as Britain's struggle with Napoleon nears its climax. Hornblower must deal with all of the usual problems of command, and additionally he must, in fact, also concern himself with high affairs of state. Forester combines these factors brilliantly into a facinating look at Europe during this time period.I found this novel to be particularly vivid in its portrayal of Hornblower marauding about in the Baltic. You can practically feel the cold Baltic air, see the ice flows, hear the cannon, and see the armies ashore battling one another. Hornblower as usual is in the thick of things. This book in my opinion never drags although the storyline is somewhat more complex than the usual Hornblower novel. Fans of Hornblower won't want to miss this one. And if you are not a Hornblower afficianado, then what are you waiting for?
Rating: 
Summary: Hi diddle lee dee, the Baltic now for me.
Review: If you have read the series in order you are now treated to the biggest change in the Hornblower character since his first marriage. What do you do with a character that has now achieved all of the primary goals of his life. A secure financial future, the woman he loves and fame and respect. How do you motivate such a character? Forester pulls it off. Hornblower is put in the position of the many senior officers he has served under. Having to watch rather than giving the orders. Having to decide who risks his life and who does not. Even patronage as Bush is jumped up to a SOL. The decisions are different and for the most part Hornblower watches others execute his plans. Forester however keeps the tension level high. The handling of a fleet, the delecate matters of diplomacy and a totally different front and nature of the war adds to and completes the character. The social changes are not ignored as Sir Horatio Hornblower K.B. discovers that the honors and responsibilities of his knighthood are not all they are cracked up to be. Several valuable lessions are given here, all are interesting and entertaining. Like HORNBLOWER and the ATROPS it is a change of pace, and one worth the money you will spend.
Rating:
Summary: Hi diddle lee dee, the Baltic now for me.
Review: If you have read the series in order you are now treated to the biggest change in the Hornblower character since his first marriage. What do you do with a character that has now achieved all of the primary goals of his life. A secure financial future, the woman he loves and fame and respect. How do you motivate such a character? Forester pulls it off. Hornblower is put in the position of the many senior officers he has served under. Having to watch rather than giving the orders. Having to decide who risks his life and who does not. Even patronage as Bush is jumped up to a SOL. The decisions are different and for the most part Hornblower watches others execute his plans. Forester however keeps the tension level high. The handling of a fleet, the delecate matters of diplomacy and a totally different front and nature of the war adds to and completes the character. The social changes are not ignored as Sir Horatio Hornblower K.B. discovers that the honors and responsibilities of his knighthood are not all they are cracked up to be. Several valuable lessions are given here, all are interesting and entertaining. Like HORNBLOWER and the ATROPS it is a change of pace, and one worth the money you will spend.
Rating: 
Summary: A Letdown for Hornblower Fans
Review: In "Commodore Hornblower", I think Forester's effort slipped. It seems to be slapped together without a real plot - a series of unexciting events with huge gaps, almost as if the author lost interest too. I loved the books in the series which portrayed Hornblower as a young, clever junior officer. In "Commodore", he shows little of the "McGuyver-like" ability to get out of a tight spot that I always enjoyed most. In fact, as a senior officer, HH doesn't even take part in most of the exciting parts of the book, but oversees them from his God-like perch above the battlefield or even worse, he hears the information second-hand from the mast head. This is the exact opposite of my favorite Hornblower book ("Lt. Hornblower"), in which the hero's exploits are related through the eyes of Bush.
Rating:
Summary: Russian politics and naval strategy
Review: In Commodore, Forester takes our hero to the Baltic Sea to intervene in the war between the Russians and Napoleon. Now on the top half of the Captains list, Hornblower is given command of a small squadron of ships and sent north in as much of a political gambit as a naval one. There are no real naval threats to Hornblower's fleet, a few coastal raiders on British shipping, but the one they find is easily dispatched. Forester spends time detailing the use of bomb vessels, ungainly ships with large mortars in the center. They are used to shell and destroy a ship in a harbor and enemy positions on shore. When Napoleon attacks Russia he sends one army north towards St. Petersburg along the eastern most end of the Baltic, and of course Commodore Hornblower is there to save the day and negotiate a switch of sides by the Prussians. It's a little short on naval lore and a little long on period politics. A contrived dalliance with a Russian lady gives Hornblower flees, and then typhus. At the time it was written it was pretty unusual to have an adulterous affair in a fiction of this kind. It gives more variety to our understanding of British Naval operations in another area of the world.
Rating:
Summary: Russian politics and naval strategy
Review: In Commodore, Forester takes our hero to the Baltic Sea to intervene in the war between the Russians and Napoleon. Now on the top half of the Captains list, Hornblower is given command of a small squadron of ships and sent north in as much of a political gambit as a naval one. There are no real naval threats to Hornblower's fleet, a few coastal raiders on British shipping, but the one they find is easily dispatched. Forester spends time detailing the use of bomb vessels, ungainly ships with large mortars in the center. They are used to shell and destroy a ship in a harbor and enemy positions on shore. When Napoleon attacks Russia he sends one army north towards St. Petersburg along the eastern most end of the Baltic, and of course Commodore Hornblower is there to save the day and negotiate a switch of sides by the Prussians. It's a little short on naval lore and a little long on period politics. A contrived dalliance with a Russian lady gives Hornblower flees, and then typhus. At the time it was written it was pretty unusual to have an adulterous affair in a fiction of this kind. It gives more variety to our understanding of British Naval operations in another area of the world.
Rating:
Summary: Hornblower goes to Russia, with love...
Review: In the eighth volume of the series Commodore Horatio Hornblower, with his own squadron of ships, is bound for the Baltic. It is 1812 and Hornblower must protect the trade and stop the spread of Napoleon's empire into Sweden and Russia. Hostile armies, Russian royalty and ice-bound bays are just SOME of the trouble Hornblower will have to deal with. He even gets to meet Colonel Clausewitz! Will Hornblower ever return to his new wife and son, or will he be trapped in Russia with white skinned ladies of the court, drinking vodka and feasting on meals fit for a King?
Rating:
Summary: Hornblower goes to Russia, with love...
Review: In the eighth volume of the series Commodore Horatio Hornblower, with his own squadron of ships, is bound for the Baltic. It is 1812 and Hornblower must protect the trade and stop the spread of Napoleon's empire into Sweden and Russia. Hostile armies, Russian royalty and ice-bound bays are just SOME of the trouble Hornblower will have to deal with. He even gets to meet Colonel Clausewitz! Will Hornblower ever return to his new wife and son, or will he be trapped in Russia with white skinned ladies of the court, drinking vodka and feasting on meals fit for a King?
Rating: 
Summary: New Issues and Challenges for Hornblower!
Review: Most Hornblower fans will either be strongly attracted to this story . . . or strongly repelled by it. In the beginning, this book's mood shifts greatly from the earlier books now that Hornblower is rich and famous, and happily married to Lady Barbara. His glittering brothers-in-law are off winning critical battles, and Hornblower feels like he needs to keep winning some semblance of renown in order to retain Lady Barbara's respect. The book starts off slowly, therefore, in setting the stage for Captain Sir Horatio Hornblower's elevated status in society and in the fleet. As a commodore, Hornblower has a small squadron under his command, including one ship of the line, the Nonsuch (seventy four guns), commanded by Captain Bush. Hornblower's orders give him the "widest latitude of discretion to enter the Baltic Sea and create problems for Bonaparte, who is threatening both Sweden and Russia in the spring of 1812. Secretly, his brother-in-law, foreign secretary Marquis Wellesley, warns Hornblower that he should be prepared to assist the Czar in leaving St. Petersburg should Napoleon invade and overrun Russia. Within the Baltic, the Russians have 14 ships of the line, and the Swedes almost as many. Nearing the Baltic, Hornblower knows that the Danes are hostile, having been conquered by the French. So he steers away from their batteries nearing the Baltic. But are the Swedes still neutral? There's only one way to find out. Run under their batteries and see if they fire? Political events rapidly develop, aided by Hornblower's diplomacy and deceptions. By winter, the Grande Armee has invaded Russia, reached Moscow, and been shattered by the Russian weather. Hornblower, in the meantime, is attempting to thwart an attack through Latvia aimed at capturing the Russian capital of St. Petersburg. The action, once it begins, will remind you somewhat of the best parts of Ship of the Line. For those who wish to follow the armed conflicts in the book, I suggest you refer to the Hornblower Companion's maps to see where the action is set. Two other new elements become important in this story. Hornblower is getting older, and begins to develop an interest in his younger officers not unlike a father would have for a son. Yet these "sons" are in deadly peril. How will that affect Hornblower? The other new perspective is that Hornblower spends a lot of time with diplomats, political figures, and even heads of state. These added dimensions will be attractive to those who would like to see new sides to Hornblower. If you read a lot of historical fiction, you will find this book comes closer to the classic story where the fictional character interacts frequently with well known historical figures. Since Hornblower and Bush are both captains, you find their relationship becoming more like equals as it was in Lieutenant Hornblower. I enjoyed that shift. Much like Hornblower and the Atropos, Commodore Hornblower takes some interesting looks at new technology, including naval mortars and methods for reducing the draft of bomb-ketches. How can a leader set a good example? How should setting the right example be balanced with the need to get the right results? In Commodore Hornblower, Hornblower is torn between leading all of the action and encouraging his men to do the right thing. It's obviously a delicate balance that you will enjoy as Hornblower once again foils the Corsican tyrant in his own small way.
Rating:
Summary: New Issues and Challenges for Hornblower!
Review: Most Hornblower fans will either be strongly attracted to this story . . . or strongly repelled by it.
In the beginning, this book's mood shifts greatly from the earlier books now that Hornblower is rich and famous, and happily married to Lady Barbara. His glittering brothers-in-law are off winning critical battles, and Hornblower feels like he needs to keep winning some semblance of renown in order to retain Lady Barbara's respect. The book starts off slowly, therefore, in setting the stage for Captain Sir Horatio Hornblower's elevated status in society and in the fleet. As a commodore, Hornblower has a small squadron under his command, including one ship of the line, the Nonsuch (seventy four guns), commanded by Captain Bush. Hornblower's orders give him the "widest latitude of discretion to enter the Baltic Sea and create problems for Bonaparte, who is threatening both Sweden and Russia in the spring of 1812. Secretly, his brother-in-law, foreign secretary Marquis Wellesley, warns Hornblower that he should be prepared to assist the Czar in leaving St. Petersburg should Napoleon invade and overrun Russia. Within the Baltic, the Russians have 14 ships of the line, and the Swedes almost as many. Nearing the Baltic, Hornblower knows that the Danes are hostile, having been conquered by the French. So he steers away from their batteries nearing the Baltic. But are the Swedes still neutral? There's only one way to find out. Run under their batteries and see if they fire? Political events rapidly develop, aided by Hornblower's diplomacy and deceptions. By winter, the Grande Armee has invaded Russia, reached Moscow, and been shattered by the Russian weather. Hornblower, in the meantime, is attempting to thwart an attack through Latvia aimed at capturing the Russian capital of St. Petersburg. The action, once it begins, will remind you somewhat of the best parts of Ship of the Line. For those who wish to follow the armed conflicts in the book, I suggest you refer to the Hornblower Companion's maps to see where the action is set. Two other new elements become important in this story. Hornblower is getting older, and begins to develop an interest in his younger officers not unlike a father would have for a son. Yet these "sons" are in deadly peril. How will that affect Hornblower? The other new perspective is that Hornblower spends a lot of time with diplomats, political figures, and even heads of state. These added dimensions will be attractive to those who would like to see new sides to Hornblower. If you read a lot of historical fiction, you will find this book comes closer to the classic story where the fictional character interacts frequently with well known historical figures. Since Hornblower and Bush are both captains, you find their relationship becoming more like equals as it was in Lieutenant Hornblower. I enjoyed that shift. Much like Hornblower and the Atropos, Commodore Hornblower takes some interesting looks at new technology, including naval mortars and methods for reducing the draft of bomb-ketches. How can a leader set a good example? How should setting the right example be balanced with the need to get the right results? In Commodore Hornblower, Hornblower is torn between leading all of the action and encouraging his men to do the right thing. It's obviously a delicate balance that you will enjoy as Hornblower once again foils the Corsican tyrant in his own small way.
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