<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: A Worthy Successor to Patrick O'Bryan
Review: After Hornblower and the O'Brian books, it's great to read a series from the American point of view. The hero, Geoffrey Frost, is suitably larger-than-life, but still an interesting character with doubts and worries. The author certainly seems to possess the requisite command of naval lore, and he keeps the action moving at a brisk and exciting pace. A wonderful balance of seafaring adventure and historical detail.
Rating:
Summary: An exciting new series.
Review: After Hornblower and the O'Brian books, it's great to read a series from the American point of view. The hero, Geoffrey Frost, is suitably larger-than-life, but still an interesting character with doubts and worries. The author certainly seems to possess the requisite command of naval lore, and he keeps the action moving at a brisk and exciting pace. A wonderful balance of seafaring adventure and historical detail.
Rating: 
Summary: O'Brian Wannabe: doesn't quite measure up.
Review: Having read a favorable review in the Washington Post, felt compelled to try the latest of the swashbucklers. I found it to be an interesting story, but hardly at the level of the Aubrey-Maturin series, or even Hornblower. More like the early Bollito novels by "Alexander Kent." Characters are about one molecule thick, and Our Hero is just way too heroic and an astonishingly perfect navigator in extremes of wind and weather. The action and story lines are plausible, and there is fine detail on the nuances of 18th century sailing ships. But, it's just TOO precious when Frost comes into possession of a chronometer, which were in extremely rare supply anywhere in the world during that period. All in all, I thought it was OK, but the next few stories need to sharpen and deepen the characters to keep my attention. I'd rather read the O'Brian series again!
Rating:
Summary: A cracking great sea read
Review: I would have loved this book regardless of where it was set, but the fact that it takes place in and around the area where I grew up made it even more special for me. Rich and believable characters, settings, and battles make for an exciting and compelling read. The only detraction from an otherwise excellent book: it could have used a bit more (or maybe less?) editing. While Fender's writing is rich and excellent, it suffers from occasional punctuation errors in some places and from garbled phrasing that could have easily been cleared up in others. That's just nitpicking, however. I recommend this book very highly and am looking forward to the rest of the series.
Rating:
Summary: A Worthy Successor to Patrick O'Bryan
Review: In his first book of what hopefully will be a long series, James Fender has shown promise of being a timely and worthy successor to Patrick O'Brian. "The Private Revolution of Geoffrey Frost" builds gradually into a fascinating and entertaining account of the stirring rescue of American prisoners held under brutal conditions at an obscure port in Nova Scotia. Like O'Brian, his story is based on real events, but from an American perspective and during the Revolutionary War period. I can't wait until the next volume of the series appears.
Rating:
Summary: Okay
Review: The historical background is convincing, as is the picture of life aboard ship, but I found the main characters to be a little too stereotyped. Geoffrey seems all good, and his friend Ming Tsun is a classic mysterious oriental type--wise beyond our understanding. A bit too much, I think. This novel is not really in the same class with O'Brian and Forester, and I would also rank Woodman's novels higher, but all in all, this novel is okay. I think I will read another in this series.
Rating:
Summary: Geoffrey Frost Series
Review: This series seems to be more in the style of Hornblower than the Aubrey set. Its is well phrased but the characters are rather shallowly defined. Plenty of exciting and well detailed naval action but occaisonal apparent inconsistencies or perhaps just confusing descriptions.
<< 1 >>
|
