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regshoeThis is the eighth Hornblower novel in publication order and the fourth in internal chronological order; the first-published novel The Happy Return being the fifth in the chronology, the series has now come full circle, as becomes increasingly clear towards the end of this book.
Hornblower and the Atropos is middling in structure, not an episodic series of chapters like A Ship of the Line but not really a single continuous novel either. I would put it around the middle of the series in quality also—it has its fun moments, but it doesn't stand out as brilliantly enjoyable. The tragic lack of Bush is a particular flaw.
It opens with Hornblower travelling up to London by passenger canal-boat, accompanied by his now-wife Maria, their first child Horatio and the bump soon to become their second child; some things go wrong on the journey and Hornblower gets to use his nautical skills to help out in suitably comedic fashion, to Maria's disapproval. I really enjoyed this sequence: it's very much that thing you sometimes get in historical fiction where a knowledgeable author is showing off the research they've done, not to boast but to share an interesting and little-known historical thing with the reader (I didn't know that passenger travel by canal boat was a thing), and that's always fun. Hornblower and Maria's marriage is emotionally difficult in pretty much the way we already knew it was. Then they reach London, where Hornblower receives orders to arrange the funeral procession of the recently-deceased Admiral Nelson while Maria gives birth to little Maria. There was some more interesting historical detail in this bit—I liked the heraldic personage with no appreciation for the importance of naval priorities whom Hornblower has to consult—but on the whole it was just a little bit indulgently inserting your OC into prominent historical events.
Then Hornblower is off to the eastern Mediterranean, there to attempt the recovery of a load of treasure which went down with a British ship some time before while avoiding letting too much on to the Turks (who, on the grounds that it was after all wrecked and lost in their waters, would prefer to get the treasure for themselves). He does this with the help of some Sri Lankan pearl divers and a bolshy Scotsman who gets himself perilously wounded in a duel. Also there's a German prince who is now a midshipman. I do admire Forester's ability at coming up with a range of different adventure scenarios for Hornblower's ships to get themselves involved with, and recovering sunken treasure! is an especially thrilling one. The careful deceptive negotiations with the Mudir (the local ruler) and the ways he and Hornblower outwit each other were also enjoyable. I did feel that the treasure-diving plot would have been even better written by an author who could take the Sri Lankans' own perspective on things more seriously; as period-typical racism goes their portrayal isn't that bad but they are very much 'other', and I'd have liked to know more about them.
Then, after an eventful journey back across the Mediterranean, Hornblower returns to England and Maria to find the two children gravely ill, and we've read The Happy Return, we know how this ends, we don't need to see any more now. :(
Forester then went and messed things up by writing two more novels (and half of a third) totally out of order, but never mind, I'll see what I think of those next.
Hornblower and the Atropos is middling in structure, not an episodic series of chapters like A Ship of the Line but not really a single continuous novel either. I would put it around the middle of the series in quality also—it has its fun moments, but it doesn't stand out as brilliantly enjoyable. The tragic lack of Bush is a particular flaw.
It opens with Hornblower travelling up to London by passenger canal-boat, accompanied by his now-wife Maria, their first child Horatio and the bump soon to become their second child; some things go wrong on the journey and Hornblower gets to use his nautical skills to help out in suitably comedic fashion, to Maria's disapproval. I really enjoyed this sequence: it's very much that thing you sometimes get in historical fiction where a knowledgeable author is showing off the research they've done, not to boast but to share an interesting and little-known historical thing with the reader (I didn't know that passenger travel by canal boat was a thing), and that's always fun. Hornblower and Maria's marriage is emotionally difficult in pretty much the way we already knew it was. Then they reach London, where Hornblower receives orders to arrange the funeral procession of the recently-deceased Admiral Nelson while Maria gives birth to little Maria. There was some more interesting historical detail in this bit—I liked the heraldic personage with no appreciation for the importance of naval priorities whom Hornblower has to consult—but on the whole it was just a little bit indulgently inserting your OC into prominent historical events.
Then Hornblower is off to the eastern Mediterranean, there to attempt the recovery of a load of treasure which went down with a British ship some time before while avoiding letting too much on to the Turks (who, on the grounds that it was after all wrecked and lost in their waters, would prefer to get the treasure for themselves). He does this with the help of some Sri Lankan pearl divers and a bolshy Scotsman who gets himself perilously wounded in a duel. Also there's a German prince who is now a midshipman. I do admire Forester's ability at coming up with a range of different adventure scenarios for Hornblower's ships to get themselves involved with, and recovering sunken treasure! is an especially thrilling one. The careful deceptive negotiations with the Mudir (the local ruler) and the ways he and Hornblower outwit each other were also enjoyable. I did feel that the treasure-diving plot would have been even better written by an author who could take the Sri Lankans' own perspective on things more seriously; as period-typical racism goes their portrayal isn't that bad but they are very much 'other', and I'd have liked to know more about them.
Then, after an eventful journey back across the Mediterranean, Hornblower returns to England and Maria to find the two children gravely ill, and we've read The Happy Return, we know how this ends, we don't need to see any more now. :(
Forester then went and messed things up by writing two more novels (and half of a third) totally out of order, but never mind, I'll see what I think of those next.
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Date: Jan. 1st, 2026 07:26 pm (UTC)Hornblower returns to England and Maria to find the two children gravely ill, and we've read The Happy Return, we know how this ends, we don't need to see any more now. :(
And that's what I have to explain to people who read by internal chronology and get to this point. Because from THAT perspective, it's the cliffhanger of all cliffhangers, and what do you MEAN we get barely a sentence about it in the next book??????
It's a hell of an ending, though. He's so happy to see Maria and his kids again, and. Then you get that. Oof. God forbid that man ever be happy.
no subject
Date: Jan. 3rd, 2026 04:55 pm (UTC)Yeah, the jump from this to The Happy Return must be a bit jarring when reading in chronological order, not least because of the not-really-a-cliffhanger-in-context!
God forbid that man ever be happy.
Right?? Thank goodness for fic, where we can a) make him happy and/or b) make him sad in new and interesting ways. :)