A Ship of the Line

By: C. S. Forester

Narrated by: Christian Rodska

Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

Exclusively from Audible

The sixth instalment in the eleven-part Horatio Hornblower series, A Ship of the Line sees the return of 39-year-old Captain Hornblower as he embarks upon a new adventure on the Catalonian coast.

Having successfully defeated the Natividad Ship in battle, Horatio is awarded command of HMS Sutherland. Estimated to be the 'the ugliest and least desirable two-decker in the Navy List,' Hornblower's first ship of the line is far from becoming the vessel of his dreams, and being 250 men short of a full crew, the captain is forced to enlist and train a rabble of 'poachers, bigamists and sheep stealers.'

Seventeen years into the Napoleonic wars, Hornblower cannot afford to pause or make mistakes and the pressure soon mounts as the French approach the Catalonian shores.

Winner of the 1938 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction, A Ship of the Line delivers an action-packed seafaring adventure as one of the nation's favourite captains takes the lead once again.

Hugely celebrated for his Napoleonic naval warfare series, and later for the publication of The African Queen, C. S. Forester came to writing much later than expected. Having originally studied medicine at Guy's Hospital, Forester first developed a love of story-telling after being inspired by his travels with the Royal Navy.

Sadly stricken with arteriosclerosis whilst voyaging to the Bering Sea, C.S. Forester was crippled in his later life, but his imagination and his skill with a pen survived for years to come.

Narrator Biography

Christian Rodska is an English television and voice actor best known for his role in the 1970s series Follyfoot.

From The Monuments Men and The Eagle of the Ninth to The Likely Lads, Z Cars, The Tomorrow People, Coronation Street, Bergerac and Casualty, his extensive and diverse acting career has led him to become a highly solicited radio and audiobook narrator.

He has now voiced over 150 unabridged audiobooks including Winston Churchill's biographies, Evelyn Waugh's Men at Arms and Sebastian Faulks' A Possible Life. He has been praised for his ability to vary in vocal pace and style and as such, Christian boasts 12 Earphone Awards from Audiofile Magazine.

©1938 Cassette Productions SA (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Excellent

Excellent storyline, gripping, accurately detailed, and fast moving. Narrator Christian Rodska is the best, giving life and reality to the characters and reenforcing Forester fabulous tale. Gripping and engrossing. The best.

Excellent!

Wonderful story and per usual Rodska does an outstanding job as narrator. Great experience overall!

Great story and lots of action

Would you consider the audio edition of A Ship of the Line to be better than the print version?

Sorry I can only listen to the books due to work requirements

What other book might you compare A Ship of the Line to and why?

Liked all the books so far Mr Forester ends his books kind of sudden It makes me rush to the next one to find out how the action ends A great trick of the author

Which character – as performed by Christian Rodska – was your favorite?

Liked them all Mr Bush was good as were all the others,he does a great job

If you could rename A Ship of the Line, what would you call it?

A Battle for the ship of the line

Any additional comments?

Look forward to the next one

Nice.

How can. anyone not love the character of Captain Horatio Hornblower, captain of HMS Sutherland.

Love it!

These are simply the best books and this series is incredible. Shop if the line is yet another fantastic addition to the Hornblower saga.

Wow!

All the Hornblower stories are great but this one might be better than most. The reader however is wonderful! Wish I could give him ten stars. I’m going to search for other books he has read.

Journeyman Captain at Work

As a journeyman captain of a ship of the line, Hornblower has plenty of opportunities to strut his stuff--Lots of action. Detached to operate in the Mediterranean during the Napoleonic wars, he submits command to Lord What's his name, the husband of his love, the Lady Barbara. Many clashing sea battles that are well described in detail. "old Boney" is the villain. The ending is a cliff-hanger, unusual for a Forester book.

Great story and performance

If you could rename A Ship of the Line, what would you call it?

Christian Rodska is a terrific narrator. The Horatio Hornblower stories set the standard for other similar period pieces, and few others match up as well.

High seas adventure!

Excellent listen to for historical fiction. The characters can really build with a multiple book series like this and you get a real passage of time expressed in the story.

wonderful period piece

While I don't like the needless brooding, it, like the incredible ending to this book, makes the hero more human and relatable as a person. I simply loved this book.