Lieutenant Hornblower

I grew up reading about Horatio Hornblower in the Saturday Evening Post. How I waited for a new story to arrive. Later, I purchased the books and read and re-read them.
How delightful to be able to listen to them now. To visit scenes not well remembered and have my memories renewed. It's almost like a family reunion.
Hornblower is the most dashing cousin a girl could have. He's brave and ruggedly good-looking and inspires the most romantic dreams. Unfortunately, he is in love with his ship ... but I have never minded playing second fiddle.
I am in my second listening now. The first a hurry to catch the story, the second to enjoy more of the flavor and character development. The third will be just to enjoy a story well written and well told.

The top 3.

The historic frame is great. The story itself is predictable but that doesn't matter since the 'how' is more important then the 'what'.

Great job.

it makes you feel heroic :-).

My title says it all. This is Hornblower at his most swashbuckling. The narrator, Christian Rodska, is quite superb, as usual.

Well worth it

Good plot

Not sure but an excellent narrator.

No

Order the first in the series after hearing this one.

This book is another entertaining book by this author, and well read. I use these books to keep my interest while driving, and have not been disappointed.

his friendship with others

at the fort and how they enter the fort and help the ship to get out.

getting back to the ship

The captain to give him present him with Lieutenant papers.

enjoyed the book and will listen to more

This book has always struck me as an odd one in the series; not bad at all, just odd. Told more from Bush's point of view almost, or certainly focused more on him. I suppose to get you ready for Bush as the best friend.
I didn't like the narration quite as much on this one, as the characterizations slipped a bit between Bush and Hornblower causing a bit of confusion, but not anything to cry over.
A solid part of the series though, and well read all in all.

If you've exhausted Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series and miss tales of the British navy in the 18th-19th centuries, then the Hornblower books seem to be a worthy way to get your fix. The main character is appealing and the naval arcana is well-told, but this book lacked the sly social commentary that lace the O'Brian books. Nevertheless, it's a series I shall continue with. Excellent audiobook narration, with a variety of upper and lower class British accents delineating the characters.

I have been reading and listening to the Hornblower novels for
40 years. They are more thrilling each time round.

Christian Rodska is a dream reader.

This book was written in 1952 and is different from the prior books in that the story is told from the view point of Lt William Bush rather than from Hornblower's. The story begins with Lt Bush coming aboard the ship as a new officer and is meet greeted aboard by Lt Hornblower. There are determining which Lieutenant is senior by date of rank when Captain Sawyer comes aboard and accuses Bush of deliberately boarding the ship ahead of him. Turns out that Hornblower is the most junior (5) Lt and Bush is the number 3. So begins a voyage to the Caribbean with a paranoid schizophrenic Captain. The trip shows what power of life and death the Captains had in those days. There is lots of action both ship and land fighting as well as seaman skills. The book also goes to demonstrate what leadership skills and ability are needed to lead men. Christian Rodska does a great job narrating the book. This is a great story and has a bit more meat to the story than prior ones. Looking forward to reading the next in line.