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Hornblower and the "Atropos"
- Narrated by: Patrick Macnee
- Series: Horatio Hornblower (publication order) (abridged), Book 8
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Abridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Action & Adventure
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Publisher's Summary
Critic Reviews
"Hornblower was never in better form." (San Francisco Chronicle)
"Vivid...intense and exciting." (New York Times Book Review)
What listeners say about Hornblower and the "Atropos"
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Inga Duncan
- 06-26-03
Unabridged?
Great book, I only wish it was the unabridged version.
7 people found this helpful
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- Merlin
- 02-04-12
Poor narration; not Forester's best story
This is an abridged version, but frankly I'm glad it is because I found the narrator so annoying I wanted it to be over. Patrick Manee narrates in a ridiculously lugubrious manner. He reads painfully slowly, and constantly goes into a strange singsong mode, elongating the vowels to a ridiculous extent when reading dialogue. It's OK, perhaps, when rendering the speech of a rustic bargeman at the beginning; but it's quite inappropriate when Hornblower is supposed to be snapping orders in a crisis. Christian Rodska, who narrates many of the other Hornblower novels is consistently superb, and his performances shine even brighter compared to this rendering.
I found the story disappointing also. Even though it's abridged, uninteresting scenes seem to be drawn out: e.g. the opening journey down canal and river to London. It's not a patch on Lieutenant Hornblower or Mr Midshipman Hornblower.
2 people found this helpful
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- Frank F. Sommers IV
- 10-18-18
terrible narrator, weak story, unnecessary music
terrible narrator, weak story, music unnecessary, fast and away the worst of the Hornblower stories
1 person found this helpful
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- Fellermom
- 03-09-22
Fills holes in the Hornblower Saga
Interesting detail of life in England in 1805 and about the funeral of Horatio Nelson. Narration was satisfactory. Christian Rodska is the best narrator of the Hornblower series. MacNee is second best.
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- Wendy A. Amundsen
- 03-10-21
Gripping story
Loved the story and the performance! Full of adventure, heart, excitement. A very captivating tale.
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- Petroglypher
- 01-19-19
Thank G. that's over
While the story is good, the listener has to endure another excrutiating performance by Patrick Macnee which truley distracts from the tale. This, in addition to the maudlin music, makes it difficult to rate this favorably. I am anxious to purge Macnee from my ears and get back to Christian Rodska's excellent narration.
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- Christopher Headley
- 10-05-16
A bit too cartoonish.
I would have preferred this without all the musical interludes between chapters. Also the narration bordered on cartoonish in a lot of ways. Christian Rodska has to be my favorite Hornblower narrator. I wish this was available with him.
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- Lady Pamela
- 03-07-16
Salvage Ops
This book is a series of Hornblower adventures. The junior captain saves Nelson's funeral procession, recovers treasure from Turkish waters and captures a Spanish ship of the line. I particularly enjoyed the salvage operation...use of Ceylonese divers, probably without artificial air--wow! None of the familiar characters, except Maria and the kids are part of this book--perhaps showing our hero's growing independence. I read this book while riding San Diego's Hornblower Cruises looking for whales--avast, thar she blows! The staff was clueless about the literary origination of their company name.
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- Isaac R.
- 08-21-15
Wonderful Book!!!
I really love the Hornblower series! It's been one of my favorite series to read. My dad recommended it to me when I was a little boy finally got around to reading it and wondered why I hadn't read it by now :-)
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- Dan
- 05-14-11
Macnee is awesome
The Hornblower Novels are great on their own, but Patrick Macnee makes them incredible. His narration is perfect. I dare say he is even better as a narrator than he was as "Mr Steed"
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- Anonymous User
- 01-11-20
Seriously disappointed.
I’m a great fan of CS Forester and the Hornblower series. Several of the unabridged ones have been superb. This highly abridged version left me cold. It seriously doesn’t deserve to be an audible offering.