The Captain's Nephew

The Alexander Clay Series, Book 1

By: Philip K. Allan

Narrated by: Jonathan Bunce

Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

After a century of war, revolutions, and imperial conquests, 1790s Europe is still embroiled in a battle for control of the sea and colonies. Tall ships navigate familiar and foreign waters, and ambitious young men without rank or status seek their futures in naval commands.

First Lieutenant Alexander Clay of the frigate Agrius is self-made, clever, and ready for the new age. But the old world, dominated by patronage, retains a tight hold on advancement. Though Clay has proven himself many times over, Captain Percy Follett is determined to promote his own nephew.

Before Clay finds a way to receive due credit for his exploits, he'll first need to survive them. Ill-conceived expeditions ashore, hunts for privateers in treacherous fog, and a desperate chase across the Atlantic are only some of the challenges he faces. He must endeavor to bring his ship and crew through a series of adventures stretching from the bleak coast of Flanders to the warm waters of the Caribbean. Only then might high society recognize his achievements - and allow him to ask for the hand of Lydia Browning, the woman who loves him regardless of his station.

©2018 Penmore Pess (P)2018 Penmore Press

Exciting

I love stories about the naval wars of the Napoleonic era. I discovered Philip K. Allan via Goodreads.com. This is my first book by Allan.

This is book one in the Alexander Clay Series. Clay obtained his rank of First Lieutenant in the British Navy by skill. This was the era when promotion was beginning to change from patronage to merit. Promotion by merit was instituted by Napoleon. Clay is attempting to get himself promoted.

The book is well written and researched. Allan obviously knows about the sailing techniques of the period. The characters are interesting. There is lots of action, suspense and some humor tossed in to round out an exciting story. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and am looking forward to more books by Allan.

The book is eight hours and forty-one minutes. Jonathan Bunce does a good job narrating the story. Bunce is a British audiobook narrator. This is my first experience listening to Bunch. I enjoyed listening to his voice, British accent and style of narration. I am looking forward to listening to more books by Bunce.

Narrator needs help

The story was ok, unfortunately the narrator doesn't work. His own accent is so strong it overcomes all attempts at other regional accents, his attempts at a female voice is painful. I'm currently trying to get through the second book but his performance is poor. He is trying to adjust his performance to avoid a monotone but it's so bad it's annoying. Sorry!

Heart felt, exciting, loved it!

I have read (and listened to) dozens of British Napoleanic wars navy novels over the years. This was one of the best. I enjoyed how the characters' feelings were fleshed out. I worried about these people. They were lonely but filled with a passionate love for the sea.
The author wrote some excellent descriptive passages of the sea voyages, the wind, the sky and the feel of being at the top of the top mast in a raging storm. The light hearted commaderie of the men in the ward room over meals made me smile.
I couldn't stop listening. I had to find out what would happen .
I can hardly wait to start the second book in this excellent series.

Great new series

I think I've listened to every possible historical fiction series based on the French revolution and this one is off to a great start with a fresh storyline.

I can't wait to hear more from the author.

Philip K Allan Takes Us Below Deck

This book brings us into the series with an introduction to the turn of the 18th Century British Navy. There is an excellent example of a skirmish during the Napoleonic War, and a cultural lesson in not only title, and how it is acquired, but also in romance. The leading character, Alexander Clay proves to be a man more of our age than his own, valuing egalitarian contribution-and-effort over the older century's preference for title and connection. This pulled me into the story but I truly enjoyed the banter below deck that Allan brings to the page; the gentle characterization of hard men who had been dealt hard lives is not an easy thing to portray and Allan's historical knowledge mixes with his cultural knowledge to bring these men to life. I am looking to reading this whole series, and I advise anyone interested in nautical fiction to give this book a serious "read". Then read the next, and the next.

Narration sucks

The audio narrative quality sounds tinny. The narrorator mispronounces words throughout the performance. He was mush-mouthed as well. Characters were hard to discern as the performer's range was rather limited.

Whoever produced this recording should be ashamed of its quality!

performance was rough

Struggled to finish. The performance was rough. At times hard to follow. Dictation and annunciation was not on point.

Reader

Very difficult to understand, after several attempts I had to give up zzz xxx yyy

Amateurish narration ruined this for me

The most charitable thing I can say about the narration is “amateurish”. I feel cheated that I was charged money for this. I gave up half way through. The narrator’s Northern English accent is fine (I’m from Yorkshire myself), but his utter lack of ability to vary his voice for each character, and inability to pronounce common English words and phrases correctly gives the impression of an uneducated man doing this for the first time. The worst narrator I have ever heard, and this is the first negative review I have ever written. Don’t waste your time folks. This performance is absolutely shocking.

couldn't finish because of narration

I couldn't get a grasp on if the story was any good. It was just not read well. It was truly a chore to listen to. I stopped after the first 45 minutes.