Book Reviews

In The Torrid Zone, Alaric Bond's latest novel in his Fighting Sail Series, HMS Scylla is due to return to England. Her crew is weary and the ship is in serious need of a refit. Yet, as soon as the ship reaches home waters, she is dispatched to St. Helena, a tiny island in the distant South Atlantic, with a cargo of East India Company gold and the new island governor, his wife and servants as passengers. What should be a simple mission becomes very complicated and dangerous with the arrival of a French squadron, brutal weather, a reckless diplomat, an enraged widow, and a murderous seaman — all set against the backdrop of one of the most beautiful and remote islands
in the world.

For newcomers, Bond's Fighting Sail Series is refreshingly rather different from conventional nautical fiction whose focus is on a single heroic character, usually the captain. The series features multiple characters and points of view which vividly capture the life aboard a Royal Navy man-of-war, from the lower decks to the captain's cabin. For fans of the series, it is great becoming reacquainted with the officers and crew of HMS Scylla once again. The choice of St. Helena is also a good one, because while important in history, the waters are a bit less well sailed in nautical fiction.

The Torrid Zone is a fine mix of action at sea and intrigue on land. Each has its beauty and dangers. Bond's characters are complex and believable, the pacing is brisk and the writing is delightful. The Torrid Zone is an excellent addition to the other fine books of the Fighting Sail Series. Highly recommended.

Originally published on The Old Salt Blog

The great advantage of five weeks at sea is the chance to catch up with the TBR (to be read) list, and right at the top of that list were two books in the Alaric Bond "Fighting Sail" series, a treat that I had been putting off for far too long.

The huge advantage was that I was able to read them in sequence, something I really recommend. So, if you haven't caught up with this series, this is a good time to start.

First, the eighth in the series, HMS Prometheus.

The bloodstirring battles, flamboyant characters, and shipboard lifestyle of the Age of Nelson resonate down the ages. It could even be said, perhaps, that because of the legendary status of the “little, pigeon-breasted man” — as author Alaric Bond describes Admiral Nelson — that this series of conflicts with the French was the last of the glamorous wars. Since then, mud, blood, and agony characterize battle, and all the gold lace and glory has vanished.

Because of this, too, the era of Napoleon and Nelson is over-populated by novelists. I used to think that C. S. Forester and Patrick O’Brian had said it all, and the rest is redundant. To Forester and POB, however, I would now add a third, Alaric Bond. While Bond has not created captains of the mythic status of Aubrey and Hornblower, he has given an eloquent voice to the rest of the floating village at war — the lower deck tar, the surgeon and the surgeon’s wife, the officers, the midshipmen, and the men who served the sails and the guns. He describes the entire ship’s complement with a kindly and eminently knowledgeable eye. And, most definitely, he can write.

This, the eighth book in Alaric Bond’s “Fighting Sail” series, begins with Prometheus under repair in the Gibraltar shipyard after what was evidently a savage battle with the French. We are rapidly introduced to a number of interesting characters, such as the enigmatic and relatively elderly midshipman, Franklin, the ship’s captain, Sir Richard Banks, varied and various seamen and officers, and the surgeon and his wife. There are so many people, in fact, that the names become somewhat of a blur, but the reader can relax in the assurance that he or she will get to know them very well indeed.

Back in fighting trim, Prometheus sails from Gibraltar, and not a moment too soon, because antics have been taking place on shipboard and in the shipyard accommodations that are more fitting to a shoreside British pub. Meeting up with Admiral Nelson and his blockading fleet leads to a challenge, where a daring raid aimed at the destruction of a French ship of line sends the ship’s boats into the range of fire of not one, but two, shore batteries. Action after action follows, as the increasingly damaged Prometheus battles through crisis after crisis. Then, after another repair at Gibraltar, the motley crew of the war-weary ship meet the greatest challenge yet. Bond, with masterly control of developing chaos, pictures the final battle with such vivid detail that the denouement, though utterly shocking, seems almost inevitable.

The book has a very satisfying finish – and yet manages to end in a cliffhanger. I couldn't wait to read the next in this very exciting series, so was overjoyed that Blackstrap Station was waiting on my kindle.

As promised, this ninth book in Bond’s compelling Age of Nelson series, “Fighting Sail,” begins where the last book ended, with the stranding of the crew of the beached HMS Prometheus.

Christmas Day finds a small group of men, headed by one-armed Lieutenant King, trudging through hostile and barren French countryside in search of food, shelter, and some idea of how to get away without being captured. Then a miracle happens – not just because of a fluke of luck, but because of the extraordinary resourcefulness and courage of their leader.

This novel is a little different, in that King is definitely the major character. There are other personalities featured, including a strange loner, seaman Weissner, whose character development throughout the story creates a particularly intriguing and satisfying sub-plot. Indeed, there are sub-plots aplenty – the travails of the stranded crewmen, their amazing feat of self-preservation, the humiliating consequences for a young midshipman when his courage fails him, and how he copes with the outcome of his cowardice. Even after King is given a spry little command of his own, there are more side-stories to be told, including the complications introduced by a wicked young siren named Sara. But King holds center stage throughout. Getting to know him well, to care about him, and having the privilege of knowing what was going on in his heart and mind, was particularly rewarding.

What always strikes me about Alaric Bond’s writing is his obvious love for ships and the sea. Every word rings true, enhanced by his deep knowledge of the ships of the time, and the seamen who fought to save them from the elements and the enemy. That there is a glossary is a bonus, but not really necessary, because the author knows his subject so thoroughly, and imparts every detail so well and so accessibly that the reader can share every moment, and participate in every action-packed battle from the comfort of his armchair.

Another inspired and compelling story from a master of the Age of Nelson genre. The only problem, for me, is that I have to wait for number ten in the series.

World of the Written Word

Bond delivers another fast-paced, high-impact piece of Napoleonic-era naval fiction with HMS Prometheus, eighth in his Fighting Sails series.

In the western Mediterranean in 1803, Captain Sir Richard Banks races to bring his crippled ship of the line back into fighting trim in time to support Horatio Nelson’s blockade of the French. Bond paints a broader perspective than most other masters of the genre, such as Patrick O’Brian. The narrative not only unfolds through the strategic view of the commissioned officers but also draws us into the quotidian drama of midshipmen, foremast hands, and smugglers, as well as the women who were routinely present on English naval vessels of the period, but less commonly discussed. These are more than sub-plots or contextual ambiance: the shipboard sufferings of the young former prostitute, Poppy, the moral shortcomings of foremast jacks such as Bleeden, the various inner means by which each seaman and officer cope with the terrors of naval combat. Bond shows us how each humble hobnail spirals upward to determine the fortunes of war and the outcome of great sea battles.

The senior staff is not neglected, however, and one of Bond’s most masterful touches is his close portrayal of Nelson, presenting the famous admiral from his strategic genius down to the smallest details of his generous and inspiring personality.

Like all good serial fiction, the author makes it relatively easy to pick up the story and break into the book on its own merits. That said, the ending leaves the reader yearning for the next installment.

Well researched, finely written. A must-read for lovers of sea stories.

Originally published on Historical Novel Society, written by Jackie Drohan

In Alaric Bond’s most recent novel, HMS Prometheus, the eighth of his Fighting Sail series, the Mediterranean is a dangerous place for the Royal Navy. In the autumn of 1803, the British fleet is overextended and vulnerable. Britain is still under the threat of invasion and Nelson needs every ship he can lay his hands on to reinforce his blockade of Toulon. French squadrons are a constant threat while Barbary pirates snap up the weak or unwary.

Captain Sir Richard Banks would like to join the fleet, but his ship, HMS Prometheus, a 74 gun ship of the line, was seriously damaged in battle and is being repaired in the Gibraltar dockyard. The extensive repairs are not his only problem. Several of his senior officers have been killed or grievously wounded and his ship is seriously undermanned. Once the ship does join Nelson, it is dispatched on a series of bold and just possibly reckless missions.

At this point, I will stop. The problem with this sort of synopsis is that it doesn’t do Bond’s novel justice. The description sounds like just another nautical adventure novel set in Age of Nelson with a heroic captain facing daunting odds. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that sort of novel. From Forrester to O’Brian and scores of authors in between and beyond, there have been many wonderful books and series of books written which follow the careers of gallant captains. Nevertheless, Bond’s Fighting Sail series doesn’t quite fit that mold.

Ships of the line in the early 19th century were perhaps the most technically advanced machines of the age. Complicated, intricate, incredibly robust and yet often quite vulnerable, what kept these great machines of war functioning was an equally diverse and complex crew of hundreds of men, (and usually a handful of women,) under the ever watchful eye of scores of commissioned and warrant officers.

What sets Alaric Bond’s novels apart is that his tales follow the lives of multiple characters and points of view, from the jack-tar on the gundeck to the surgeons in the cockpit, the officers in the wardroom and the captain on the quarterdeck. The captain may be in command of the ship but what makes both it and the novels work is the interplay between the sailors, warrant officers, midshipmen, and mates, working with, and at times, against each other. In the hands of a less skilled writer, Bond’s range of characters could either be confusing or muddled. In his Fighting Sail Series, they are more of a mosaic, each somehow fitting together seamlessly.

Readers of previous novels in the series will be pleased to be reunited with Captain Sir Richard Banks, Lieutenants King and Caulfield, the naval surgeon and his wife, Robert and Kate Manning, as well as the denizens of the gundeck, including the aging sailor Flint. New readers will have no trouble jumping right in.

It is best not to grow too attached to any character, as, as in life and in history, one can never be sure who will live and who will die. In HMS Prometheus, Captain Banks meets Admiral Nelson and seeks to follow his bold example. Banks quickly learns that the line between valor and recklessness can be perilously fine and that not all battles can be won.

HMS Prometheus is a fine addition to Alaric Bond’s Fighting Sail series. Highly recommended.

Originally published on gCaptain, written by Rick Spilman

The year is 1803 and times is hard in Hastings. Sometimes a young man’s got to do what a man’s got to do. And so does a young woman..

Alaric Bond’s latest novel, The Guinea Boat (Old Salt Press) is about two English youths on the cusp of adulthood during the Peace of Amiens, a short-lived lull in hostility between England and France. But the so-called “peace” was not exactly tranquil. The reader experiences the intersecting lives of Nat, a somewhat arrogant but likeable lad from Ninfield in Sussex, who leaves home and an unexciting future as a bookkeeper in his father’s accounting business to find a more successful life at sea. Lighting out for Rye, he is waylaid in Hastings where he meets Alex, son of a revenue man and becomes an unlikely apprentice, crewing for Ned Coglan, a local fisherman and widower with two teenaged daughters.

The story is told from alternating viewpoints of Nat and Alex, whose lives become intertwined, then go off on different tacks. Smugglers, revenue men, merchantmen, the navy, the Sea Fencibles, and three young lassies are all at work — and often at odds — in this convincing historical novel.

The Guinea Boat is filled with conflict and the plot has some good twists, but what I really appreciated was the setting — the strong sense of time and place created through well chosen details. Bond creates his maritime settings convincingly by steeping himself in his place, as is evidenced by his blog post.

Before publication Alaric and I discussed The Guinea Boat’s potential market. Is it for teens? Certainly young adults will relate to the youthful protagonists who make some rash decisions. But the book will appeal to older readers as well, as it is written from an older, wiser man’s perspective — a man looking back on his youth with satisfaction, pride, and regret. In fact Nat begins the tale with “There is much I would change now...”

Coming of age novels interest me. As do sea stories and historical settings. Combine the three and I’m hooked.

Originally published on lindacollison.com

In The Torrid Zone, Alaric Bond's latest novel in his Fighting Sail Series, HMS Scylla is due to return to England. Her crew is weary and the ship is in serious need of a refit. Yet, as soon as the ship reaches home waters, she is dispatched to St. Helena, a tiny island in the distant South Atlantic, with a cargo of East India Company gold and the new island governor, his wife and servants as passengers. What should be a simple mission becomes very complicated and dangerous with the arrival of a French squadron, brutal weather, a reckless diplomat, an enraged widow, and a murderous seaman — all set against the backdrop of one of the most beautiful and remote islands
in the world.

For newcomers, Bond's Fighting Sail Series is refreshingly rather different from conventional nautical fiction whose focus is on a single heroic character, usually the captain. The series features multiple characters and points of view which vividly capture the life aboard a Royal Navy man-of-war, from the lower decks to the captain's cabin. For fans of the series, it is great becoming reacquainted with the officers and crew of HMS Scylla once again. The choice of St. Helena is also a good one, because while important in history, the waters are a bit less well sailed in nautical fiction.

The Torrid Zone is a fine mix of action at sea and intrigue on land. Each has its beauty and dangers. Bond's characters are complex and believable, the pacing is brisk and the writing is delightful. The Torrid Zone is an excellent addition to the other fine books of the Fighting Sail Series. Highly recommended.

Originally published on The Old Salt Blog