Spoilers ahead:
I'm reading this series in chronological order and Richard Bolitho (RB) has just been promoted commander into a sloop. But not any sloop that I've read. This one is a purpose built military sloop and carries 12 pdrs in its side as well as two 32 pdrs as bow chasers. This is far heavier than I've seen any sloop armed in books.
I've always wondered why sloops and other unrated ships don't carry larger ordinance and I thought that they didn't do so because of the weight of the larger cannons as well the larger number of men needed to serve them. If that was the case, then I wondered why they didn't carry smaller number of cannons. For example I would have replaced some 6 pdrs with one or two 32 pdrs (or lesser heavy guns) instead of all 6 pdrs in most of the sloops or brigs I read about.
This was partly solved later on by carronades. (The action in this book is dated before carronades were invented, the book mentions this.) But even so I would have carried larger but less number of bigger carronades. Anyway back to the book...
The action takes place on the Atlantic American coast during the time of the American Revolution and once again I'm conflicted because usually I root for Bolitho and the Royal Navy but in this case, we are the bad guys!
The writing flows well and is easy to read. Kent does his usual good job with fleshing out all the characters and making them interesting. There are only two things I didn't like. One is that RB is new minted as commander but he acts as a seasoned and much older captain. I suspect that this book was written later when Kent had already established him as a seasoned captain and it was hard to go back And the other one is hero worship. This is particularly bad with the Ramage series. The problem isn't really the worship but the way it's done. Hornblower is worshiped by his men, but you feel it in the writing and the way the men behave. In both Ramage and Bolitho, the men have to say it out, which is bad writing and a bit cringy.
There is a bit of romance but it has unexpected ending. As usual, the hero (RB) falls in love immediately after meeting once or twice and RB even thinks of marrying her but his object of romance dismisses him immediately and is only interested in having him as one of her legion of fans.
Overall a good book with a lot of action. Elements of conflict in this book are bad feelings between his lieutenants, corrupt and incompetent superiors, and larger frigates that he has to fight. He was even pulled into a court martial where a superior lied to get him into trouble.
RB is recommended to be promoted to captain around the middle of the book but never posted, which I guess will happen in the next book. The promotions in the RB series comes pretty fast, midshipman, lieutenant and commander are only one book each so I guess RB is a post captain in the rest of the series. English Overall a pretty entertaining book, watching Bolitho growing into the role of a ship’s captain. The action is settled against the backdrop of the American revolution, so one already knows that this isn’t going to be a story the British will be victorious in.
There is plenty of action, but Bolitho is largely outgunned when it comes to the field if intrigue and scheming. English Very good naval/Age of Fighting Sail novel. This is my second Bolitho novel, and I like this character even more after the second book. Fun stuff. English Continuing my voyages into Age of Sail fiction! This was okay, nothing too special. I felt like quite a few sequences were recycled throughout it - lots of battles described in the same way, and I didn’t warm to the simplistic style of narrative and dialogue too much. It seemed a bit bland, but I did enjoy the characters! Captain Bolitho was a great lead, young and brave and vulnerable at times with a mean streak despite his overall mildness and honour. The three-way tension with him and his two lieutenants was g o r g e o u s as well. Him and Lieutenant Tyrell had some major ust going on there. The highlight chapter for me was the court martial and Bolitho laying into the Admiral, which you don’t usually see in these kind of novels, where the officers tend to be civil on the outside and only angry and emotional on the inside. Overall though, it was okay, and it is always good to see how authors deal with this period in time on the high seas! English I have read a couple of books in this series out of order over the years, so I figured I would read this as its the earliest in the series I could get my hands on. This is the first novel where Richard Bolitho is a captain of his own vessel, a Commander of the sloop Sparrow.
He's part of the English Naval forces off the Americas, dealing with the American revolution and trying to handle the French Navy as well as privateers from the USA. He becomes entangled with some politics and finds friends on both sides of the conflict.
Overall there are some great scenes and events. The characterization of various side characters is well done, and they have interesting, varied, and complex motivations. Kent does a good job of keeping you guessing; you can't ever really be sure who someone is or what they're really like right away. Some who seem troubling or antagonistic end up being a solid friend of the captain. Others like Lieutenant Tyrell you're never really sure of until the end of the book.
However, the main character Bolitho is kind of unlikable, not because of his personality, but because of the way he's written. Kent is so eager for you to like him, to be impressed by him, and to consider him the consummate hero that he goes overboard. Even the most mundane things he does amazes his crew. Everyone is impressed by him, even with a brief encounter.
Almost everyone has at least one glowing, awestruck thought about Bolitho at some point in the book. Bolitho does not make mistakes, he makes the right choice, he comes up with what no one else thinks of (even when its fairly obvious). His naval choices, although some are rather mundane and typical for captains at the time, are considered the work of some great genius. Overall it becomes a bit wearying and my memories of the series are that this is more or less constant.
If Kent had let Bolitho show his ability in a more modest way, and keep the other characters from telling so much (the number of conversations in which someone praises him or talks about how great he is are very numerous) it would have been significantly less tiresome. Overall, its not very well done.
I can't really recommend this series very highly, some such as the O'Brian, Forester, and even the Fox series are much more entertaining, effectively told, and interesting books. But they aren't horrible, and if you can look past the desperation by the author that you be terribly amazed and enraptured by his main character, they're pretty solid sea stories. English
April 1778, English Harbour, Antigua. As the French enter the American War of Independence in earnest, young Richard Bolitho is given his first command: Sparrow--a fast, well-armed fighting sloop. At last he has the chance to prove his abilities as a junior captain. But he faces other challenges too, threats as real and deadly as the enemy itself. Sloop of War: Volume 4 (The Bolitho Novels)
Like a raked black finger the sloops long jib-boom swept out and over his head, and for a few more moments he stared up at the figurehead below the bowsprit. A man-size sparrow, beak wide in fury and wings spread as if to fight, its curved claws firmly gripping a gilded cluster of oak leaves and acorns. Bolitho watched until the boat had moved around and under the starboard cathead. He had never thought a mere sparrow could be depicted as being so warlike.
It's 1778 and Richard Bolitho has just been given his first command as captain of the sloop Sparrow. The American Revolutionary War is in full swing and their French allies are eager to antagonize the Royal Navy. Bolitho revels in his fast, well-armed ship, hunting privateers and the French while patrolling the Atlantic coast. But he must contend with Tyrell, a first lieutenant who is an American loyalist and a senior officer consumed with gaining personal power and glory, no matter whom he must put in harm's way. Amidst the cannonfire and bloodshed, Bolitho also manages to develop a relationship with an aristocratic lady that may be more than she seems.
Kent addresses past events previous to the book, creating a larger world beyond the book and allowing readers to get a better idea of Bolitho's character and attitude towards his crew. Sloop of War also reads perfectly well as a stand-alone novel.
As always, Kent's description and character developement are top notch. We not only get to experience Bolitho as a leader, we also see the world from first lieutenant Tyrell's eyes. While his fellow countrymen are fighting King George, Tyrell has remained loyal to the crown, making him despised by one side and mistrusted by the other. Caught in the lonely in between as an officer of his majesty, all he can do is follow orders and try not to get killed.
One part I took guity pleasure in involved Kent speaking well of some Canadian scouts brought along to aid Bolitho. I couldn't help but grin when Foley says, Good men. If I had a regiment of them I could retake half of America.
This book is action-packed, fast-paced, filled with battles on both land and sea and is a great addition to the Bolitho series. This is a great place to start for those interested in historical naval fiction.
English Bolitho finally gets a ship of his own.
I like this series. There are no vampires in it. English Creo que es la cuarta entrega de esta apasionante saga de marinería que sigue la vida de Richard Bolitho desde su entrada en la marina inglesa como guardiamarina y su continuo progreso y evolución a pesar de su juventud. Aquí obtiene por primera vez el mando de una corbeta como capitán de la misma durante los años de la guerra de independencia de los USA en la que los franceses toman partido y se unen a los americanos en contra de los británicos.
No puedo juzgar objetivamente este tipo de libros ya que me encantan, la atmósfera descrita me envuelve y me cautiva a partes iguales. Puedo imaginar perfectamente que para muchos lectores puedan resultar un tostón, o ser demasiado violentos... English Lots of fighting action in this one. Near run thing when an unscrupulous officer triex to put blame on Bolitho for losng a ship in pursuit of prize money and glory. Fortunately, there was a witness to the truth. There's also a smidgeon of romance, but that fizzles thankfully. That's one of the reasons that I like this series--not much romance unlike some books supposedly about Britain's wooden walls. English Bolitho now commanding a ship, in a very dangerous ocean, whatever situation is thrust upon his ship and crew, he is the one that makes life and death decisions, in a story full of danger and drama, Bolitho throughout the book developes into a very capable leader, the backdrop of the book is how Bolitho character grows up. A very enjoyable book, in a larger series, a sort of Hornblower, Black sails era book, very readable, the story flows at a good pace throughout the book, enough to keep the readers concentration right until the end. No editorial errors, nice book cover. A solid good read, for people that enjoy this period in history.
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