Fire on the Waters

Civil War at Sea #1

by David Poyer

The year is 1861, and America shudders on the brink of disunion. Elisha Eaker, scion of a wealthy Manhattan banking family, joins the Navy against his father's wishes. He does it as much to avoid an arranged marriage to his cousin, Araminta Van Velsor, as to defend the flag.

Eli meets Lieutenant Ker Claiborne aboard the sloop of war U.S.S. Owanee. An Annapolis graduate who's seen action in the West Indies and the Africa Station, Claiborne is cool and competent in storm and battle, but he now faces an agonizing choice between the Navy he loves and his native Virginia. Whichever road he takes, he'll be called a traitor.

With authentic nautical and historical detail, master sea-yarner David Poyer follows Eli, Araminta, Ker, and their loved ones and shipmates into a maelstrom of divided loyalties, bitter partings, stormy seas, governmental panic, political blundering, and, finally, the test of battle as the bloodiest and most divisive war in American history begins.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Civil War, Military History, American Civil War

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Aka D.C. Poyer.

DAVID C. POYER was born in DuBois, PA in 1949. He grew up in Brockway, Emlenton, and Bradford, in western Pennsylvania, and graduated from Bradford Area High School in 1967. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1971, and later received a master's degree from George Washington University.

Poyer's active and reserve naval service included sea duty in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Arctic, Caribbean, and Pacific, and shore duty at the Pentagon, Surface Warfare Development Group, Joint Forces Command, and in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. He retired in July 2001.

Poyer began writing in 1976, and is the author of nearly fifty books, including THE MED, THE GULF, THE CIRCLE, THE PASSAGE, TOMAHAWK, CHINA SEA, BLACK STORM, THE COMMAND, THE THREAT, KOREA STRAIT, THE WEAPON, THE CRISIS, THE CRUISER, TIPPING POINT, HUNTER KILLER, DEEP WAR, OVERTHROW, VIOLENT PEACE, ARCTIC SEA, and THE ACADEMY, best-selling Navy novels; THE DEAD OF WINTER, WINTER IN THE HEART, AS THE WOLF LOVES WINTER, THUNDER ON THE MOUNTAIN, and THE HILL, set in Western Pennsylvania; and HATTERAS BLUE, BAHAMAS BLUE, LOUISIANA BLUE, and DOWN TO A SUNLESS SEA, underwater diving adventure.

Other noteworthy books are THE ONLY THING TO FEAR, a historical thriller, THE RETURN OF PHILO T. McGIFFIN, a comic novel of Annapolis, and the three volumes of The Civil War at Sea, FIRE ON THE WATERS, A COUNTRY OF OUR OWN, and THAT ANVIL OF OUR SOULS. He's also written two sailing thrillers, GHOSTING and THE WHITENESS OF THE WHALE. His work has been published in Britain, translated into Japanese, Dutch, Italian, Hugarian, and Serbo-Croatian; recorded for audiobooks, iPod downloads, and Kindle, and selected by the Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club and other book clubs. Rights to several properties have been sold or optioned for films, and two novellas appeared in the Night Bazaar series of fantasy anthologies.

Poyer has taught or lectured at Annapolis, Flagler College, University of Pittsburgh, Old Dominion University, the Armed Forces Staff College, the University of North Florida, Christopher Newport University, and other institutions. He has been a guest on PBS's "Writer to Writer" series and on Voice of America, and has appeared at the Southern Festival of Books and many other literary events. He taught in the MA/MFA in Creative Writing program at Wilkes University for sixteen years. He is currently core faculty at the Ossabaw Writers Retreat, a fellow of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and a board member of the Northern Appalachia Review.

He lives on Virginia's Eastern Shore with novelist Lenore Hart.

Reviews

[Thomas George Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel is the first of three novels about the NAVY and the Civil War. It begins in 1861, and Abe Lincoln is now president. Many Southern States are beginning to secede. The main protagonists are Elisha Eaker, a son of a wealthy banking family from New York; Lt. Ker Clairborne, a Virginian, who opposes slavery, but has divided loyalties. Mr. Poyer, a Naval Vet himself, writes a honest account about divided loyalties from Southerners and Yankees who do not wholeheartedly support the new president.

[Paul Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first novel in David Poyer's Civil War series- told from the perspective of a young US Navy Ensign struggling to make a break from the stifling expectations of his New York society blueblood family, and of a young Lieutenant from the who is torn between loyalties to his home, and his oath as an officer. A compelling story!

[Maurice · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good enough read; tough to get used to dialect and slang from the 1860's; a little disappointed in ending as I wanted to know more about the protaganists futures

[Jeffrey Philips · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great Civil War novel that takes place at sea. Every page held my interest.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think making 1/3rd of the way through this book was enough. Really, I should have dropped it after the first few pages. The main issue for this book stems from its use of naval jargon. It's overwhelming. I spent more time looking up diagrams of old boats than I did actually reading the book, just so I could figure out what was going on. There's also Poyer's infuriating use of dashes instead of quotation marks to indicate dialogue, which wouldn't be too big of a deal if he actually took the time to sit down and format it correctly. Instead, we're left with run-on sentences that suddenly shift from dialogue to action, making the book confusing as hell to read.

I really wanted to get invested in the book. Ecker was an interesting character, Clairborne was a character who's internal conflict I wanted to get invested in and watch play out. But I just couldn't, because the book failed to pull me in. I mean, I got 1/3rd of the way through and nothing really happened. There's a lack of interesting conflict up to this point, and this, combined with the book's hard to read nature, makes it extremely unentertaining. Cannot recommend.

[Terry Steinborn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Much as I enjoy books about naval warfare, I found this book more trouble than it's worth. For more than half the book, the apparent primary protagonist is basically an observer and an incompetent amateur. Another bothersome factor is that the book does not use common punctuation for delineating spoken dialogue, so it is difficult to discern when spoken words end. The book covers a time of great turmoil and interest - the beginning of the US Civil War, starting with the fall of Fort Sumter in Charleston Bay, South Carolina. The book does depict the personal struggles of many people, in and out of the military, at this time as they have to decide how they will deal with the issues involving secession.

[Mike Sigler · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main frame of the story is good, a retelling of the first days of the civil war and fort Sumter and something of the thinking of peoples choices of sides. Some parts are corn dog and trite, the rich, willful girl, the tubercular rich coming of age boy. Some of the language is good, other is ponderous and outdated, though the latter gives some sense of place and time

[Jeff Tanner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the bad reviews before I read the book and yes, he uses dashes instead of quotes which was annoying at first, and yes, he uses a lot of technical terms that I didn't know but I didn't have to look them up to enjoy the book.

The captivating story is filled with exciting adventure. I'm definitely going to read the rest of this series.

[John Cates]

Lots of interesting references to the operation and function of civil war naval ships - there's also a story of divided loyalties, 1860's manners etc

I once read somewhere that Moby Dick was a great book except for the whale parts - this may apply here if your not interested in nautical minutia

[Kenneth Flusche · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a second read, but my memory is vague. I remember everything about Mr. Hanks, but almost nothing about the main characters. The problem with Historical Fiction sometimes is remembering what is History and what is Fiction.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really liked the sea story portions; didn't favor the story-line about Araminta.

[RL · Rating 4 out of 5]

a very good read about life on a 19th century wooden ship. Engaging plot lines and vivid descriptions of sailing vessels and their manpower.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't finish - barely started. Too many words I don't know, and I have a pretty good vocabulary. I don't know if he's using language from the time period of the story.. Whatever, it's not for me!

[Tom Darrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fair bit of historical fiction, but not great. Ideally, I would give this book 2.5 stars.

Positives - it explores a relatively unknown topic for historical fiction... that of naval exploits during the Civil War. Additionally, even though some of the material here has been done over in other works (ex. the battle of Fort Sumter), the different perspectives are rather unique. Finally, Poyer does a good job at depicting the general chaos of this period when southern states were in a state of limbo about whether or not they would leave the Union and how the US government struggled to retain control of their limited resources.

Negatives - I wouldn't recommend this book to someone who isn't very familiar with naval terminology of the period. Although historically accurate, phrases like, "maintop stand by to lay aloft - two reefs in the topsail and main" will leave a novice rather confused. Furthermore, whereas other authors of historical fiction attempt to put those terms in context or explain them, Poyer doesn't really bother.

The biggest problem I have with this book is with the narrative structure. There are several narrative strands running through this book... one of Ker (the Virginian who feels torn between his duty to the Navy and Virginia), one of Cal (the escaped slave with a dark side), one of Araminta (the young woman trying to get out on her own) and finally Eli (the protagonist who volunteers for naval duty to improve his health and establish his manhood). The first three narratives are rather sloppily done and not really fully resolved. SPOILER ALERT... Ker runs, or rather rows, off to join the Confederacy, but his torment over the choice isn't that well developed. He also never has a final talk about it with Eli (who you would think would care). Cal kills some slave catchers, runs off with their money, consults with a voodoo princess (by far the weakest chapter in the book) and neglects to blow up the dry dock, but the reasoning behind those actions, and the consequences for them, are never revealed. As for Ara, her wanting to get her inheritance is a fair, although overused, plot device, but her decent into the opium den really jumps the shark and her death is probably the definition of "hurried". Finally, Eli's fate never really feels in question. I kind of knew from the start that he would rise through the ranks, face danger and grow the stones to stand up to his father.
END OF SPOILER
Generally speaking, the main and supporting characters have some good elements to them, but they are never fully developed and the way the plot lines mildly intertwine but fail to meet up in the end comes off as amateurish.

Generally speaking, this book is ok, but could have been executed with much more skill. Hopefully some of the plot holes will be resolved in the next book in this series (A Country of the Own), but I don't plan on reading it.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Eli Eaker volunteered his services to the USS Owanee, his chief intention was to get away from his domineering father and an arranged marriage to his beautiful but sisterly cousin Araminta. That, and physicians suggested the sea air to him as a cure for his ailing lungs. He never expected that the threat of secession, which he used as an excuse for running away from father dear's iron hand, would be realized in the form of open war, but soon Mr. Eaker finds himself an increasingly needed officer on a cantankerous ship, a sailing-steaming hybrid tasked with the resupply of Fort Sumter. Those with a little historical savvy might guess that such a mission doesn't pan out, but that's not the worst of it. The union's hemorrhage of southern states takes a toll on its officers and enlisted ranks, meaning that Mr. Eaker -- a rich scion whose naval experience is limited to adventures on his father's yacht -- finds responsibility thrust upon him, while at the same time he's distracted by a possibly deathly illness (tuberculosis, known as 'consumption') and the woes of his fiance-cousin who is likewise desperate to escape Eaker Sr.

Fire on the Waters is the 'hardest' historical fiction I've read; not difficult, but hard in the sense of science fiction that is based on 'hard' fact. This is a novel heavy with details, and delivered with the authenticity of a cast-iron skillet to the head; Poyer uses old literary conventions and archaic spellings of words to give his narrative real historic grounding. The charm this adds distracts the reader from the fact that the story consists of one dismal failure after another for its characters - though such reverses give Eaker a chance to prove his worth. Though this is a novel of the Civil War at sea, and most of the characters are sailors, combat is minimal and occurs mostly on land. The real strife of the novel is between the characters over competing loyalties the Owannee's captain and first officer are both southerners, and each are torn between the home they were raised in and the flag they have fought under for so long. The first novel in a trilogy, Fire on the Water impresses most with its detail, and its maritime setting is quite different from most Civil War-related historical fiction.

[Nasif Mcpherson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fire on the Waters is the first novel in a series of books by David Poyer set during the Civil War. The story takes place during the month of April 1861, but there's no lack of conflict and danger. The fictional ship Owanee begins and ends the novel at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, but in between she attempts to bring relief supplies to Fort Sumter, hunts a Confederate battery on the Potomac, and plays a critical role in the destruction of the Gosport Navy Yard. The novel’s main character, Elisha Eaker, enlists in the Navy to achieve independence from his domineering father and to avoid marrying his cousin. Because of Eaker’s social status and education, he is commissioned as an officer on the ship.

Poyer very thoroughly illustrates the life aboard ship for sailors during the 19th century. He also does wonderful job of incorporating the diction of that time period into the story to create an old, historical tone for the story. This was also one of the book’s biggest weaknesses. The flow of the story was often disrupted due to my misunderstanding of the vocabulary and slang used in the 1800s. I constantly had to research new words and phrases almost every page. However, it speaks volumes about a book when the worst thing about it is how it expanded your knowledge.

Because of the Adult content and level, I wouldn’t recommend Fire on the Waters for anyone below a high school reading level. Due to the historical nature of the novel, it would obviously be most suitable for readers with an avid interest in American or Civil War history.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

#1 in the Civil War at Sea Trilogy.

The Civil War at Sea - The naval beginnings of the Civil War receive lengthy treatment in the first of a projected series involving the internecine conflict. Here, the focus is on the efforts of the U.S.S. Owanee to provide support and relief as the union crumbles. The ensemble includes several crew members from the ill-fated ship, the most prominent being Eli Eaker, the Harvard-dropout son of a wealthy Maryland merchant, Micah Eaker, who joins the navy to prove his independence from his tyrannical father. In his adventures, Eaker turns his back on an arranged marriage with his cousin Araminta Van Velsor, who discovers the loss of the family fortune when she, too, attempts to escape her uncle's iron hand by gaining access to her inheritance. Eli and Araminta's romance plays out against the background of shifting wartime alliances, as Fort Sumter falls and the Owanee penetrates Chesapeake Bay on a clandestine mission.

[Tom Landry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say this was a tough one for me to rate. I gave it three starts because I did like it overall. The problem for me was that there were sections that I was really into and then there were others where I was counting how many pages were left in that chapter. there was at least one plot line I feel contributed nothing to the story. Another issue for me was terminology. Even though I grew up sailing with my dad there are quite a lot of nautical terms with sailing ships I've simply never been exposed to. There were occasional paragraphs where I had no idea what I just read. I did look up some of the words while a read but that would take me out of the story. I guess a little research into sailing ships would help the reader before starting this book. In the end I did like more than I disliked.

[Rudy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always enjoyed reading great historical fiction books and so I was happy that Mr. Poyer wrote a very interesting and super book that describes the Civil War period at the very beginning. The author describes the events through fantastic characters, e.g. the human side as both northern and southern characters comes to grips with their allegiants to the coming war. You won’t find a lot military action in this book, but you will get a feel as to what the emotional feelings were for these folks during this period. Highly recommend.

[Autumn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally finished! this was my historical fiction novel! took me two weeks, I hate it when that happens. It took me a long time to get into it, but the ending made it worth it. Now I'll have to wait ages before I ever find the sequels. (sometimes reading is annoying in Kenya...)

[Ratforce]

Fans of C.S. Forester’s historical sailing novels may also enjoy the multi-facted Civil War at Sea series by David Poyer. The series covers war, politics, massive storms, family drama, and more. This is the first in the series.

[Bill Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started slowly for me but my interest grew as I went along. I'll probably read the other books in the series but they won't be on my "got to read" list. The biggest draw back was one of the major sub-plots which did not add anything to the book.

[Drew]

Fire on the Waters : A Novel of the Civil War at Sea by David Poyer (2001)

[David Vanness]

My copy is Large Print 695 page Library edition.

[Mary G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting novel of the early Civil War.