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Under Enemy Colors

(Adventures of Charles Hayden #1)

Sean Thomas Russell

4.12 · Rating details · 2,018 ratings · 172 reviews

In the tradition of Jack Aubrey and Horatio Hornblower comes a new hero of the high seas-- Charles Hayden, lieutenant of the Themis.

Around the time of the French Revolution, Charles Saunders Hayden is one of Britain's most able naval officers, an ambitious young lieutenant born to an English father and a French mother. But despite his abilities and his unshakable loyalty t ...more

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Hardcover, 496 pages

Published September 6th 2007 by G.P. Putnam's Sons (first published August 31st 2007)

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Sep 14, 2013 Tim The Enchanter rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-stars, historical-fiction, action-adventure, favorite-books-of-2013, canadian-author, naval, 2013-top-10

My #6 favorite read of 2013

A superb 5 Stars

A riotous high seas adventure filled with mutiny, inept leaders, cannons, court marshals and one entertaining half French, half English hero.

Many times during the reading of this book I stopped and said to myself "this is a superb!" I wasn't kidding myself. It really was. Personally, well written historical fiction is the best and most entertaining type of novel. Under Enemy Colors had all of the things that I look for in good HF.

The setting and cha My #6 favorite read of 2013

A superb 5 Stars

A riotous high seas adventure filled with mutiny, inept leaders, cannons, court marshals and one entertaining half French, half English hero.

Many times during the reading of this book I stopped and said to myself "this is a superb!" I wasn't kidding myself. It really was. Personally, well written historical fiction is the best and most entertaining type of novel. Under Enemy Colors had all of the things that I look for in good HF.

The setting and characters felt authentic. Having no real knowledge of the live of a British Navyman in the 1700's, I am no expert on authenticity. That said, the characters interactions with each other and the tiered society came off as authentic. The reader has the sense they have been transported back in time and to a earlier society. Unless the reader has special knowledge of some distant period of time, authenticity will be subjective. S. Thomas Russell brings us on a voyage filled with characters and settings that are believable and seem to fit with their surroundings.

The characters are well developed and interesting and the story is sharp and interesting. We follow the journey of First Lieutenant Charles Hayden whose career in His Majesty's Navy is floundering. He is offered the devil's deal to sail on the Ship of one Captain Hart who is well placed in society but inept at his post. He is offered the post on the requirement the report secretly to the admiralty of the events on the ship while being offered nothing in return. We follow along on a campaign with Charles Hayden and he fights off both mutiny and his inept captain.

Having read very few novels revolving around the British Navy, I have no real basis of comparison. I have heard it compared to the Horatio Hornblower novels and Bernard Cornwell novels. I cannot speak to the truth of these comparison but I give it my highest recommendation.

As a final note, the book uses many nautical reference any constant reference to areas of the ship. I have little to no knowledge of sailing and nautical terms but I was not lost or confused while reading the book. To me, it gave an added sense of realism.

...more

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Jan 01, 2015 Jane rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviewed, library, sea-story

My first nautical novel since my reading Hornblower novels and Bounty Trilogy of years past. This one engaged my interest all through. The hero, Charles Hayden, of mixed parentage [French mother, English father] is assigned as first lieutenant to the Themis, under the tyrannical and "shy" [read cowardly] Captain Hart. I conceived Hart as sort of a mixture of Bligh and Queeg, but with his own peculiarities. The men are mutinous. Charles must contend with his captain and crew. There's much action ...more

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Jun 14, 2013 Reni rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: e-book, adventure, age-of-sail, historical-fiction, napoleonic-wars, read-in-2013

This is no Patrick O’Brian, that’s for sure. But hey, it doesn’t have to be. Under Enemy Colours covers a whole different niche of the Age of Sail novel: It is more like a combination of an adventure novel and a crime novel, rather than straight historic fiction. Whereas your average volume of the Aubreyad might almost better be called a social novel, Under Enemy Colours sets its whole focus on telling a fast paced story with as many exciting episodes as possible.

The book is very honest and upf ...more

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Sep 29, 2008 Johnny rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Is Under Enemy Colors predictable? Yes! Does the protagonist bear significant resemblance to Ramage, Bolitho, Hornblower, Aubrey, and every other hero with a series of adventures in the Age of Fighting Sail? Yes!

However, I prefer the writing style to that of O'Brian and place it right up there with my personal favorite, Alexander Kent's Bolitho novels. Russell's protagonist is, as you may have already guessed, another officer in the Royal Navy who has great courage and competence but little infl Is Under Enemy Colors predictable? Yes! Does the protagonist bear significant resemblance to Ramage, Bolitho, Hornblower, Aubrey, and every other hero with a series of adventures in the Age of Fighting Sail? Yes!

However, I prefer the writing style to that of O'Brian and place it right up there with my personal favorite, Alexander Kent's Bolitho novels. Russell's protagonist is, as you may have already guessed, another officer in the Royal Navy who has great courage and competence but little influence. So, as in so many of the novels in this genre, you would expect our hero to chafe under the reins of less competent and creative officers. In this, you would not be wrong.

Yet, the spice that Russell adds is the nationality of this courageous protagonist, one Charles Saunders Hayden. Hayden, as his name sounds, is an English citizen, but his mother is French. This half-French nationality is an even bigger drag on his career than the typical Napoleonic Era naval officer than merely having little or no influence, it creates a suspicion among his fellow officers that Hayden might be something of a fifth-columnist among the jack tars.

Now, imagine the further complications to be considered when he serves under a cowardly and incompetent captain on a near-mutinous vessel. Add in the extra ingredient of a captain who blames Hayden for everything that goes wrong aboard his ship--even when Hayden worked tirelessly to solve problems before they occurred. There, you have a hero to whom everyone who has ever had a pointy-haired (as in Dilbert) boss can relate. Now, you have a lovely broth of conflict, suspicion and suspense to pour over the usual amount of exciting boarding actions and smoking broadsides.

The novel logs 500 pages and I devoured it ravenously until the wee hours (although I chose the MP3 CD cover as the picture for my review, I read the hardbound copy). I don't think I've done this since my earliest days with Alexander Kent's Bolitho novels (one of which I found in paperback on a trip to London and read bleary-eyed on the return flight rather than getting much-needed sleep). The next novel in the series isn't due until next year, but I can assure you that I await it with increasing anticipation.

While attempting to avoid spoilers, I must note that it was fascinating to observe Thomas Paine's pamphlets like "Common Sense" being portrayed as seditious literature. Obviously, after the American War of Independence and the French Revolution, the English would have had to consider those tracts as dangerous revolutionary propaganda. What was even more fascinating was when one of the characters described the reactionary Edmond Burke as a dangerous "revolutionary." I loved it. Coming from that character, it had just the right period flavor.I heartily commend this book to anyone who has ever longed to order his crew to reef the topsails. ...more

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Feb 05, 2012 Dawn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, read-2012, historical-fiction, naval-fiction

Of all the naval fiction I have read so far this is by far my favorite book.

Charles Hayden is the product of a English father and a French mother. This is a reoccurring theme throughout the book as Hayden struggles to come to terms with a war that pits him against his beloved childhood home in France. The fact that he speaks flawless French does come in handy in many of the situations he finds himself.
Given the job of being second in command to a tyrannical, cowardly captain, he must find a wa ...more

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Jan 28, 2013 Jim rated it it was amazing

Sean Thomas Russell was born in Toronto, Canada and now resides on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Mr. Russell successfully has joined the ranks of writers of naval fiction. He joins many of my favorite writers in this genre such as C.S. Forester, Alexander Kent and Dudley Pope. His first novel UNDER ENEMY COLORS (ISBN 978-0425223628, trade paperback, $17.00) was published in 2007 and has recently been released as a trade paperback. The book is nearly 500 pages long. In the series, there a ...more

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Dec 28, 2008 Chuckell added it

You could certainly compare this book to the work of Patrick O'Brian--but why bother? Sailors, cannonballs--but other than that? O'Brian's world is filled with richly imagined, deeply believable characters sailing oceans of majesty and terror and the profoundest beauty. This fellow Russell's sailors are lifeless wooden mannequins and the sea they sail upon is a place where dreary things happen but never anything unpredictable.

In the acknowledgments section--to be found at the rear of the book, ...more

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Mar 20, 2014 Ubiquitousbastard rated it liked it

Shelves: england, regency-victorian, fiction, war

I am not a voracious consumer of naval fiction, I will admit that immediately. I know the basic facts of ships, like the location of the bow, stern, bilge...etc. Yeah, so this went just a bit over my head at parts. Luckily, I am not quite so bad with the time period and the ranks in the British navy, so I wasn't always lost. And, at times, Russell did make an effort to explain the more intricate words and phrases, so that was appreciated.

The plot itself was absolutely nothing new. Bad captain, m ...more

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May 01, 2015 David Eppenstein rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, age-of-sail

This is the first entry of this author's Charles Hayden series. Unfortunately for me, I didn't discover this series until the third entry and then read the fourth before getting my hands on the first and second in the series. This book obviously sets the stage for the later volumes and is by far the most engaging of these books. It is a bit of "Mutiny on the Bounty" combined with "The Caine Mutiny". We have a tyrannical cowardly captain and a noble executive officer, an unhappy and abused crew, ...more

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Apr 13, 2018 Estelle rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, historical-fiction

3.5 stars

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Feb 24, 2009 Erik rated it really liked it

A decade after the passing of Patrick O’Brian, the preeminent Napoleonic-era British naval novelists and successor of C. S. Forester, naval fiction lovers have to scour this slowly growing genre for the next great thing. For my part I have found Julian Stockwin’s Thomas Kydd series to fit the bill. But as my fellow Kydd-fans and I have to wait about a year or so between until the next book in the series comes out – a lifetime, if you ask me – I believe I have found another nascent series that lo A decade after the passing of Patrick O’Brian, the preeminent Napoleonic-era British naval novelists and successor of C. S. Forester, naval fiction lovers have to scour this slowly growing genre for the next great thing. For my part I have found Julian Stockwin’s Thomas Kydd series to fit the bill. But as my fellow Kydd-fans and I have to wait about a year or so between until the next book in the series comes out – a lifetime, if you ask me – I believe I have found another nascent series that looks promising.

Under Enemy Colors is the first book by Russell that focuses it lens on Charles Hayden -- a half-English, half-French officer in His Majesty’s Royal Navy – who is assigned first lieutenant to the HMS Themis as a last ditch efforts to save his career from the growing anti-French sentiment in England. (Hayden being the son of a Frenchwoman and all.) The catch? Hayden is placed under orders to report back secretly to a high-ranking Naval Secretary about the growing unrest aboard the Themis. What unfolds is a tale of tyranny and madness on the part of Captain Hart, as well as simmering mutinous sentiment on behalf of a growing number of its crew. And, as these things go, our hero is caught in the balance.

Russell’s strength as a writer lay not just in his ability to create an original tale – without borrowing too liberally from his literary predecessors (Forester, O’Brian, and Stockwin) – but also in ability to pace his plot in a page-turning manner. His narrative never simmers, but rather ends in a glorious and satisfying finish. Hayden is neither a patsy, nor a wooden hero; but rather a fully-developed character who stands tall against Lieutenant Hornblower, Captain Aubrey, or Lieutenant Kydd.

Just after turning the last page, I promptly went to Russell’s website – this in and of itself being the highest complement to a writer that I can imagine – and found that he has promised a second Hayden novel sometime in 2009. And I confess that I am counting down the days, and will bug him by email if there’s no word on its release come summer. ...more

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Dec 02, 2016 Oswego Public Library District added it

Shelves: historical-fiction, adventure

Fans of C.S. Forester and Patrick O’Brian will enjoy this riotous maritime adventure. Faced with inept leadership, a mutinous crew, and the cannons of the French navy, the young, ripe, half-English, half-French Lieutenant Charles Hayden has much to endure.

Hayden is an attractive, competent, dark, moody naval hero. Sean Thomas Russell also adds a new flavor into the mix with his low social status and the fact that he has a French mother. From the lowest pressed man to the captain, Russell paints ...more

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Nov 16, 2011 AndrewP rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Napolionic Royal navy Fans

Shelves: historical, audio-books

Another book dealing with the Royal navy at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. My personal favorite genre of all historical books, but then perhaps that is because I am a Brit :)

Without giving anything away this is the story of 1st Lt. Hayden, who is assigned a position to keep an eye on a problematic and somewhat un-courageous Captain. Said Captain has a lot of influence with the upper class and members of the admiralty, so that puts the hero between a rock and a hard place.

This is a good story f ...more

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Aug 26, 2011 Jason rated it liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 12, 2011 Justin Yan rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

This book provided me a bit of insight on the French revolution and the situation in the British Royal Navy. Basically a navy lieutenant is looking for a position as a captain or lieutenant. He find himself on a little ship with Captain Hart, otherwise known as "Faint Heart" in the middle of battle. The book was slightly complicated for me to understand as I am only 12, but it was a very classical read with English writing and not the usual American fictional writing I am used to. If you are ol

...more

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May 07, 2012 Dave rated it it was ok

It takes some nerve, I think, to start a book off by describing a dark and stormy night. It may take even more to make the hero an English navy lieutenant in the Napoleonic Wars who has a French mother, a polyglot girlfriend who appears in an interminable dinner date in chapter 3 and who disappears until page 400, who has one eye blue and one eye whatever, and who gets by on 2 hours sleep a week. Russell takes the Forrester-O'Brian tradition and accentuates the pulp aspect. Highly readable, I'll ...more

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Dec 20, 2012 Sarah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-historical, fiction-unfinished-series, books-i-own

28/1 - I really enjoyed this seafaring novel and look forward to its promised sequel. I felt like I was reading Master and Commander, although Dad said, after reading it too, that Master and Commander has even more detailed information about sailing the ship and the different ropes and decks, etc. I was surprised by how young he made Lieutenant Charles Hayden as I wouldn't have thought a man would've been made Master and Commander of his own ship till he was at least 30. I thought the romance be ...more

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Oct 05, 2011 David Hull rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Brilliant! While all the seafaring, nautical terms and lore might normally be off-putting to an inveterate 'land-lubber' like myself, the story, characters, action, and intrigue make these nautical references all the more attractive. Apart from being a simply great read it offers much good counsel in terms of management and leadership skills. I'm looking forward to Russell's next novel - 'A Battle Won', already on my bookshelf! ...more

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Jun 18, 2015 Franklin rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Anyone

Recommended to Franklin by: A reviewer of similar novel

This is a great book. I cannot wait to get the other books in this series. At almost 500 pages it is longer than other books in this genre. It is the equal of books by others in the genre and better than some. I know this review is not very helpful, but if you liked Pope, O'Brian, and Stockwin, you should enjoy this author. ...more

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Jun 25, 2013 Steve rated it liked it · review of another edition

Fun read but somewhat simplified. The ending felt a bit rushed. Still might read the second installment of the series.

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Jul 07, 2014 Naomi rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction

Fast-paced, full of good tensions and difficult relationships, this sea-faring adventure is good fun.

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Oct 05, 2014 Aneel rated it liked it

A different take on the French Revolutionary era nautical adventure. Lots of introspection from the lead character. Less instantly likeable than the Aubrey/Maturin books.

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Nov 01, 2015 Timothy rated it really liked it

A very enjoyable read! I especially liked how the author wrote in French during certain parts. Also for a book about a guy in the British Navy you spell it colours not colors!

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Jul 09, 2017 Abigail Hartman rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction

The jacket flap declares that this book is in the tradition of Jack Aubry and Horatio Hornblower. First of all, it's Jack AUBREY, and secondly, can you really have a novel of the Age of Sail these days without it being in the tradition of O'Brian and Forester? I'm just wondering.

Jacket flaps aside (they're not the author's fault), an enjoyable story of British naval adventures set just after the outbreak of the Reign of Terror. It's rather more of a Mutiny on the Bounty story -- EXCEPT THERE'S The jacket flap declares that this book is in the tradition of Jack Aubry and Horatio Hornblower. First of all, it's Jack AUBREY, and secondly, can you really have a novel of the Age of Sail these days without it being in the tradition of O'Brian and Forester? I'm just wondering.

Jacket flaps aside (they're not the author's fault), an enjoyable story of British naval adventures set just after the outbreak of the Reign of Terror. It's rather more of a Mutiny on the Bounty story -- EXCEPT THERE'S NO BREADFRUIT -- than either the Aubrey or the Hornblower books, with its focus on the tyranny and cowardice of the captain (Hart) under whom the main character (Charles Hayden) is obliged to serve; wedded to that, though, are the usual fun antics of taking prizes and the like. In fact, there are a lot of different plot elements wrapped up in this book: a) Hayden's emotional and "political" struggle with being half-English and half-French, wanting to rise in a profession where he is always a little distrusted, while at the same time remaining sympathetic toward his mother's people; b) the issues arising when claims about the equality of all men begin seeping into the rigidly hierarchical system of the British Navy; c) and a touch of romance, which was generally pleasant except for one super short bit that just seemed weird and unnecessary given the amount of time Hayden had known the lady in question. These threads, I think, help make this first novel something a bit more than your run-of-the-mill naval fiction. I did have my quibbles, feeling that a few sections dragged while some action sequences were skimmed over with surprising rapidity, but overall it was a fun summer read.

Oh, and for those of you who, like me, care about such things: the romance is clean except for that one daydream thing (which kind of seemed like it was in there because someone said, "Hey, where's the sex??"); there is a good deal of swearing, including the f-word and others of its ilk. Another reviewer complained that the author treats the less-than-highbrow elements of ship life in a sort of girly, "ew gross" sort of way, but I'm not fully sure what they meant by that. It's there, and I think it neither adds to nor substantially detracts from the quality of the book overall.
...more

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Mar 18, 2020 Rebecca rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library-borrowings, historical-fiction

It's fairly inevitable that any nautical fiction set in the Napoleonic era is going to be compared to Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series - and you can certainly see the influence of O'Brian in this one. While the ship's doctor may bear some similarities to Stephen Maturin, the main protagonist, Charles Hayden, is an interesting and distinctive character. His Anglo-French parentage allows the author to explore a variety of emotional and political issues that would have affected his life both ...more

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Feb 02, 2021 Jared rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction

4.5 Stars

This was exactly what I needed. Hayden feels like something of a combination of Hornblower and Aubrey, with perhaps a touch of Sharpe thrown in. The writing is excellent, and reminds me of the Alan Lewrie Adventures, but Hayden isn't a little shit like Lewrie, so the comparison doesn't extend much beyond that.

Anyway, if you are a fan of nautical adventure, and you love your heroes to be noble and competent without feeling so perfect they're just annoying, I would highly recommend this b ...more

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May 26, 2017 Kivrin rated it really liked it

He's no Jack Aubrey, but Charles Hayden is a pretty good hero. Hayden is half French and half English but he's chosen to fight on the English side in the war in 1793. His heritage is not helping his advancement in the King's Navy, but he has hope for the future until he's assigned aboard the HMS Themis and discovers the Captain is not only a tyrant but a coward as well. Caught between a mutinous crew and a worthless captain, he struggles with questions of honor and loyalty.

The naval battles are ...more

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May 28, 2017 Alex rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Never judge a book by its covers they say; I admit I was probably guilty of this. I picked this book up in a second hand bookshop several years ago as a second-class alternative for the series I was looking for and it's languished on my shelves ever since under the same misguided impression. But how wrong I was!
The writing is fairly mature, quick paced and gripping. The characters are generally pretty believable, although I'm not totally convinced by Wickham who seems.a bit too much of a goody-g ...more

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Jul 10, 2019 Jeff Powers rated it really liked it

As enjoyable as anything Patrick O'Brien wrote. Fun action, interesting characters (many reminding me much of O'Brien's characters). I also enjoyed that the author purposefully chose an era not typically used for nautical adventures. Well recommended for anyone looking for more ship to shore adventure with an easier entry level and far less jargon than some of the older entries in the genre, while still having a firm grasp of the period and the history. I will certainly be diving into more of th ...more

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Aug 02, 2017 Perry K rated it it was amazing

While I don't read historical fiction that often, I happened to have a copy of this and the premise intrigued me. The main character has an excellent internal struggle, and the premise is, while not the most original, very engaging. The jargon, however, is where the book truly shines. It does a superb job of making the reader feel as though they are aboard an English ship in the 1800's. If historical fiction or naval fiction is your thing, this should not be missed. ...more

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About Sean Thomas Russell

Sean Thomas Russell

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A pseudonym used by Sean Russell

Sean Russel has co-written, with Ian Dennis, a mystery series called "Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner". The first volume of the series was published by Bantam under their joint pen name, T.F. Banks.

Sean Russell was born 1952 in Toronto. At the age of three his family moved to the outskirts of the city, where they lived in a cottage at the beach of Lake Ontario. At t ...more