The Macedonian

Privateers & Gentlemen #4

by Walter Jon Williams

Captain Favian Markham, USN, is a man surrounded by secrets. Secrets that will be revealed when he is court-martialed for losing his ship. Secrets held by his mistress Caroline. The secrets of enemy spies signaling to British ships over the horizon. And the greatest secret of the War of 1812, a secret which will be revealed once Favian breaks the enemy blockade in The Macedonian, a frigate stolen from his own government . . .

This is one of the historical novels, long out of print, with which Walter Jon Williams began his career.

253 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1984

About the author

Walter Jon Williams has published twenty novels and short fiction collections. Most are science fiction or fantasy -Hardwired, Voice of the Whirlwind, Aristoi, Metropolitan, City on Fire to name just a few - a few are historical adventures, and the most recent, The Rift, is a disaster novel in which "I just basically pound a part of the planet down to bedrock." And that's just the opening chapters. Walter holds a fourth-degree black belt in Kenpo Karate, and also enjoys sailing and scuba diving. He lives in New Mexico with his wife, Kathy Hedges.

Reviews

[Stephan · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Walter) Jon Williams' Privateers & Gentlemen series deals with the exploits of (ficticious) Favian Markham, a hero very much in Horatio Hornblowers image, but serving in the young US navy of the early 19th century, during the first Barbary War and the War of 1812. The setting borrows a lot from actual history, including men and ships. This particular volume, the 4th out of 5, is set during the later part of the War of 1812, when Captain Markham takes the (real) USS Macdonian (formerly captured from the British by (real) Stephen Decantur on (real) USS United States, but with Favian as his first lieutenant) on a fictitious cruise, breaking the British blockade and capturing information that allowed the successful defence of New Orleans against an English attack.

The style is somewhere in between C.S. Forester and Patrick O'Brian, which, given that these are the giants of the genre, is no small praise. The book takes a while to get up to speed, though, showing us quite a bit of the 'genteel' lifestyle, including investment and dealing with an officially non-existing mistress.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. However, I bought it as a miss-click on Amazon, and kept it only because I like both Williams and naval history. This is very much the 4th book of a single 5-book storyline. If you want to try the series, start with volume 1. A solid 3.5 stars, rounded up.

[Clyde · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Macedonian continues the story of Captain Favian Markham, USN, that began in Walter Jon Williams' Brig of War. Things pick up pretty much were they left off in the previous book. The war of 1812 continues. While awaiting his next command, Markham becomes involved in chasing down a spy ring that has been signaling the British blockade fleet. Then when a fortuitous storm gives an opportunity to break the blockade, Markham basically steals the frigate Macedonian and heads out to do battle with the British in the Atlantic. (Well, actually, he takes command of the Macedonian under somewhat shaky orders from a senior captain—there being no time to communicate with Navy headquarters.) From that point there is lots of action involving deep water sailing and naval combat. Walter Jon Williams obviously did a lot of research for this book and it shows in his very vivid descriptions of what it was like on an American naval vessel in the early 1800's.
This is a very good book. Recommended for fans of Patrick O'Brian and C.S. Forester.