Captain Hornblower R.N.: Hornblower and the Atropos / The Happy Return / A Ship of the Line

Hornblower Saga: Chronological Order #5-7 omnibus

by C.S. Forester

Follow the thrilling and exciting adventures of Horatio Hornblower's life at sea in the Royal Navy, in these three classic stories.

Hornblower and the Atropos
Skippering the flagship for Nelson's funeral on the Thames is not Hornblower's idea of thrilling action. But soon his orders come, and he sets sail for the Mediterranean in the Atropos. Battle, storm, shipwreck, disease - what were the chances that he would never come back again?

The Happy Return
Hornblower sails the South American waters and comes face to face with a mad, messianic revolutionary in this gripping adventure.

A Ship of the Line
Commando raids, hurricanes at sea, the glowering menace of Napoleon's onshore gun batteries - Hornblower must deal with them all as he sails his ship to the Spanish station.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, War, Nautical, Historical, Adventure, Military Fiction

572 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

Cecil Scott Forester was the pen name of Cecil Louis Troughton Smith, an English novelist who rose to fame with tales of adventure and military crusades. His most notable works were the 11-book Horatio Hornblower series, about naval warfare during the Napoleonic era, and The African Queen (1935; filmed in 1951 by John Huston). His novels A Ship of the Line and Flying Colours were jointly awarded the 1938 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction.

Reviews

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got quite disappointed by these books. The first was good enough, but ended with a sad turn in the plot. Things went badly downhill in the second. Hornblower's character became really unlikable. The descriptions of battled escalated to the level of graphic. And I basically had to wait until the end to learn how the sad turn in the first book had played out. The third book was marginally better, but still graphic and still leaving me a bit doubtful as to Hornblower's character. I enjoyed the first three books in the series much more.

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

More action and adventure with Horatio Hornblower. 5/5

The fourth, fifth and sixth books in the Hornblower series. In the first, Hornblower and the Atropos, promoted to Post Captain, Horatio Hornblower gets command of the 22-gun sloop HMS Atropos. His first duty: transporting the body of Admiral Nelson to his funeral. What should be straightforward turns out to be anything but that. Then off to the Mediterranean for a special mission.

In the second, The Happy Return / Beat to Quarters, Hornblower is captain of the frigate HMS Lydia. He has been ordered to the Pacific coast of Central America, travelling around Cape Horn and experiencing many deprivations on the way. His mission is a top secret one but is vital to Britain’s war against France and Spain.

In the third, A Ship of the Line, Hornblower has been made captain of the two-deck ship of the line HMS Sutherland. He is assigned to a small squadron off the coast of Spain commanded by Rear Admiral Leighton. In typical Hornblower fashion action doesn’t just find Hornblower, he goes looking for it.

More rollicking adventures with Captain Horatio Hornblower. At last he has his own command and we see how he progresses up through the commanding larger ships. Every one of the books is quite different and is set in different surrounds. The Happy Return / Beat to Quarters was particularly original as it has Hornblower off the Pacific coast of Central America, playing diplomat.

All very entertaining and not a little bit edifying – the accuracy and detail CS Forester puts into the running of a ship is astounding. The amount of research involved must have been enormous.

[Michael Koch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, like all the Hornblowers is fun and exciting to read. Yes, there is always some period sailing ship language to learn; that is part of the fun. There is also a protagonist who is often self-conscious and uncertain but he always comes through with a decision. Usually the right decision. He is a math wiz which turns out to be quite an asset since both navigation and sail handling turn out to require a lot of mathematics.

For those who do not know, this series begins with Horatio Hornblower as an impoverished, self-conscious tween, posted as a Midshipman (not quite an officer) on his first ship. The series follows him as he learns to sail, lead and command as he goes through a string of exciting adventures.

In this story, Hornblower has attained the rank of Captain and command of a new ship. His first task is organizing and leading the fleet honouring Nelson after Trafalgar. This requires to the minute sailing on the lively Thames while the tide goes in and out. After that, it is to the Mediterranean. There he is sent on a solo voyage to Turkish waters where diplomacy, tact and fighting a much larger ship are all required.

I certainly recommend this entire series. However, I suggest the reader start with the first book, “Midshipman Hornblower” I believe, then follow his career as it progresses.
Four stars

[Anne-Mammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read all of Alexander Kent and Patrick O'Brian novels, I decided I should really investigate CS Forrester's Hornblower. In a way, it would not be fair to compare these authors as of course their heroes are different characters who will appeal differently to different readers. I read the young Hornblower and watched the TV series with I. Gruffudd at the same time. This was a very exciting experience which I really enjoyed. However, when I came to Hornblower and the Atropos, I could not recognise the dashing, impulsive, dutiful hero which I liked so much. Only very few years had passed yet he had become this self doubting, introspective rather unpleasant young man. His strategic abilities ate still there of course, but I found his determination not to communicate with his officers on personal matters rather irksome. The detailed account of the battles were of course as exciting as ever.
As for his protracted involvement with Lady Barbara, I could not help but sigh 'What a pity' as I always found his wife very annoying!.There may be more to come on that front and I am looking forward to reading the Admiral Hornblower omnibus. I recommend you do so too.

[Boulder Boulderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The classic stories of a Royal Navy captain in the Napoleonic Wars. Hornblower is a realistic hero with his own natural flaws and these novels are excellent. They are of their time, so expect some unfortunately racist and sexist terms and phrases, but it's not too bad considering, I guess. Or at least, the Spanish get the worst of it.

It's also unfortunately evident that Atropos was written long after the other two novels, though they are chronologically set afterwards, but I don't expect many would notice this too much.

Definitely worth a read for fans of the nautical Age of Sail genre.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's interesting coming to these first-published Hornblower novels now, having read the ones about a younger Hornblower already. Forester is much less polished, and the characters somewhat two-dimensional by comparison. The action though, is incredible. I know very little about sailing, but a vague idea of what sail is where, compass points, and occasional consulting of googlemaps is good enough.

I'm so much more shocked by these books than by the ones I've read so far - I had got used to something of a fairytale experience, but these tales of Captain Hornblower don't pull any punches.

[Marguerite Giguère · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book wasn't as good as the first one but I still love the character. I find that Horatio is like a real person. Usually, in adventure books, everything goes well for the hero in the end but Hornblowers life is full of failures and it just makes it seem more real in a way.

This book did have some longer parts that were a bit hard to get through so that's why I gave it 4 stars. The last story though opens up so many possibilities in the end and I can't wait to red the next one.

[strategian]

I read a lot of the Sharpe books as a kid because I always thought army stuff was cooler than navy stuff, but the writing in these stories is just much higher quality, and Hornblower is a much better character. Some of the enjoyment is hampered because I don't really understand or care about naval terminology, but they're still fun and exciting despite that.

[Mike Glaser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the Hornblower novels. It is interesting how much the character changes based on the order the books were written as well as the continuity despite the chronological order being jumbled as the books were written.

[Everett Sharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Belay the poop and reef the gunnels

A brilliant writer of his time reflected in the unconscious racism that at times is difficult to read. I wish I knew enough about sailing to fully appreciate the nautical terminology. Rule Britannia and Horatio Hornblower

[Karen Capelin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a sad ending

Great read, loved it. Old English but worth reading for anyone who loves the age of sail. Very sad end.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best Hornblower ones, they're fine but nothing too interesting or special - kind of just filling the gaps

[Dr Ian M Newington · Rating 4 out of 5]

great adventures and loads of historic detail. Perhaps not as good as Patrick O'Brien but CS Forrester is the archetypal naval fiction writer.

[Rosen Valnarov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hornblower should be part of the MCU.
He goes against all odds. Broods. Plans. Schemes. All goes according to plan and he defeats England’s enemies. Good fun.

[Sy DeMaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is so interesting regarding the battles at sea that were prevalent in the time of book. Very informative and kept me involved.

[Simon Beresford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

Hornblower is the original intellectual action hero. I have read the series over 6 times and get something new every time. Thourily recommend.

[Danhammang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid Writing

Characters are nuanced, plot provides plenty of excitement, a good range of landscape. Would love more … once Hornblower has some rest.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

a great collection of this author novels,stories of adventures of naval warfare in the early 19th century.

[MR QUENTIN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captain Hornblower R.N.

I enjoyed Captain Hornblower R.N. very much. I was as pleased as I was in reading Mr Midshipman Hornblower. I

[David Shield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still a brilliant read!

Third time I've read the Hornblower books over my 70 years and they are still as readable as the first time.

[Rowan Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic! Starting the next one tonight. Hornblower isn't quite so clean-cut and virtuous in the books, so far.

[BillEpstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hornblower is the best

So satisfying to read. A hero who is a true hero. Great detail about British Navy sailing ships. Something that can be read for long stretches or in mini bites. A lifetime favorite.

[Stephen Bush · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captains Hornblower and Aubrey compared.

I chose the highest rating as I first read the Hornblower books - all of them - many years ago and find them an inexhaustible source of delight. You can almost feel the texture of the ships, the grain of timber, smell of cordage, smoke billowing from guns. Forester was my favourite author in the genre until I came across Patrick Innes and his Captain Aubrey, the warmth and completeness of whose writing wins - but only just!

[Bjoern · Rating 4 out of 5]

With every book i grew fonder and fonder of our little complex ridden Sea Captain...
It is almost funny how much trouble and strive he can go through and still think of himself as a cowardly loser who cannot do anything right and even has to go through the next best thing to a vow of silence to not invite his subordinates to run over him and his sparse authority. Yet every sailor and Officer we get to see is almost worshipping the ground on which he stands, walsk and sleeps or the planks that serve the same purposes. Talk about interior shizophrenia.

And strangely (as i had been forewarned from other recensions that the older books were vastly different from the more modern style of Forester's later works) i liked his slightly overflanderized self in the two first books CSF had written about Hornblower even more than what he seemed to be in Atropus. And though the unlucky romance subplot of the Happy Return/Beat to Quarters would have been better if all the later developments had found themselves in this pages and his marriage would have been a more constant theme during the time of his growing affection for the lady. TRhat would have made an already good story near perfect in my eyes.

Finally Ship of the line is a bit of a weird hybrid... on the one hand Hornblower is given a honest-to-god twodecker, but then he is sent on missions that seem more like the daily bread of a large frigate... disrupting the costal merchants, damage some of the guarding forts if possible and wreak as much havok as possible... Of course this makes much of the storyarc better comparable to the (later written) books about his earlier career where he had exactly the right ship for such a role, but it smacks a bit of auctorial highhandedness to NOT use him in some blockade fleet or other...

The only element that puts this decision into a favorable light is the fulminant finale of the volume where his ship is put into a damned if i do, damned if i don't situation and Hornblowers interior conflict completely supports and augments the rest of the action driving everything into a frenzied and thrilling climax that perfectly closes the book with a major cliffhanger even when it was written for a single novel and not the omnibus we've got here now!

Lots of ship maneuvres, artillery in action and the day to day life aboard a britisch warship fitting right around the strange occurences the special career of Post Captain of less than three years of seniority Horatio Hornblower make this a memorable read and a wonderful painting of the war 200 years ago. Including shipboy-pulp during every combat situation and lots of limbs lost. And once even almost a VIP carcass... What can a reader want more?

[Reni · Rating 4 out of 5]

First things first: Since I'm reading the book in chronological order (From Midshipman to Admiral) rather than in the order they were published in, I have to say the change in writing style and in characterisation too is very noticeable, helped along by Forester occasionally getting tanlged up in his own timeline and retconning dates or events.

But, mostly I'd say Forester managed to retro-actively lay down the groundwork for the character we see in the earlier published novels very believably. Captain Hornblower might be far more eccentric than the young Hornblower, but they still feel like the same character. Or rather, Captain Hornblower feels like the right kind of character poor depressed and mad Lieutenant Hornblower would eventually develope into.

Still, the writing style is very crisp in these earlier works too. Perhaps with even less ornamentation and more to the point. I liked The Happy Return and Ship of the Line even better than the later written Hornblower and the Atropos. Mostly because the main plot of Atropos lost me somewhere around its middle-part. The beginning and ending are superb though. Nelson's funeral turns out to be, oddly enough, a great comedy bit, and the last chapters, from the escape of the Atropos from the Turkish harbour, from the capture of the Spanish frigate, to the painfully bitter last pages is suitably tragic to set the tone for an even bitterer Captain Hornblower in The Happy Return.

From the first pages of The Happy return it's clear that Hornblower isn't a very likeable character at first glance, but a very intriguing one. Once you figure out how to look past his own shrewed point of view you'll find him a complex and surprisingly likeable character. If you can look beyond his self-loathing that filters the narration on every page, of course.

[Alex]

More fascinating adventure as Hornblower takes on his own independent commands.
The stories emphasise the lonliness of command and the sense of responsibility he feels for those under him.
There are some fascinating insights into Naval history from what is clearly a well researched book. Unlike O'Brien, Forrester seems to concentrate on the Naval side trather than on the personalities of the characters and civilians involved.
It also highlights how a system where progression/promotion is based largely on a hierachy of length of service rather than on the ability of the individual was destined not to work as well as possible. Interesting that the Royal Navy could still rule the waves; and that it was considered much better than the army were promotion was as a result of purchase and therefore wealth. Luckily the enlightened insight of some senior admirals wins through for Horblower. What is also clear, however, is the sheer expense of being a captain and the ineptitude of the treasury/civil service/commisariat at adequately support those serving: sound familiar???

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually three books in one, Hornblower and the ‘Atropos’, The Happy Return, and A Ship of the Line. Each contains a series of adventures set around a ship and are in chronological order. The first book goes from skippering the flagship for Nelson’s funeral through to adventures in the Mediterranean. The second deals with adventures in South America and for a change some of Hornblower’s love life, while the third deals with his first true Ship of the Line and ends with a heroic action and Hornblower’s capture. Very much dealt with from the “Boy’s Own” point of view, these are swashbucklers at their best, though somewhat dated. I wonder if somebody who did not have a passing understanding of sailing would make of it all as the language is very technical indeed at times and needs a lot of work to understand what is actually happening. Still a good yarn, though I’m not sure if today’s youth would understand, or enjoy them!

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A vivid story providing an escape into another era. Throughout the series of books, the author creates elaborately detailed world as seen by a duty-driven workaholic, with warmth and human interest provided in the reflection of those around him.

This book contains my favourite story of the hornblower series: The Happy Return, detailing a series of misadventures on the Pacific coast of Central America - misadventures that could only happen in a world where allegiances change suddenly, but word travels slowly.

Forrester makes the 19th century a fascinating place, and his sea stories are so detailed, and so adventurous in scope that you can almost taste the salt in the air while reading it.

[JoTownhead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captain Horatio Hornblower pulls off a tricky escort duty and proceeds to do his duty in the Eastern and Western Mediterranean and Spanish America, earning a well-deserved reputation for seamanship ans leadership. Horatio misses no opportunity to further the King's interests and his devotion to duty extends to his personal life, despite temptations. His efforts to appear unpreturbable and aloof to his men are revealing and contribute to the heroic status they accord him. Sea battles unfold in thrilling detail as the protracted Napolenic Wars wear on. Excellent.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Příjemné dobrodružné čtení. Autor nejen, že vypravuje zajímavý dobrodružný děj, který sem tam protká romantikou, ale na druhou stranu čtenáře zasype hromadou odborného názvosloví. Je patrné, že autor se nejdříve musel stát opravdovým odborníkem, než se pustil do psaní této knihy.