Daedalus and The Deep (K) – Historic Naval Fiction

Just released by a new author to the genre, Matthew Willis, is an HNF novel with a fantasy element, Daedalus and The Deep. It is currently available for download on Kindle and will be released in paperback format shortly.

For Midshipman Colyer of the corvette HMS Daedalus, life is a constant struggle: savage pirates in the South China Sea, an erratic Captain, and a First Lieutenant guarding a personal secret. But the voyage of the Daedalus takes a stranger turn when the ship encounters a giant sea-serpent in the South Atlantic, and is plunged into a headlong pursuit of the creature in the name of science, personal glory, and the promise of fortune. But as the quest leads further into the cold wastes of the Southern Ocean, becoming ever more dangerous, Colyer begins to wonder just who is hunting whom? The sea-serpent’s purpose could turn out to be more sinister than anyone on board the Daedalus imagined.

via Daedalus and The Deep (K) – Historic Naval Fiction.

An Interview with William H. White – Historic Naval Fiction

Historic Naval Fiction is pleased to have obtained an Interview with William H. White whose new novel in the Edward Ballantyne series, Gun Bay, will be available shortly.

What can you tell us about your new novel Gun Bay without spoiling the plot for readers?

Well, the climax of the story is no secret; 10 ships – 9 merchants and 1 RN frigate – foundered on the reef at the eastern end of Grand Cayman Island in 1794. It is called, to this day, “The wreck of the ten sail” so no surprises there. The story details Edward Ballantyne’s arrival on board HMS Convert, the formerly French frigate that is assigned to escort the 58 ship convoy from Port Royal Jamaica to England. He sails from England in October 1793 as supernumerary in a 64 . . . and so it begins. All manner of fictitious and real events conspire to land him on the reef.

Read More An Interview with William H. White – Historic Naval Fiction.

Empire of the Deep (HC/K) – Historic Naval Fiction

A new book by Ben Wilson, Empire of the Deep: The Rise and Fall of the British Navy, is due for release on 25 July 2013. It is now available for pre-order in hardcover and for kindle in the UK but just for kindle in the US.

The story of our navy is nothing less than the story of Britain, our culture and our empire. Much more than a parade of admirals and their battles, this is the story of how an insignificant island nation conquered the world’s oceans to become its greatest trading empire. Few other nations have fallen so deeply in love with a branch of the armed forces as the British did with its Navy.

Yet, as Ben Wilson shows, there was nothing inevitable about this rise to maritime domination, nor was it ever an easy path. For much of our history Britain was a third-rate maritime power on the periphery of Europe. Empire of the Deep also reveals how our naval history has shaped us in more subtle and surprising ways – our language, culture, politics and national character all owe a great debt to this conquest of the seas. This is a gripping, fresh take on our national story.

via Empire of the Deep (HC/K) – Historic Naval Fiction.

Cross of Fire (HC/K) – Historic Naval Fiction

Author Mark Keating has a new novel  Cross of Fire which is due for release on 18 July 2013. It is now available for pre-order in hardcover and for kindle in the UK but just for kindle in the US.

The pirate Olivier Levasseur, ‘the Buzzard’, has captured the greatest ship ever to sail the high seas, the Virgin of the Cape, a Portuguese ship carring a solid gold cross seven metres long. The Fiery Cross of Goa. Levasseur is hiding somewhere in the Indian Ocean, but Patrick Devlin is on his tail. However, Devlin’s former master, and bitter enemy, John Coxon, has been sent to kill him . . .

Cross of Fire sees Devlin traverse Guinea and the slave coasts of Africa and the pirate islands of the Seychelles with the Royal Navy blocking his path, his old pirate enemies hunting him and his murderous former master hot on his heels.

via Cross of Fire (HC/K) – Historic Naval Fiction.

Review: The Lion of Midnight by J. D. Davies – Historic Naval Fiction

As you might expect from a naval novel with the title The Lion of Midnight, this latest instalment of the ‘Journals of Matthew Quinton’ by historian J. D. Davies carves a new path in the annals of naval fiction.

As I have said before the navies of the 1660’s were very different with courtiers rather than professional sailors making command decisions and in this case we are looking at the intrigues of the Swedish court as well. Sweden at the time was a country with a relatively small population compared with it’s European neighbours and it was going through a ‘golden age; for it’s military prowess. It had conquered nearby lands and was respected as a strong military power. Into this mix is thrown Matthew Quinton on a mission to escort a fleet of mast ships home, some diplomatic passengers, a peer of the realm who had signed Charles I’s death warrant and an old nemesis of Matthew.

Davies uses his historical accuracy to bring to life 1660’s Gothenburg and the plotting of the various European powers in relation to one another and to Sweden in a well developed plot. Quite a bit of the book is spent on land but this does not detract and as you would expect from this author there is a well written climactic sea battle to keep HNF fans happy.

via Review: The Lion of Midnight by J. D. Davies – Historic Naval Fiction.

The Spoils of Conquest (HC) – Historic Naval Fiction

Author Seth Hunter has a new novel The Spoils of Conquest which is due for release on 4 July 2013. It is now available for pre-order in hardcover and for kindle in the UK but just for kindle in the US.

The Mouth of the Nile, 9th August, 1798: Admiral Nelson has sent Captain Nathan Peake on a desperate journey across the Middle East to convey a grim warning to British India. Bonaparte’s army is poised to deliver a fatal blow to the source of Britain’s wealth and power by marching overland to India.

Arriving in Bombay, Nathan takes command of the East India Company’s naval wing – the Bombay Marine – an under-armed and poorly crewed flotilla of sloops and gunboats.

With these meagre resources he must stop the flow of French supplies to their Indian ally and protect the Company’s trade from the pirates and privateers swarming in the Bay of Bengal.

Read More The Spoils of Conquest (HC) – Historic Naval Fiction.

Linda Collison Review: Eavesdropping on Jane Austen’s England by Roy Adkins & Lesley Adkins – Historic Naval Fiction

Authors of numerous history books, the Adkins have a knack for finding fascinating first-hand accounts to illustrate history in a vivid way. As they showed us life belowdecks on a British warship in Jack Tar; Life in Nelson’s Navy, so do they recreate daily life for the middlin’ to poor sort living ashore in the same era.

Eavesdropping on Jane Austen’s England gives us a look at the everyday lives of the people in Jane Austen’s world. Using bits of letters, diaries, travel journals, ballads, recipes, court proceedings, newspaper notices and other records, Roy and Lesley Adkins enlighten us with tidbits of English social history — many of them quite surprising.

Using snippets from Jane’s contemporaries the authors shed light on such institutions and customs as marriage, divorce, contraception and extramarital affairs, childbirth and childrearing, food, fashion and hygiene, transportation, education, leisure activities, religion, superstitions — and death.

Impeccably researched and eminently readable, Eavesdropping on Jane Austen is a book to read from cover to cover — or to be browsed at random. Highly recommended, along with the book, Jack Tar: Life in Nelson’s Navy

via Linda Collison Review: Eavesdropping on Jane Austen’s England by Roy Adkins & Lesley Adkins – Historic Naval Fiction.

Alaric Bond’s new novel to be published by Old Salt Press – Historic Naval Fiction

I recently posted that Joan Druett was publishing her latest trilogy with a new venture, Old Salt Press, an independent press catering to those who love books about ships and the sea.

This exciting new project will be enhanced by the news that Alaric Bond’s new novel, outside his Fighting Sail series, is to be published by them. Turn a Blind Eye will be available worldwide Autumn 2013.

“Autumn, 1801. Newly appointed to the local revenue cutter, Commander Griffin is determined to make his mark, and defeat a major gang of smugglers. But the country is still at war with France and it is an unequal struggle; can he depend on support from the local community, or are they yet another enemy for him to fight?

With dramatic action on land and at sea, Turn a Blind Eye exposes the private war against the treasury with gripping fact and fascinating detail.”

via Alaric Bond’s new novel to be published by Old Salt Press – Historic Naval Fiction.