A Hard, Cruel Shore (HC) – Historic Naval Fiction

The latest Alan Lewrie novel by Dewey Lambdin titled A Hard, Cruel Shore, is now available for pre-order in hardcover worldwide. It will be released on 2 February 2016.

1809 starts out badly for Captain Alan Lewrie, RN, and his ship, HMS Sapphire. They’ve extracted the sick, cold survivors of Sir John Moore’s army from disaster at Corunna, got hit by lightning while escorting the army to England, and suffered a shattered mainmast which may end Lewrie’s active commission if a replacement can’t be found or fashioned soon; Admiralty needs troopships, not slow, old 4th Rate two-deckers, so Lewrie must beg, borrow, steal, and gild the facts most glibly if he wishes to keep her and her skilled crew together.

Just when he imagines he’s succeeded, new orders come appointing him a Commodore over a wee squadron assigned to prey upon French seaborne supply convoys off the treacherous North coast of Spain, better known as the “Costa da Morte,” the Coast of Death, where the sea may be more dangerous to him and his ships than the French Navy! Basing out of newly-won Lisbon, where Lewrie hopes his mistress from Gibraltar, Maddalena Covilhá, might move, he’s sure of one thing: it’s going to be a rocky year that, hopefully, doesn’t involve wrecking on the rugged shores of Spain!

Source: A Hard, Cruel Shore (HC) – Historic Naval Fiction | Historic Naval Fiction

An Interview with Lee Henschel Jr. – Historic Naval Fiction | Historic Naval Fiction

Historic Naval Fiction is pleased to have obtained an Interview with Lee Henschel Jr. author of the first book in a new series, The Sailing Master.

What can you tell us about your book The Sailing Master without spoiling the plot for readers?

I meant for this story to resonate with a great range of readers . . . a story for lovers of sea novels, particularly for those who love the golden age of sail. But, just as importantly, if not more so, I wanted to to create a main character who readers care about, who see themselves in the character, or to learn how life is for someone very different than them.

Well, The Sailing Master certainly provides a great plenty of the naming of things on a sailing ship, of descriptions of the sea and the weather, the sounds and the smells, the feel of HMS Eleanor as she rolls on a big sea. Foreign ports.And we also follow the thoughts and feelings of the narrator, Owen Harriet . . . his first day aboard Eleanor, how it was the first time he went aloft, the endless procession of characters. Making friends. Loosing them.The story is a coming of age for the narrator, Owen, spoken in his own charming (I hope) vocabulary and cadence. I hope to have created a main character who people will love . . . someone whose voice they hear.

The book is the first in a proposed series. What are your future plans for it?

In Book One the reader understands from almost the first page that Owen Harriet is writing his story in retrospect . . . as the personal log of an older man returning to England on his final voyage. The series begins in 1798, and will end with the Crimean War, about 1854.As for future plans, I don’t know how many books the series will include. At first I thought four, but it appears there will be quite a few more than that.Book Two—The Long Passage was completed in November, 2015, and I’ll send it to my publisher in January of 2016.

Read More: An Interview with Lee Henschel Jr. – Historic Naval Fiction | Historic Naval Fiction

Review: HMS Prometheus by Alaric Bond – Historic Naval Fiction | Historic Naval Fiction

Following her action against the French (see The Scent of Corruption) HMS Prometheus is repaired at Gibraltar and sent into the Mediterranean to join Nelson’s fleet blockading Toulon. Damaged in an action she is soon heading back to Gibraltar taking a prize on the way. Repaired once again she heads back to Toulon but encounters a powerful French squadron.

There is plenty of action in the narrative with challenges and life changing consequences for Bond’s mixture of old, new and returning characters. A well written plot with a good pace that is hard to put down.

Another excellent read from one of the best contemporary naval fiction authors. Highly recommended.

Source: Review: HMS Prometheus by Alaric Bond – Historic Naval Fiction | Historic Naval Fiction

Weymouth Leviathan – Historic Naval Fiction | Historic Naval Fiction

The inaugural Weymouth Leviathan, a Maritime Literary Festival held in Weymouth, Dorset, UK, will take place next year over two days, 12 & 13 March.

There are many speakers appearing on a wide range of nautical subjects and among them are a number of Naval Fiction authors including Antoine Vanner (on Hazard in Nautical Fiction: Facets of Fear and Courage), J. D. Davies (on Samuel Pepys and Charles II’s Navy), Julian Stockwin (on The Real Jack Tar) and Richard Woodman (on The Making of a Sea Officer in Fact and Fiction).

For those who like the non-fiction works on the subject the speakers also include David Childs (on the Mary Rose) and James Davey (on the post Trafalgar war at sea)

Further information can be found on the festival website weymouthleviathan.org.uk

Source: Weymouth Leviathan – Historic Naval Fiction | Historic Naval Fiction

HMS Prometheus (K) – Historic Naval Fiction | Historic Naval Fiction

Alaric Bond has just released the latest book in the Fighting Sail series, HMS Prometheus , which is now available in ebook formats worldwide and will be released in paperback shortly.

With Britain under the threat of invasion, HMS Prometheus is needed to reinforce Nelson’s ships blockading the French off Toulon. But a major action has left her severely damaged and the Mediterranean fleet outnumbered. Prometheus must be brought back to fighting order without delay, yet the work required proves more complex than a simple refit.

Barbary pirates, shore batteries and the powerful French Navy are conventional opponents, although the men of Prometheus encounter additional enemies, within their own ranks. A story that combines vivid action with sensitive character portrayal. Number eight in the Fighting Sail series.

Source: HMS Prometheus (K) – Historic Naval Fiction | Historic Naval Fiction

Britannia’s Spartan (PB) – Historic Naval Fiction | Historic Naval Fiction

Antoine Vanner has just released the next book in The Dawlish Chronicles, Britannia’s Spartan. It is now available in paperback worldwide and will be released for kindle shortly.

This is the fourth volume of the Dawlish Chronicles It is 1882 and Captain Nicholas Dawlish has just taken command of the Royal Navy’s newest cruiser, HMS Leonidas. Her voyage to the Far East is to be a peaceful venture, a test of this innovative vessel’s engines and boilers. It should bear no relation to the nightmare of failure in China that Dawlish remembers as his baptism of fire as a boy.

As HMS Leonidas arrives in Hong Kong Dawlish has no forewarning of the nightmare of riot, treachery, massacre and battle that he and his crew will encounter. A new balance of power is emerging in the Far East. Imperial China, weak and corrupt, is challenged by a rapidly modernising Japan, while Russia threatens both from the north. They all need to control Korea, a kingdom frozen in time and reluctant to emerge from centuries of isolation. British interests too are at stake, and treading a safe path between the rival powers is vital, but perhaps impossible.

Dawlish finds himself a critical player in a complex political powder keg. He must take account of a weak Korean king and his shrewd queen, of murderous palace intrigue, of a powerbroker who seems more American than Chinese and a Japanese naval captain whom he will come to despise and admire in equal measure. And he will have no one to turn to for guidance.Britannia’s Spartan sees Dawlish drawn into his fiercest battles yet on sea and land. Daring and initiative have already brought him rapid advancement and he hungers for more. But is he at last out of his depth?

Source: Britannia’s Spartan (PB) – Historic Naval Fiction | Historic Naval Fiction