Stormy Weather -- The Wine-Dark Sea

This is the deep-sea story web page in the Ancient History Site

Hornblower
Hornblower, Aubrey, Captain Blood.... Ancient history? Hardly. But there is very little literature of the deep seas that takes place in the far past, and this web site is nothing if not flexible. So here it is.
Ramage

Aubrey
Pirates!

 

 

 

 

 

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Books about the Great Wine-Dark Sea (mostly Napoleonic Wars)

Horatio Hornblower
C.S. Forester pretty much invented the fictional series hero of the British Navy in Napoleonic times, a surprisingly prolific ground for imitations -- there's just something about that subject that makes for pure escapist pleasure. It started as a trilogy (with Horatio Hornblower, Beat to Quarters, in 1937, and his future wife Barbara, and their encounter with the madman "El Supremo" in Panama). This was a fine swashbuckling movie with Gregory Peck. The characters caught on with the public, so the author spent most of his remaining creative endeavors on filling in the gaps with novels about Hornblower's career, from midshipman to Lord Admiral. Hornblower is therefore as 'real' as Sherlock Holmes and could rate an entry in England's DNB (Dictionary of National Biography).

Aubrey and Maturin
Patrick O'Brian has written a long series (something like 20 volumes) of Jane Austen novels for men about his Captain Jack Aubrey and his ship's surgeon (and spy for the British government, even though he is an Irish Papist) Stephen Maturin. These are incredibly good books if you have the patience and education to appreciate and deal with all the nautical and cultural stuff. In 'English Lit' terms this is probably going to survive as the best popular novel series of the late 20th Century -- I'm not kidding. Apart from obscurity (which I appreciate), there is nothing that doesn't thrill, enlighten, amuse, or entertain with its continuing characters. For those who just like action, there is plenty of that too, as in Desolation Island, which will blow your mind.

Ramage and Other Hornblower Imitations
I am not saying these are bad or derivative -- far from it. But unless you become a fanatic for this genre, there's no reason to freak out and try to read everything. Some, by no means all, of the series in this category are Dudley Pope's Ramage books, Alexander Kent, and Dewey Lambden. What they all have in common is a thoroughly researched historical base, a rousing tale, and interesting characters.

Captain Blood and Other Pirates
Do you like Pirate books, such as Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (which is a must-read)? Go for something like Raphael Sabatini's Captain Blood (a buccaneer), or Russell Thorndike's Dr Syn (actually a vicar by day and leader of a gang of smugglers at night). Tim Powers wrote a nice pirate novel called On Stranger Tides that combines history, swashbuckling, and fantasy/horror all in one complex package. These are all in the Scarlet Pimpernel (Baroness Orczy) / Prisoner of Zenda (Anthony Hope) family, which transcends the Deep Sea genre. It predates Batman and The Shadow and Spider Man but is pretty much the same thing. When you're in the mood there is nothing better or more fun; when you feel low you realize what immoral and unscrupulous shits the heroes really are.