A Sea Unto Itself

Worrall is somewhat reminiscent of Hornblower, Kent, Drinkwater, etc. Good stories with an 'Amish' slant. Yeah, really. Strange with all the fighting and violence and other 'sailor delights, but it all works. Very enjoyable read, but you'll understand the difference between this author and the afore mentioned authors as the stories progress. I liked it. If you like sailor stories, you will too!

i waited quite a while for this book... so long in fact that i had given up waiting. Myself and some others had started a discussion here on Amazon about trying to find Mr Worrall and encourage him to continue writing the series, but he proved elusive - at least to our amateur sleuthing.In any case, it was worth the wait. There have been a veritable deluge of 19th century naval fiction books in recent years, mostly self-published and often - with notable exceptions - quite terrible.This is not one of those. I love the character of Captain Edgemont - with his noble efforts to combat the French as well as the recalcitrant obstinacy of his own superiors in the navy... there were moments of laugh out loud humor in this book - which is something i rarely find in this genre (again O'Brian is the master here) - and even though the ending is never really in doubt, the plot was tightly woven and never flagged.i really hope Mr Worrall continues the series - and doesn't make us wait 10 years for the next book!

This is an "on second thought" update: I'm leaving my original post up so you can see where I went wrong. I just read the book again and I find, now that I'm more well read in the genre, that my original assessment was correct that it's not very accurate but now I'll add that the dialog is a bit clunky and forced in a lot of the book. Many historical words are either used incorrectly or are just incorrect, i.e., "Tompkins" versus tompions and the use of modern words in dialog that wouldn't have been in use yet. Much of the time you learn that a character has emotions about something only because the author told you so rather than showing us. In the end, there's certainly no harm in reading the book. This addendum is the same on all three of the series.I absolutely appreciate Mr. Worrall's series. The characters, the plot and the way the story continues with this third book are all perfect. Mr. Worrall is one of my favorite authors in the genre and I hope he keeps writing. If you haven't read the first two books in the series I highly recommend reading them along with this one.

This is the third book that Worrall has written. I read and enjoyed the first two books and enjoyed this one as well. The writing is good and flows smoothly like a ship with a strong steady wind off its quarter. I'm looking forward to buying his next book. I get fascinated by the Quakerdialect of Charles Edgemont's wife. She strikes me as a character that could become a really interesting person.If I want to be grossly picky, I could question Worrall's use of the term 'sergeant at arms.'I never heard this term when I served in the United States Navy. I"ve never read the term in any book I've read by Forrester, Nordoff & Hall, O'Brien, Lambdin, Kent, or Stockwin. I've read and seen the term 'master at arms.'The use of 'sergeant at arms' is not big enough to otherwise detract from a well written and highly enjoyable book.

This series is a little unique in that Captain Edgemont's wife, Penny, is totally opposed to war, so there are often some interesting debates in this series about the necessity or stupidity of war between the two characters. This book, number three in the series, focuses on the little known attempt by Napoleon to continue on to India via the Red Sea after conquering Egypt. Those plans unraveled mainly because the French decided to march north instead after being cut off because of the Battle of the Nile---see book two. The only other novel that I have found that covers this event is Brig of War in the Nathaniel Drinkwater series by Richard Woodman.

Charlie Edgemont strikes again. He’s one of the most audacious frigate captains in the Royal Navy. He brings together a crew of castoffs and dissidents, avoids the clutches of a beautiful signora and defeats Napolean’s plan to free India from British control. Way to go Charlie!

Great read hoping for a follow up novel

The preposterous wife standing on deck, telling the hubs to flee from an enemy. That’s a court martial and hanging. Preposterous.

Regarding the book itself - essentially a reasonable read, it pretty much meanders along to the final few pages and the 'climactic' action - unfortunately it follows the trend, irrespective of genre, of the hero always being at odds with his superiors. The reason for the 2 * is the fact that the book was an ex-lib copy with a couple of other minor defects which were not noted in the description - in fairness, when this was pointed out the seller did reduce the price, though I feel something as obvious as the library sticker still being in place should not have been missed in the description.

Read all 3 of these and really enjoyed them. It's good to have characters with some real human weaknesses and strengths. However, I found some of the plot lines a little forced. The hero and his sidekick falling in love in two days flat was just a little unbelievable. And as a fan of Sir Sidney Smith I found it sad that they whole story of the siege of Acre and the real reason Buonaparte failed in Egypt had been sacrificed for plot reasons in the heat of the Red Sea. Even so I look farward to more from this author 'cos he writes really well.

I bought and read all three of the books consecutively. I would recommend others do the same. There are neat threads.The nature and balance of naval life in the era is well protrayed. The characters are well rounded and their relationships made meaningful.Especially in the third book a touch of Americana is imported. No bad thing. However, the author at one point amusingly betrays his own roots. Nobody but Batman, on this side of the Atlantic, tucks his shirt into his pants. I have noted the passage.

This book, the third in the series, is as enjoyable as the previous two following the actions of Captain edgemont and other members of his crew. Edgemont is a bit of a rebel and his character is all the more likeable for this. It's a gripping tale and I hope there will be more in the same vein soon

Having sailed through many of the locations mentioned in the books it brought the stories to life.. The liberties taken with the stories are beautifully written and I recommend the books to anybody with a sense of adventure.