Horatio Hornblower

Boy, have you missed something! The Hornblower books are a tremendous literary achievement by C.S. Forester. The A&E series tried to do them justice, and managed a passing success, but the books themselves are tremendous. They recount the career of fictional British naval officer Horatio Hornblower, who served about the time of the Napoleonic wars. With him, Forester singlehandedly launced a genre of literature that has been well followed by Dudley Pope (his Ramage series), Alexander Kent with his Richard Bolitho, and Patrick O'Brien with his Master and Commander books. If you like that style melded with science fiction, try David Weber's excellent Honor Harrington series. But Forester started it all - begin with Midshipman Hornblower.
 
Yeah I've never read the books but I am going to. My sister has the first one. Are the Master and Commander books any good? I liked the movie.
 
Some people (like my sister) really love them, but I've never been able to get into them very well. The movie was terrific, and if you like them, you'll love Forester, and probably Pope and Kent as well.
 
Did you see that Ioan Gruffudd, who played Hornblower in that series, ended up in both King Arthur and The Fantastic Four?
 
PrinceOfTheWest said:
Did you see that Ioan Gruffudd, who played Hornblower in that series, ended up in both King Arthur and The Fantastic Four?
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I have seen Fantastic Four but not King Arthur.
I started the first Hornblower this morning.
 
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