Ramage: The Lord Ramage Novels No. 1

Rating:
Summary: Routine but pleasing adventure in the age of sail
Review: This was Pope's first novel (of ultimately nearly 20) about Lord Ramage, a character who seems based [like O'Brien's Lucky Jack Aubrey] somewhat on the real Lord Cochran. It gets off to a hurtling start as Ramage comes to in the midst of total chaos, on a sinking ship littered with dead and wounded, and is told he's in command. He completes the mission his sunk ship was on, to rescue some Italian nobles, and meets the Great Love of his life, the georgeous Gianna. Back at the base, he's court-martialled and it looks grim... but the novel switches from courtroom drama to another rousing naval operation as Ramage rescues the officers and crew of a wrecked British Navy ship. If you entered Age-of-Sail fiction by way of O'Brien, this will be pretty thin gruel, but it is pretty much up to the Forester/Kent/Woodman/ Lambdin mark, and quite enjoyable. I was certainly motivated by reading it to eventually read the other novels in the Ramage series.

Rating:
Summary: Emphasis on the fun!
Review: What sets these books apart from the works of Patrick O'brian and C.S. Forrester is the emphasis on the fun and romance of the era. Everything's extravagant and exagerated, from the beauty of the maidens to the ferocity of the action! No boring passages about setting sails and chapters upon chapters of gunnery training. Its just action, action, and more action, by land and sea! Daring rescues, crazy manuvers, with punishment dealt out by Captain Nelson himself.