The Happy Return

A friend is a massive fan of this series and has been trying to persuade me to read them for years. Apparently you can either attack them in publishing, or chronological order. I went for the former and and for the sake of a little peace and quiet, I burned some Bezos Bucks and bought the first one.

I wasn't really expecting it to be my cup of tea, but I actually really enjoyed it. I liked the main character as despite being a captain and no sufferer of fools, he was full of anxiety and imposter syndrome, yet got the job done. Something I can identify with. Certainly very refreshing in a world of ‘perfect' protagonists.

The eBook seemed to be the best way to read it as there was plenty of naval terminology that the Kindle's built in dictionary made short work of. I now know my mizzens, bulwarks and bowsprits from my carronades. It certainly added a lot of atmosphere.

Some of the language used was certainly a little problematic, but was probably perfectly acceptable in 1937 when the book was written and definitely ‘of its time' in 1808 when the story was set. It didn't ruin it and sometimes you just have to put things in context and power through.

Good stuff though, I will be dipping into the series more in the future.

A great little romp with a surprisingly emotional ending.