Hornblower Addendum - Five Stories

by C.S. Forester

Five adventures of Horatio Hornblower, two as Lieutenant, two as Captain, and one as Admiral of the Fleet, collected here for the first time. These stories about daring exploits, compassion, and challenging discoveries were written outside the confines of books and were published by magazines. Here the author has given free reign to his character - creating unique circumstances to further the development of Hornblower's character. A potential mutiny thwarted, an Irish uprising out foxed, help to hundreds, managing a healthy sea voyage for an ailing monarch, and meeting once again Napoleon Bonaparte - very different insights into this complex man Hornblower.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Adventure, Fiction, Historical

182 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Cecil Scott Forester was the pen name of Cecil Louis Troughton Smith, an English novelist who rose to fame with tales of adventure and military crusades. His most notable works were the 11-book Horatio Hornblower series, about naval warfare during the Napoleonic era, and The African Queen (1935; filmed in 1951 by John Huston). His novels A Ship of the Line and Flying Colours were jointly awarded the 1938 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction.

Reviews

[Joseph]

A miscellany of stories that span the length of Hornblower's career from midshipman to retirement, written at various points and never actually inserted into the existing sequence of books (and which I'd never read before -- this was my first new Hornblower in 30+ years) and it was, eh, fine?

For the most part, I'm actually fine with these stories not being inserted into the existing series -- it makes it easier to consider them as only semi-canonical. The most interesting of the lot, and it did actually seem a good place to say farewell to Lord Hornblower, was the final story, set around 1850 when Hornblower has a chance encounter with a visitor to his Smallbridge estate.

So, like Hornblower During the Crisis I'm giving this three stars because it was generally entertaining but very inessential.

[Dis Bins]

2 of the 5 stories in other Hornblower books

I was entertained by these stories, however, only 3 of them had not been previously included in other works. "Five Stories" should have been advertised as "Three Stories."

[Jeffrey Schmieder]

Five short stories spanning Hornblower's career and even his retirement. Some drama but also light comedy as our lucky Horatio must deal with a mad King George the 3rd as he captains the Royal Yacht and later must help Bonaparte, his arch enemy, make it to Paris in time. Light reading but fun.

[Stephen]

In hunting for books like Horatio Hornblower, I stumbled upon a collection of Hornblower tales I’d missed -- or, mostly missed. This is not a substantial collection by any means; it’s rather shorter than the shortest Hornblower work, Hornblower and the Hotspur, or Hornblower in the West Indies, and two of its five stories have been previously collected. The stories are chiefly of interest to those who know and admire Hornblower already, as they put him in fascinating or morally demanding situations. The last story here has him encounter a seeming lunatic who claims to be the emperor Napoleon, for instance, while another has him tasked with securing an Irish deserter and discovering a secret compartment in the man’s trunk filled with gold. In all instances Hornblower proves himself to be a perfectly honorable and charitable fellow. Perhaps the most interesting story in the one in which Admiral Hornblower is asked to take insane King George III to rendezvous with another ship, but they’re stumbled upon by an American frigate in the latter part of the war of 1812.

Although this collection really only recommends itself to the completists among Hornblower readers, I felt instantly at home as soon as I started reading the first story. Forester and his naval hero were good to experience again.

[George]

Final edition in the British navy series featuring Horatio Hornblower in short 5 stories covering the periods from 1796 to 1848. These are the stories: Hornblower and the Hand of Destiny, 1796 on the frigate Marguerite; Hornblower and the Widow McCool on H.M.S. Renown in 1799; Hornblower’s Charitable Offering on H.M.S. Sutherland in the Western Mediterranean in 1810; Hornblower and His Majesty on the royal yacht Augusta in the English Channel in 1812; and The Last Encounter as Admiral of the Fleet at his home, Smallbridge, in Kent in 1848.

Five Hornblower adventures about daring exploits, compassion and challenging discoveries involving a potential mutiny thwarted, an Irish uprising out foxed, help to hundreds, managing a healthy sea voyage for an ailing monarch, and meeting once again Napoleon Bonaparte.

[Ian L. Straus]

Any fiction by C.S. Forester is a jewel. I had seen the majority of these short stories before in hard copy but this collection is still a nice piece of work.


Some of these may have been nucleotide possible novels. At least I e is referred to in an actuarial length novel, so these are a clue to what we might have seen it Forested had lived another decade.

[George Blood]

Swashbuckle Swashbuckle!

What a great series! I breezed through all 12 novels and the addendum. Set during the Napoleonic wars, it tracks the career of Horatio from the beginning of his naval career as a midshipman and follows his adventures until he is Lord Admiral Hornblower. A knowledge of the history and nautical terminology of the period is most helpful.

[Matthew C Welch]

Very enjoyable!

After reading all the previous books and feeling like I had lost a friend, this came along and wrapped everything up nicely for me. It was a good and easy read that went far too quickly.

[Charles "Jerry" Butts]

Great Stories

Very well written excellently done as only CS Forested can!!? Love the different stories of Horn lower throughout his career especially the last one as he sits in retirement now a Lord and an Admiral of the Fleet.

[David L. Haven, Jr.]

The end and sorry for it.

I did not read the Hornblower novels as a boy and wish as an old man that I had. But the last story of Admiral was a fitting end and appreciated by this old man. Glad to give five stars, wish there were more to give.

[Pauline]

Short Stories is this book:
— The Hand of Destiny
— Hornblower and the Widow McCool
— Hornblower's Charitable Offering
— Hornblower and His Majesty
— The Last Encounter

[Glenn West]

I like Forester’s short stories about Hornblower, since they fill in some of the gaps.

[M. Walker]

A short collection of Hornblower stories, all entertaining, none revelatory.

[Gabriel Zamfir]

Not worth it

3 of the 5 stories can be found if you read the series. The 2 new stories are small. The first one as midshipman dors not fit the series timeline in my opinion.

[Jim Purcell]

Five very good short stories that offer a brief yet notable look at the indomitable sea fighter.

[Jim]

Not sure why this didn't get reviewed, but I read the short stories in proper chronological order with the books. See my review of Mr. Midshipman Hornblower here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The stories are good & do add a bit to the chronology even though one is just a sketch.

[Hal]

The five short stories were a pleasant reminder of how much I enjoy C.S. Forester and especially his Hornblower series several years ago.

[Eric Hosen]

All the Hornblower short stories together. A must for the Hornblower fan.