To Glory Arise

Privateers & Gentlemen #1

by Jon Williams, Walter Jon Williams

Originally published as "The Privateer," this is Walter Jon Williams’ first published work, one of the historical novels with which he began his career. The American Revolution is throwing up a new breed of hero, Yankee privateers who dare the might of the Royal Navy to slash at British commerce. Foremost among them are the three Markham brothers, Jehu, Josiah, and Malachi, who link their destiny to that of their young nation, and seek their fortune in the cannon’s mouth.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Nautical, Historical

405 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was okay. Long on battle sailing, guns, etc., little history. I won't read the remaining series.

Probably fine for others. I was weaned on CS Forester, Douglas Reeman and Patrick O'Brian.

[Gus Smedstad · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like Walter Jon Willams' SF books. Unfortunately, this is a historical novel, and I didn't enjoy it at all.

This is about 3 brothers who are American privateers around 1778. Almost all of the book is about sailing and battles. It's really dense with technical sailing terms, with no explanation given of any of it. Which is reasonable from the point of view of the characters, they're not going to explain terms to each other, but frequently it was opaque enough that I didn't really know what was going on.

Some things I looked up. I had no idea what "wearing ship" was before reading this, even though I was quite familiar with its close cousin, tacking. Not knowing the bazillion different names for sails on the ship was less important, but also meant I couldn't remotely visualize what they were doing, or why taking down this or that specific sail mattered.

The problem is, all the sailing and ship battles weren't all that interesting to me, and it often seemed implausible how often Malachai and his brothers beat ships that were much bigger and carried more guns.

There's not much plot to the book, really. It's mostly battle after battle where the Markham brothers capture ships, and use the bigger prizes to pursue bigger prey.

It did not help that what they're doing seemed immoral to me. They're not soldiers fighting a war against the British, they're taking civilian ships at gunpoint, selling the cargo, and either selling the ships or using them themselves. It's armed robbery at sea.

[Tanya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Privateering was not a profession for a man who held ultrafine scruples, but Malachi had hoped that the American breed would somehow be better than others, that fighting for a just cause could inspire a more upstanding brand of warfare than that inspired by tyranny. [loc. 3841]

First novel by Walter Jon Williams: not SF or fantasy, but naval, set during the American War of Independence, and written as a tie-in to the RPG Privateers and Gentlemen.

I doubt I would have stuck with this if I hadn't been reading it for book club: the opening chapters are clunky, with a lot of repetition and a sex scene that includes the phrase 'willing breasts'. It does improve a bit after that, though. The first chapters introduce the three Markham brothers -- Jehu (the one educated in England), Josiah (the religious one) and Malachi (the fun one) -- and much of the rest of the novel focusses on Malachi and his privateering adventures. There are a lot of gory naval battles (mostly against the perfidious English) but Malachi nevertheless finds time to fall in love with an English lady, Georgina, whose probing questions about his future plans can only mean that she reciprocates his feelings. Oh, wait ...

There are too many infodumps, not enough depth of character, and so much repetition that I wondered if To Glory Arise had been published in a rush, without thorough editing. I was also deeply unimpressed with the end of the novel, in which a major character is killed off in a single sentence. If I hadn't already known from his other work that Williams is an accomplished and inventive author, this novel would have convinced me not to read anything else by him.

I am, of course, spoilt by having read Patrick O'Brian at an early age: and now I want to reread some, as a palate cleanser.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

American privateers hunt the british in the revolutionary war. It was OK not my favorite age of sail adventures. Was interesting enough that I will read the next book.

[Darel Krieger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book had promise when I first started reading it, unfortunately it just takes the reader on a long unexciting journey to nowhere.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as "To Glory Arise" by Walter Jon Williams. Picked up on Smashwords.com for $4.99.

I rounded up from 3 1/2 stars. It wasn't Forester or O'Brian but at under $5 it is a worthy read. The action stops and goes and the pacing seems to follow the same jumpy pattern. I liked the characters and the color and enjoyed the read overall. Smashwords.com says this was his first published work so I will cut him a little slack.

I am certainly going to pick up the next book in the series.... I'll let you know how it goes. You can find "Yankee" the 2nd in the series as "The Tern Schooner" on Smashwords.com.

[Richard Stover · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review for Glory Arise

I am not a sailor so so much of the description of the ships were Greek to me. I didn't understand them so just skipped over a lot. But it was an exciting epic.

[Baron Greystone · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is consistently good, and is best enjoyed in order. I understand they're being re-released, so no excuses. My detailed review of the series (no spoilers): https://themichlinguide.wordpress.com...

[Shaun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining. Educational. Sometimes exciting. Don't let the romance scare you away. This may prove to be a good series of sea novels.

[Rocklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent naval historical fiction