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Alan Lewrie #8
Jester's Fortune
Commander Lewrie is sent to the Adriatic to block French ships trying to reinforce Napoleon but soon discovers he is out-manned and out-gunned on the high seas
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
136 people are currently reading
190 people want to read
About the author
Dewey Lambdin
70 books278 followersDewey Lambdin (1945-2021 ) was an American nautical historical novelist. He was best known for his Alan Lewrie naval adventure series, set during the Napoleonic Wars. Besides the Alan Lewrie series, he was also the author of What Lies Buried: a novel of Old Cape Fear.
A self-proclaimed "Navy Brat," Lambdin spent a good deal of his early days on both coasts of the U.S.A., and overseas duty stations, with his father. His father enlisted as a Seaman Recruit in 1930, was "mustanged" from the lower deck (from Yeoman chief Petty Officer) at Notre Dame in '42, and was career Navy until May of 1954, when he was killed at sea aboard the USS Bennington CVA-20 (see below), on which he served as Administrative Officer, 5th in line-of-command (posthumous Lieutenant Commander).
Lambdin himself attended Castle Heights Military Academy, graduated in 1962, and was destined to be the family's first "ring-knocker" from the U.S. Naval Academy, "... until he realised that physics, calculus, and counting higher than ten were bigger than he was."[1] He studied at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, majoring in Liberal arts and Theatre, where he was published in The Theme Vault in 1963, also reprinted in a national textbook, which whetted his appetite for writing. However, he failed his degree. He finally graduated with a degree in Film & TV Production from Montana State University, Bozeman, in 1969. This was considered at the time to be the McHale's Navy of the academic set, so the nautical influence was still at work. He has worked for a network affiliate TV station as a producer/director for twelve years, an independent station as production manager and senior director/writer/ producer for three years, all in Memphis, and as a writer/producer with a Nashville advertising/production facility, or in free-lance camera, lighting and writing.
He has been a sailor since 1976 and spends his free time working and sailing on his beloved sloop Wind Dancer, with a special taste for cruising the Gulf of Mexico. Mr. Lambdin has thus far resisted the temptation to trade his beloved typewriter for a computer. He lived in Nashville, Tennessee.
He was a member of the U.S. Naval Institute, a Friend of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England; Cousteau Society; the former American Film Institute; and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
-Wikipedia
Mr Lambdin passed away on July 26, 2021 at the age of 76.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/deweyl...
A self-proclaimed "Navy Brat," Lambdin spent a good deal of his early days on both coasts of the U.S.A., and overseas duty stations, with his father. His father enlisted as a Seaman Recruit in 1930, was "mustanged" from the lower deck (from Yeoman chief Petty Officer) at Notre Dame in '42, and was career Navy until May of 1954, when he was killed at sea aboard the USS Bennington CVA-20 (see below), on which he served as Administrative Officer, 5th in line-of-command (posthumous Lieutenant Commander).
Lambdin himself attended Castle Heights Military Academy, graduated in 1962, and was destined to be the family's first "ring-knocker" from the U.S. Naval Academy, "... until he realised that physics, calculus, and counting higher than ten were bigger than he was."[1] He studied at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, majoring in Liberal arts and Theatre, where he was published in The Theme Vault in 1963, also reprinted in a national textbook, which whetted his appetite for writing. However, he failed his degree. He finally graduated with a degree in Film & TV Production from Montana State University, Bozeman, in 1969. This was considered at the time to be the McHale's Navy of the academic set, so the nautical influence was still at work. He has worked for a network affiliate TV station as a producer/director for twelve years, an independent station as production manager and senior director/writer/ producer for three years, all in Memphis, and as a writer/producer with a Nashville advertising/production facility, or in free-lance camera, lighting and writing.
He has been a sailor since 1976 and spends his free time working and sailing on his beloved sloop Wind Dancer, with a special taste for cruising the Gulf of Mexico. Mr. Lambdin has thus far resisted the temptation to trade his beloved typewriter for a computer. He lived in Nashville, Tennessee.
He was a member of the U.S. Naval Institute, a Friend of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England; Cousteau Society; the former American Film Institute; and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
-Wikipedia
Mr Lambdin passed away on July 26, 2021 at the age of 76.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/deweyl...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
March 4, 2020
Again with the incomprehensible foreign accents and long speeches. Yes, I suppose if I wanted to know more about Serbian history I'd be fascinated, but I'm here for the ships! Not much of that in this one either...
January 1, 2016
This was a difficult one to finish. I don't really know why. The plot was interesting. It was not too long. I guess it just did not click with me. Or maybe it was because i was traveling or something. Being truthful i had few exiting moments in the whole book.
In almost the entire book Alan faced boring tasks and events. Just at the end it gets a lot more interesting real quick.
All in all it was difficult to finish, some good moments but mostly boring and Alan getting older.
Bye.
In almost the entire book Alan faced boring tasks and events. Just at the end it gets a lot more interesting real quick.
All in all it was difficult to finish, some good moments but mostly boring and Alan getting older.
Bye.
December 22, 2020
It took a long time for this book to get going, always with the hint that it might just turn out to be interesting if you kept reading. Unfortunately even at the end this book lacked the gripping sea battle, instead merely having a short dash with pirates. I miss the ram-cat rogueishness of the early books in the series.
June 22, 2021
Spoilers ahead.
This book deals with Lewrie's adventures in the Adriatic sea. He deals with the dissipated Venetians, Serbian pirates and meets up with some old friends. In this book he is commander of the sloop Jester and is sometimes paired with his friend Rodgers from the Caribbean.
Not in any particular order, here are some of my issues with Lambdin's writing:
1) The chapter with Napoleon is completely wasted. Since he's not really part of the story line, there is no need for this chapter. I understand that maybe the author wants to add some history into the series and this book but all of his writing that has anything to do with strategy is so badly written that it's impossible to understand any of it. A better author could have written the same passages/chapter, done in 1/5 of the words and made it simpler and easier to understand.
2) Please stap with the pidgen English! It's amateurish, unprofessional and difficult to understand. Better authors have been able to convey a foreigner's speech without having to resort to this type of silly writing. It slows down my reading as I have to stop and decipher it.
3) Please stop with this narrative disruption thing where you write a chapter without an explanation only to explain it later. I had no idea what was going on (where he was trying to trick the French) and Lewrie only explains it later to Rodgers (and the readers) in the following chapter. This trick device doesn't make the book more fun or better to read. Added to the author's poor writing skills, it just makes it worse. Thank goodness he's only done it once in the 7 books I've read so far.
4) Also stap it with the long dialogs. This reminds me of the long talkers who take a long time getting to the point. There is no need to write 10 pages of dialog when 2 can do the same job better.
Reading one of Lambdin's books is like eating a crab, you have to wade through or break through a lot of shell to get to the good parts. Funny enough, despite Lambdin's horrible writing skills and his inability to put idea or words on paper, I still like Lewrie and want to follow on his career. On to the next book!
This book deals with Lewrie's adventures in the Adriatic sea. He deals with the dissipated Venetians, Serbian pirates and meets up with some old friends. In this book he is commander of the sloop Jester and is sometimes paired with his friend Rodgers from the Caribbean.
Not in any particular order, here are some of my issues with Lambdin's writing:
1) The chapter with Napoleon is completely wasted. Since he's not really part of the story line, there is no need for this chapter. I understand that maybe the author wants to add some history into the series and this book but all of his writing that has anything to do with strategy is so badly written that it's impossible to understand any of it. A better author could have written the same passages/chapter, done in 1/5 of the words and made it simpler and easier to understand.
2) Please stap with the pidgen English! It's amateurish, unprofessional and difficult to understand. Better authors have been able to convey a foreigner's speech without having to resort to this type of silly writing. It slows down my reading as I have to stop and decipher it.
3) Please stop with this narrative disruption thing where you write a chapter without an explanation only to explain it later. I had no idea what was going on (where he was trying to trick the French) and Lewrie only explains it later to Rodgers (and the readers) in the following chapter. This trick device doesn't make the book more fun or better to read. Added to the author's poor writing skills, it just makes it worse. Thank goodness he's only done it once in the 7 books I've read so far.
4) Also stap it with the long dialogs. This reminds me of the long talkers who take a long time getting to the point. There is no need to write 10 pages of dialog when 2 can do the same job better.
Reading one of Lambdin's books is like eating a crab, you have to wade through or break through a lot of shell to get to the good parts. Funny enough, despite Lambdin's horrible writing skills and his inability to put idea or words on paper, I still like Lewrie and want to follow on his career. On to the next book!
October 12, 2021
Dewey Lambdin is very good at writing dialogue. Of course, it helps to have a superb reader like John Lee bring it to life with real authenticity. Mr. Lee is hard to beat even in the current audio book world of fabulous readers. My only criticism of Lee is that his cat sounds are off the mark. Cats, of course, are reoccurring characters in this series. Lewrie didn’t have much use for cats until he was First under Captain Lilycroft who had a dozen or more scrambling about his ship including the fearsome Mr Pitt who was responsible for Lewrie keeping his first command after Pitt clawed the almost new captain as he tried to climb aboard. Pitt lived out his life on Lewrie’s farm in the care of Mrs. Lewrie and the children. A book or so ago Lewrie picked up a kitten in Toulon. Named her Toulon and she appears somewhat regularly making sounds that the aforementioned Mr Lee cannot quite duplicate. He does great on all the other accents including the mincing Austrian officer who comes aboard as interpreter and counselor and who is held in disdain until the final scene of the story when in mortal combat he turns out to be an incomparable swordsman. Lucy Bowman, who Lewrie fought a duel over in the Caribbean makes an appearance. She is now Lady Lucy and on a grand honeymoon with her much older but wealthy husband. Surprisingly, she and Alan do not get together. Instead, she takes on with a Lieutenant who Lewrie despises. I wonder if we might not see her again in a subsequent adventure. Clearly, because of the action Lewrie took to defeat pirates and rescue prisoners, Lucy’s husband, a member of Parliament will obviously become a strong advocate for Lewrie in London with the Admiralty. But the dialogue is what makes this book sing. Great meetings with Lewrie’s commander Captain Charleton and a set to with the pirate chieftain where Lewrie motivates him by reciting the Saint Crispen’s Day speech from Henry V. Good stuff.
March 21, 2019
I'm not one to demand non-stop action in my seafaring books, and that's a good thing because there's not a whole lot of it in the 8th incarnation of the Alan Lewrie novels.
There's a good dose of politics and strategy in this book, one element that draws me to the historical-fiction genre. That, too, is good, though in this instance there might well have been a bit too much of a good thing.
I've been reading more book reviews and synopses since joining Goodreads, and one word that I see frequently used is "atmospheric" in descriptions of historical-fiction titles. Atmosphere is something that most authors in the genre would try hard to achieve. Most readers, indeed, want to be immersed in the time period of the material they are reading.
That leads me, however, to my last complaint about Jester's Fortune, which is really a repeat of a complaint I first made in a previous book in the series, and that is the author's repeated use of what I shall call "accented English" to depict the speech patterns of a "foreign" character. Last time it was French, this time German, but in both instances the result is horrific.
If the author wishes to say that a character speaks with an accent, then by all means he should say so. But to force the reader to wade through page after page after page of intentional misspellings just to set an atmosphere that the fictional listener, too, is having difficulty following the conversation is unkind in the extreme. I find the author's use of this technique very difficult and tiresome, and although I have already purchased the next book in the series, if there's a repeat (what will it be this time, Russian, Spanish, or perhaps a curtain call for French?) I can assure you there won't be a 10th purchase.
Overall, I found this the weakest in the series to date, and although I learned a few things about the Napoleonic Wars, it came at a high price in satisfaction.
There's a good dose of politics and strategy in this book, one element that draws me to the historical-fiction genre. That, too, is good, though in this instance there might well have been a bit too much of a good thing.
I've been reading more book reviews and synopses since joining Goodreads, and one word that I see frequently used is "atmospheric" in descriptions of historical-fiction titles. Atmosphere is something that most authors in the genre would try hard to achieve. Most readers, indeed, want to be immersed in the time period of the material they are reading.
That leads me, however, to my last complaint about Jester's Fortune, which is really a repeat of a complaint I first made in a previous book in the series, and that is the author's repeated use of what I shall call "accented English" to depict the speech patterns of a "foreign" character. Last time it was French, this time German, but in both instances the result is horrific.
If the author wishes to say that a character speaks with an accent, then by all means he should say so. But to force the reader to wade through page after page after page of intentional misspellings just to set an atmosphere that the fictional listener, too, is having difficulty following the conversation is unkind in the extreme. I find the author's use of this technique very difficult and tiresome, and although I have already purchased the next book in the series, if there's a repeat (what will it be this time, Russian, Spanish, or perhaps a curtain call for French?) I can assure you there won't be a 10th purchase.
Overall, I found this the weakest in the series to date, and although I learned a few things about the Napoleonic Wars, it came at a high price in satisfaction.
March 11, 2022
Number 8 in the Lewrie naval adventure series. It seems more and more that the activities on land are overshadowing the marine adventures. In this book there is time spent in Austria, Venice, and parts of the coast of what is now Croatia. It is entertaining to get glimpses into the mindsets of the rich of Venice (who feel immune to war) and the vengeful grievances held by many Serbs, Croats, and others from the Balkan region. You get a sense that wrongs are never forgiven no matter how far in the past.
The story culminates with pirates slaughtering civilians captured from a merchant vessel. The description of some the killings is grizzly and almost too graphic. You certainly feel the terror and fright of the moment as Lewrie is held hostage and powerless to stop what is happening.
The character Kolodzcy adds flavor to the tale. His has an outrageous accent which often makes reading his dialog tiresome, but his antics and manners certainly add color to the overall story. He almost steals each scene in which he appears.
Again, I continue to enjoy the books and keep reading. I feel these is potential for more nautical action and that is why only 4 stars....again.
The story culminates with pirates slaughtering civilians captured from a merchant vessel. The description of some the killings is grizzly and almost too graphic. You certainly feel the terror and fright of the moment as Lewrie is held hostage and powerless to stop what is happening.
The character Kolodzcy adds flavor to the tale. His has an outrageous accent which often makes reading his dialog tiresome, but his antics and manners certainly add color to the overall story. He almost steals each scene in which he appears.
Again, I continue to enjoy the books and keep reading. I feel these is potential for more nautical action and that is why only 4 stars....again.
November 30, 2022
Somewhat meandering installment in this series finds Alan Lewrie and his ship The Jester ordered into the Adriatic as part of a four-ship squadron tasked with disrupting French shipping and supporting Britain's ally, Austria. Against Alan's better judgment, the squadron forms an alliance with Serbian pirates. Although rich in vivid period and nautical detail which is a good indication of the amount of research that went into its writing, Lambdin unfolds his story slowly, devoting many pages to conversations among the characters and Lewrie's speculations about strategy, all of which creates a bit of narrative drag. However, he serves up a thundering and palpably tense final confrontation with the pirates.
January 24, 2020
Page and stomach turner
This latest tale in the naval career of Alan Lewrie is better than its predecessors and I thoroughly enjoyed those. This yarn places Lewrie in the Adriatic as a member of a squadron that finds Allies hard to find. Scraping the barrel they find themselves allied with a bunch of pirates and it was never going end well. The twists and turns of the plot leave you guessing as to what kind of disaster is going to end this agreement to sup with the devil and still leaves you guessing as to whether the spoon was long enough even at the end. No doubt we'll find out in book nine and I personally cannot wait.
This latest tale in the naval career of Alan Lewrie is better than its predecessors and I thoroughly enjoyed those. This yarn places Lewrie in the Adriatic as a member of a squadron that finds Allies hard to find. Scraping the barrel they find themselves allied with a bunch of pirates and it was never going end well. The twists and turns of the plot leave you guessing as to what kind of disaster is going to end this agreement to sup with the devil and still leaves you guessing as to whether the spoon was long enough even at the end. No doubt we'll find out in book nine and I personally cannot wait.
August 21, 2018
This installment in the story brings some interesting insight into the 18th & 19th century Balkin politics. Modern geography does not do justice to various indigenous governing systems nor to the ethnic demographics of the place. The British disdain of "uncivilized" peoples is portrayed in a very negative light, but is probably quite accurate. Once again, the discipline of the British Navy seems a little off target. The lines of rank and class are often just a little too blurred in this series. All in all, a good read.
October 13, 2019
The joy of this series has been the rakish, naughtiness of Alan Lewrie. It is generally lighthearted seafaring stiff. This one takes a turn and has some very nasty moments in it. Lambdin also seems fit to berate Balkan nations and the Serbs in particular in his notes at the end. The Balkan people have a bad history and are far from perfect. But his comments are unnecessary. This is not what I read Lewrie books for. I hope they get back to style in the next one.
August 24, 2019
Part of an independent squadron patrolling the Adriatic's eastern side, our hero matches wits with pirates, and (of course) comes out on top. Still lots of angst around his separation from his wife and children, as this conflicts with his "needs" as a young man. His sensibilities are well before his time, and so, sympathetic to ours. I'm still thoroughly hooked.
August 28, 2025
This is a difficult book to read, for several reasons. First, there is a lot of dialect using phonetic spelling, I mean, a LOT. Also, sailing ships have a lot of parts, and sails, and ways of being sailed.
This book also throws a light in some parts of history that are difficult to hear about. All in all, I think I learned a lot and am glad to continue this series.
This book also throws a light in some parts of history that are difficult to hear about. All in all, I think I learned a lot and am glad to continue this series.
April 25, 2019
Lucky indeed!
5 stars because it deserves them.
This novel, like the preceding ones was easy to read, despite the American English spellings now and again, the battle sequences described exactly. All in all I am enjoying this series.
5 stars because it deserves them.
This novel, like the preceding ones was easy to read, despite the American English spellings now and again, the battle sequences described exactly. All in all I am enjoying this series.
September 6, 2020
Another excellent ‘Alan Lewrie’ adventure ... though I do have to say I find Lambdin’s repeated use of foreign accents, in this and some of his other ‘Lewrie’ editions, to be frustrating and overly time-consuming to read.
July 22, 2017
Dewey Lambdin, and his Hero at their very best, a great read.
November 14, 2017
Better than the last one, much more action.
March 1, 2018
Same old Lewrie!
March 8, 2019
Brilliant read
This kept me coming back for more. Funny in parts and serious in others. Loved it will probably read it again, which must mean it's a good book!
This kept me coming back for more. Funny in parts and serious in others. Loved it will probably read it again, which must mean it's a good book!
February 19, 2020
Jesters Fortune
A little slower paced than his previous books. I thought it was just OK to read in comparison of his other titles in the same series.
A little slower paced than his previous books. I thought it was just OK to read in comparison of his other titles in the same series.
May 23, 2020
Less of the 'your mozzer was an hamster and your father smelt of elderberries' this book.
For this relief, much thanks.
For this relief, much thanks.
March 11, 2022
Make a deal with the devil...
September 13, 2022
In and out of trouble again!
Commander Alan Lewrie RN, off and causing mayhem amongst the King’s enemies, his superior officers and, not so virtuous, women, again!!
Commander Alan Lewrie RN, off and causing mayhem amongst the King’s enemies, his superior officers and, not so virtuous, women, again!!
August 22, 2024
Good, but slow to build
This one was worth reading but it seemed to take forever to get going. I went with four stars forward that reason.
This one was worth reading but it seemed to take forever to get going. I went with four stars forward that reason.
October 14, 2024
One of the best
I liked this book very much, but a book can always be better. That is why the rating is at four stars.
I liked this book very much, but a book can always be better. That is why the rating is at four stars.
October 29, 2025
Great book
This was an enjoyable read, especially the conclusion could not put it down. Highly recommend. Can't wait to continue Lewrie's adventures.
This was an enjoyable read, especially the conclusion could not put it down. Highly recommend. Can't wait to continue Lewrie's adventures.
August 10, 2018
This is the eighth novel in the “Alan Lewrie” Royal Navy series set during the Napoleonic wars, and we’re up to 1796 and the beginnings of Bonaparte’s conquest of most of Western Europe. The dashing and rakehell Lewie is in his early 30s now, has attained the rank of commander, and is beginning to mellow just a little as he gains experience and responsibility -- and children. Admiral Sir John Jervis, one of the most cold-blooded disciplinarians the Royal Navy ever produced but an excellent theatre commander, has been given the responsibility of cutting the French off at the knees in the Mediterranean. But the Coalition is falling apart and Great Britain is becoming isolated, the Austrian army -- supposedly “the greatest army in Europe” -- has turned out a paper tiger, and the Venetian Republic just can’t be bothered to save itself. Jervis has created a small squadron to work the Adriatic, led by Capt. Thomas Charlton and including a second frigate under Capt. Benjamin Rodgers (whom Lewrie knew in the Bahamas). And there’s another sloop under an aristocratic little pissant named Fillebrowne who is likely to be a burr under Lewrie’s saddle for some time to come. The author takes the opportunity to display the nature of Venetian and Austro-Hungarian decadence (compared to the English Way, at any rate) and to let the reader share his intense, dramatically demonstrated disdain for anything to do with the Balkans and the region’s long, long history of ethnic cleansing, religious intolerance, and tendency to torture as a tool of revenge. (Kossovo’s prominence in the news didn’t begin in the 1990s.) My favorite character in the book, though, is the Hungarian Lieut. Kolodzcy, seconded to the squadron as a translator and political advisor, and who turns out to be quite different from Lewrie’s and Rodgers’s first impression. This one is talkier than most, except for the horrific scene at the pirate encampment near the end, but I enjoyed the Brits’ attempts to deal with the original of Byzantine politics.
June 19, 2011
Another good Dewey Lambdin read about his fictional British Sea Officer, Alan Lewrie, during the Napoleonic Wars, this time in the Mediteranean Sea. This the 8th book in this series.Recommended to lovers of this genre.
March 25, 2012
I read the entire series largely back-to-back (my local public library is well-stocked). One of the great things about this series is that we get to watch Alan Lewrie, the main character, grow up from a callow, self-indulgent teenager to a mature, thoughtful, and responsible adult.
March 18, 2025
This is a fine adventure romp with our rogue British sea-officer hero. Fun as it is, I read it while I was re-reading Patrick O'Brian's wonderful novels set in a similar period and the difference is, to quote Mark Twain, like that "between lightning and a lightning bug."
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews