The Indomitable Hornblower: Commodore Hornblower, Lord Hornblower & Hornblower in the West Indies

Hornblower Saga: Chronological Order #9-11 omnibus

by C.S. Forester

These thrilling tales of high-seas adventure in the Napoleonic era, which Winston Churchill found "vastly entertaining" and Ernest Hemingway recommended to "every literate I know", are being eagerly embraced by a new generation of readers. Back Bay takes pleasure in reissuing these classic tales in handsome new trade paperback editions.
— The Hornblower renaissance is in full sail with a nearly tenfold increase in sales: more than I5O, OOO Hornblower books sold in the first six months of 1999.
— The A&E television network's series of original movies based on Hornblower's adventures have been tremendously successful — praised by critics, enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of viewers, and winner of the Emmy Award for best miniseries.
— Two new movies will be premiering in the spring on A&E.
— Readers and booksellers who admire Patrick O'Brian's novels delight in discovering this "new" series of nautical adventure stories.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical

640 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1963

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

[Al · Rating 5 out of 5]

The final chapters in C.S. Forester's saga of Horatio Hornblower. A complex story following the exploits of an unusual hero with all of his flaws and human emotions. I throughly enjoined every page of the entire saga.

Sailing is such and art, dependent on winds, tides and waves, toss in a bit of political wind-age along with the uncertainties of war, told by an knowledgeable historian, how can you go wrong?

[Sean Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across this in a used bookstore and bought it because I've long wanted to read the adventures of Hornblower, the fictional sea captain who served as a kind of template for James T. Kirk and Honor Harrington. This book is perhaps not the best introduction to the character, since it contains three novels that cover the last part of his career - but I enjoyed it very much anyway and I found him to be so intriguing that I expect I will probably seek out the complete series of books so that I can follow his development from the beginning.

For me the novel aspect of Hornblower's character is his self-doubt. He rarely has the confidence in himself that his men do, and he thinks that they're ill-advised to follow him. On land he pines for the sea, and on deck he suffers the indignity of seasickness and longs for home. He's completely blind to his own brilliance, sure that his decisions are obvious and could have been made by any halfway-competent officer. He assumes that his ability to see the big picture and envision the consequences of his decisions are no special gift.

Hornblower is a wonderfully conceived and realized creation and my only regret is that I came to him so late.

[Peter Brickwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cracking along in Forester's engaging style. These three books consist of two or three novelas or short stories in each book, none-the-less excellent adventures. Most interesting to me is Hornblower's personality and insights into himself. I will be doing more research to try and understand the author and where he might have gotten those ideas from.

[Libbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read

[Don Annand · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume contains the last three stories in the Hornblower series. Forester is the master of describing sea battles in the age of sail, and in particular the Napoleonic wars. His descriptions of tactics and the specific conditions and geography of the scenes of battle show how well he has done his research but he tells it all in a clearly understandable and exciting way. Hornblower is a full blown believable character with his idiosyncrasies, his pride and weaknesses. Even though these are the first in the series I have read, I look forward to reading the earlier ones.

[ExtremeBibliophile · Rating 5 out of 5]

How I managed to live as long as I have and NOT have read any of the Hornblower novels is inexplicable, but now that I have read some of this wondrous series I'm completely hooked. I picked this compilation up at a Goodwill and started reading it almost immediately. The use of language is marvelous and even though my naval vocabulary is limited, the way Forester uses it does not in any way take away from the story itself. I look forward to reading more!

[Vivian Zenari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good writing and plotting make me recommend this high sea adventure. I like OBrien a tiny bit more for complexity, but that is not my way of rejecting this. Why not 5 stars? As a commodore Hornblower does more planning and watches his subordinates take risks, but that doesn't mean Hornblower does no adventuring--leading a charge on a horse, for example!

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mixed bag of novelettes. A couple are dull, but the best soar and provide a suitably white-knuckle ending to the Hornblower saga. Forester's characterisation of Hornblower, and the immersion of the reader into naval life, remain strengths to the end. An optional but worthwhile sendoff to the series.

[Geoff Woodland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading the Hornblower series has come to an end as I finish Mr 'H" in the West Indies. This author is such a pleasure to read that I am sorry that I have finished the series.
I do have 'The Gun' by the same author, but I will save this until I've re-read Alexander Kent's series of Richard Bolitho.
There is always a silver lining, even with COVID-19, as long as you have a book . . . . .

[Jacqueline]

Commodore Hornblower
Lord Hornblower
Hornblower in the West Indies

[Stuart Lutzenhiser · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review for Hornblower in the West Indies. It is a group of 5 short stories. I really enjoy these stories. O'Brian's are crafted better in the writing - but it is hard to beat Forester's plotting.