The Gunroom discussion

I’m looking for a new series. I’ve read O’Brian (of course!), the Hornblower and the Sharpe books. Any recommendations gratefully received.

Hi Maia, If you liked O'Brian and CS Forester, you should enjoy my books. They are a set in the navy in the same period as those two authors, and like O'Brian I use 18th century dialogue. The main difference is that my books also include proper sailor characters as well as officers, with their own plots and backgrounds, which gives the books a more balanced feel.
The first in the series is called The Captain's Nephew.

You might also like Chris Durbin's books, which are set a little earlier during the 7 years war.

All the best

Philip

Hi Maia,

I glanced at the books you've rated... since you liked the Shardlake books, you might like the Sir Robert Carey series by P.F. Chisholm, beginning with A Famine of Horses. They are light mysteries set in England and Scotland late in the reign of Elizabeth I.

Hilary Mantel's trilogy about Thomas Cromwell is fantastic: Wolf Hall

I've only recently discovered Dorothy Dunnett, and her writing is as rich as O'Brian's: The Game of Kings. These are set just after the death of Henry VIII.

Thanks for these suggestions!

Maia wrote: "I’m looking for a new series. I’ve read O’Brian (of course!), the Hornblower and the Sharpe books. Any recommendations gratefully received."

O'Brian had a couple nautical stand-alone's that are also good - Golden Ocean and Unknown Shore - if you haven't read them.

There are a couple nautical series, too short unfortunately, that I thought had O'Brian-esque qualities, even if they aren't quite up to his level:
C N Parkinson wrote a fictional Hornblower biography The Life and Times of Horatio Hornblower: A Biography of C. S. Forester's Famous Naval Hero, and then a series with a character named Richard Delancy starting with The Guernseyman - that series is good except the last book.

Sean Thomas Russel wrote a short series, his character is named Charles Haydenn starting with Under Enemy Colors, which is also good except for the last book.

Hello Maia,
I enjoyed the Marcus Didius Falco series - a Roman informer (detective) who gallivants across the empire on secret service for the emperor Vesparian, but never gets paid. There are twenty in the series and they are worth reading in order.
See here: http://www.lindseydavis.co.uk/lindsey...

If you like the Naval genre I would check out Mr. Midshipman Easy by Frederick Marryat. Marryat was an LT in the Royal Navy in Napoleonic war as well as the War of 1812.

Mr. Midhipman Easy is probably the first of the Age of Sail genre its a fun and easy read.

I found the very beginning of the novel difficult to get through but it quickly became very entertaining.

Best of all, because it is so old it is in the public domain and can be had for free over at the Gutenberg Project

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21553

Maia wrote: "I’m looking for a new series. I’ve read O’Brian (of course!), the Hornblower and the Sharpe books. Any recommendations gratefully received."
I am a huge fan of 0'Brian, Hornblower and other sea faring books, you might like to give my series a read, it is not a Disney pirate tale nor a Treasured Island "wannabe", the goal was toKerry Lynne give the non sailor an understanding of how a square rigger "pirate" ship was sailed and how her crew lived, fought and died.

Fletcher's Fortune
Sean Thomas Russell
Kydd

Dudley Pope:
Lieutenant Ramage Series
is also set in the naval genre of the turn of 18th to 19th century.

Lieutenant Ramage
The „Ramage“ got lost, sorry.

Here's a few series that I've enjoyed:
Alexander Clay Series by Philip K. Allan (8 books)
The Fighting Sail Series, Alaric Bond (13 books)
The Duty and Destiny Series, Andrew Wareham (14 books)

I'm going to check out the recommendation above by Jamie for A Famine of Horses as I am a fan of the Shardlake series as well. (Thanks for the recommendation Jamie!)

I've been re-reading the Nathaniel Drinkwater series by Richard Woodman and the Alan Lewrie series by Dewey Lambdin.

The Drinkwater series is in the classic naval and special service vein.
Lewrie's adventures are not for everyone. There is a lot of sex and (reflecting the times or the author?) homophobia. But the stories are great.