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Frank Eccles

Författare till The Mutiny Run

4 verk 19 medlemmar 3 recensioner

Verk av Frank Eccles

The Mutiny Run (1994) 14 exemplar
The Barbary Run (1971) 3 exemplar
Fifty Thousand Overcoats (1973) 1 exemplar

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Well written, although I felt the style changed slightly after the first few chapters, almost as if the writer was finding his voice.
 
Flaggad
AlaricBond | 1 annan recension | Jul 29, 2010 |
It is 1816 and much of the Royal Navy is laid up in ordinary, it's officers on half pay. Captain John Lawson, however, commands the frigate HMS Comus (44). In The Barbary Run (1971), he hunts the notorious pirate, Yussaif Ahmed. There is more to Ahmed than Lawson bargains for, and he finds himself tangled in politics as he battles an extremely formidable foe.

The Barbary Run predates Frank Eccles' second novel by some 23 years (even though the later book takes place in 1797) and we see a first pass at creating the fully developed characters that made The Mutiny Run such an excellent novel. In fact, some characters succeed more than others. Still, Lawson's persona is well done -- he is a blunt-to-the-point-of-rudeness Yorkshireman who doesn't tolerate backtalk and has no time for social niceties and fripperies. For all that, he is a consummate seaman and fighting captain, who never misses a chance to help a junior officer or midshipman learn his trade. There is plenty of well-imagined action. Eccles provides interesting challenges for Lawson and rings new changes on the usual gunnery battles / boarding actions / cutting out expeditions that are commonplaces in Historic Naval Fiction. All in all, mighty good entertainment. The reader is left wishing that there were more than just the two John Lawson novels.… (mer)
1 rösta
Flaggad
pipester | Mar 16, 2009 |
For the most part, I don't enjoy reading about mutinies. I find very little appeal in heartbreaking situations where everyone is right and everyone loses. In The Mutiny Run (1994), Frank Eccles does a fine job of building naval adventure around the fleet mutinies of 1797 without unduly involving the reader in the mutinies themselves. HMS Adamant (54), with Midshipman John Lawson aboard, is dispatched from Liverpool to blockade singlehandedly the French invasion fleet in Brest while the channel fleet is tied up with the Spithead mutiny. Lawson acquits himself well in action. After the fleet returns, Lawson finds himself in the North Sea whence he returns to the mouth of the Thames in time to witness the crumbling of the Nore Mutiny and the demise of Richard Parker, a former shipmate. Much of the background drama revolves our Adamant's Captain Brewster, a sympathetic old shellback whom the crew adores, but who comes into conflict with some of his officers. They, you may not be surprised to read, are cowardly and supercilious aristos with a great deal of influence in the Navy and the Admiralty. Eccles spins an engaging yarn with plenty of well-written action. He clearly has a great deal of sympathy for his characters and does a fine job of presenting both officers and crew as human beings with feelings and foibles. Lawson, for instance, has several occasions to chide himself for poor seamanship as he narrowly avoids disaster in small craft. Eccles' other work of historic naval fiction, The Barbary Run, was published considerably earlier (1971), but takes place later, featuring Captain Lawson. I will read it as soon as I can get my hands on it.… (mer)
1 rösta
Flaggad
pipester | 1 annan recension | Mar 2, 2009 |

Statistik

Verk
4
Medlemmar
19
Popularitet
#609,294
Betyg
½ 3.6
Recensioner
3
ISBN
12