Mr Midshipman Hornblower

De: C. S. Forester

Narrado por: Christian Rodska

Exclusively from Audible

The first episode, initially created as a prequel, of C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower series, sees 17-year-old Horatio as he embarks upon a navy career aboard HMS Justinian. Older than most other seamen training to become naval officers, Hornblower is initially ridiculed for his dull attitude and inexperience at sea. However, against all odds, Horatio rises to become an unlikely hero and faces a myriad of challenges aboard the ship and on foot in native lands. Set in January 1794, Hornblower works alongside his fellow officers, eventually rising through the ranks to battle against Napoleon as he tries to conquer Europe.

In this episodic audiobook, Forester treats listeners to ten chapters with self-contained incidents and adventures. From duels to shipwrecks and Spanish galleys to French ports, we follow Horatio as he becomes a formidable man of the sea. Adding depth and feeling to the narrative, he also comes to see the atrocities of war and the often unfortunate and needless suffering of the many who are involved. Whilst showing himself to be brave, principled and ingenious, Forester's hero is singular in his unrelenting feelings of self-doubt and reserve, which render him a more likeable and relatable leader and protagonist. Commended by the San Francisco Chronicle as 'one of the great masters of narrative' C.S. Forester wrote 10 other books in the Hornblower series, all of which can be found at Audible.

Narrator Biography

Christian Rodska is an English television and voice actor best known for his role in the 1970's series Follyfoot. From The Monuments Men and The Eagle of the Ninth to The Likely Lads, Z Cars, The Tomorrow People, Coronation Street, Bergerac and Casualty, his extensive and diverse acting career has led him to become a highly solicited radio and audiobook narrator.

He has now voiced over 150 unabridged audiobooks including Winston Churchill's biographies, Evelyn Waugh's Men at Arms and Sebastian Faulks' A Possible Life. He has been praised for his ability to vary in vocal pace and style and as such, Christian boasts 12 Earphone Awards from Audiofile Magazine.

©1950 C. S. Forester (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Awesome!!!

Great story with lots of action. Beautifully narrated with lots of character distinction and very engaging

great book and great narrator

This is a great audiobook. The narrator is great and really compliments the well written story.

Bravo!

A fine reading of great book. Also, a poignant reminder of the meaning of honor. To keep ones word, to risk life for another, to do ones duty, all Christian virtues threaded throughout a well written story.

A true adventure!

This was an excellent book! Full of adventure and drama. I can’t wait to listen to the others in this series.

Classic

Loved it. Only slight criticism are some of the varying vocal performances the narrator puts on are a bit…grating.

Saw the TV, now read the book

The books are so much better! Such a good read and fun to check in with a younger version of Hornblower!

Thrilling! And fantastic narration

The beautiful 19th century language, crisp and thrilling story telling combined with the narrator’s masterful character distinctions made me feel I was right there in ships on the sea at war in the 1800’s!

Not bad at all!

I have the story and I love it. C.S. Forester is not only a master storyteller, but also a creative one! This book is a fantastic collection of adventures that both seem extraordinary and surprisingly realistic. The stories, ranging from cutting-out expeditions to managing a boat full of cows are a joy to read.

Christian Rodska’s performance left something to be desired, though. His strong point is the narrative, where his way of delivering prose excelled. But his weak point is dialogue, where the characters (especially the English) tend to come off and snooty and upright, with little variance for emotion. His French and Spanish accents tend to sound alike, to the detriment of both. All the same, I would recommend this audiobook wholeheartedly (though not as wholeheartedly as George Guidell).

Well Written Napoleonic Wars Naval Tale

This is a great Napoleonic Wars-era British Naval story as well as a solid introduction to the Hornblower Saga series by C.S. Forester. I love that the main character demonstrates his positive aspects, such as bravery and thoughtfulness, while also expressing believable emotions for the situations he's faced with, such as uncertainty when performing new tasks and fear when in danger. He deals with significant challenges, and there's a good narrative balance between luck and skill contributing to his survival.

The other Hornblower book I've read thus far is "Lieutenant Hornblower", and this installment differs by being close on Hornblower's POV. The chapters of this book could also be appreciated as short adventure stories within their own right rather than necessitating a full read through as with typical novels. As such, there are a lot of great moments here! Hornblower sails a ship full of swelling rice, fights galleys, gets quarantined during a plague scare, transports cattle, suffers imprisonment, and risks his life to save shipwrecked sailors.

What great descriptions of sailing during this period of naval operations and how weather effects those operations. I cannot think of anything wrong with this and look forward to more Hornblower adventures.

Superb narration

I've read this book several times. The narrator is excellent and added quite a bit to my enjoyment. Highly recommended.