Kydd - Hardcover

Stockwin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0743214587 ISBN 13: 9780743214582

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2001

Synopsis

This is the debut novel in a thrilling new series of the seafaring adventures of Thomas Paine Kydd, a young man pressed into service who comes of age in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars.

About this title

Review

From C.S. Forester onwards, the tale of high adventure on the sea has produced some splendidly vivid writing; in fact, as genres go, there have probably been more consistently impressive creations in this field than in all historical fiction. With such a legacy looming behind him, a new author has to be able to present something special in order to make any kind of mark. With Kydd, Julian Stockwin quickly signals that he is an innovative and accomplished fresh talent in the field, with a complex and richly drawn hero (always so necessary in the naval tale) at the centre of an intelligently structured narrative.

Thomas Paine Kydd is press-ganged in Guildford, and is wrenched from his safe profession of wig making to join the crew of the 98-gun line-of-battle ship Duke William. We have been treated to the horrors of the below-deck life of the common seaman before, but Stockwin renders these scenes as exuberantly as any of his predecessors. He is also particularly good at delineating the changing character of his hero, as Kydd comes to admire the skills of the seamen and (of course) becomes a true sailor himself. Although, at times, the book has the feel of the setting up of a new series, it's none the worse for that. Stockwin can command your attention with ease when his writing has such unyielding power as:

The boatswain's mate advanced, taking the cat-o-nine-tails from the bag. He took a position a full eight feet away to one side, and drew the long deadly lashes through his fingers, experimentally sweeping back to ensure that there was enough clear space to swing it. Kydd stared across the few yards of empty deck at the man's pale, helpless body. At the instant it flew downward the drumbeats stopped, so the sickening smack of the blow came loud and clear. Donelly did not cry out, but his gasp was high and choked. The nine tails not only left long bruised weals, but at every point where they landed, blood began to seep.

--Barry Forshaw

Review

"Publishing News" (UK) A wonderfully fresh and incredibly vivid debut novel...I reckon [the series] will be as popular as the novels of Patrick O'Brian, so exciting is this new author.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0743214587
• ISBN 13: 9780743214582
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 254