Kydd
A novel by Julian Stockwin about a young wig maker who, just before the start of the war against Napoleon, has the misfortune to get caught by a press gang and finds himself an unwilling sailor.
An interesting perspective of life before the mast in Nelson's Navy, Kydd may well launch a series. It's not a terribly auspicious launch, but it's possible we'll look back on this as the clumsy start of a very pleasant saga, just as we excuse The Godwulf Manuscript and The Hobbit. Kydd makes a fine corrective to Hornblower (though Jack Aubrey is a better and more interesting response, and Richard Henry Dana was actually there) There's a good deal wrong with Kydd -- problems with characterization, seemingly-miraculous improvements in our hero's sailing skills, and the suspicion the Patrick O'Brian might step out from behind a storage cask at any moment.