Good entry into, hopefully, a continuing series about the Napoleonic Wars. Good main characters, a thoughtful Quaker counterpoint which foretends an unconventional marriage. Lively action which aptly demonstrates that good luck is a very useful battle attribute. Putting his ship often in harm's way does require frequent visits to repair yards. An enlightened, probably unlikely, sequestering preserves his crew in an era where impressed men, convicts and rejects were far more likely sources. Solid nautical nomenclature and rational navigational orientation are demonstrated suitably by the naval persons ( )

Complete with adventure on the high-seas, likeable and well-developed characters, and easy to understand nautical dialogue, Sails on the Horizon is an immensely enjoyable read. ( )

With plenty of battle action on the high seas, this novel is set during the Napoleonic wars. The main character is a young ship's commander who tests his courage to reassure himself that he is no coward. He falls in love with a Quaker woman who does not believe in war. The characters do not seem complex, and the reader loses credibility when, within three days of meeting each other, they have fallen in love. ( )

Sails on the Horizon begins with the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, 1797, during the Napoleonic War. The main character Charles Edgemont is both promoted from lieutenant to commander of the small frigate HMS Louisa and made a wealthy man by his actions during this battle. When he returns home while waiting for his ship to be readied, he meets a young Quaker woman Penelope Brown and falls in love with her. Edgemont must return to his ship and face the task of training new recruits (mostly landlubbers) into fighting sailors.

Overall, the story was well-paced with nicely developed characters. The inclusion of Quaker views and Penelope's difficulty with Charles' profession was an interesting twist. Unlike some Napoleonic naval novels, this book kept the naval jargon minimal so those not familiar with vanges or jib-booms could enjoy the story. Likewise, with the exception of Penelope's use of "thee" or "thy", the dialog was simple, without much attempt to reproduce various English dialects.

On the downside, the author switches from points-of-view in several passages and leaves the reader wondering who this pertains to. Also, some of the characters and their relationships could easily have been expanded, such as between Edgemont and his First Lieutenant Bevan.

On a personal pet-peeve note: I wish Worrall had left out the tiny section when Horatio Hornblower makes an appearance. It was cute to include, but it served no real purpose in the story and actually detracted from the story. ( )

There are three novels on a list of recommended historical fiction I've been working through that deal with the exploits of British Naval captains during the Napoleonic Wars. Two are rather celebrated. CS Forester's Mr Midshipman Hornblower is the first of the classic Horatio Hornblower series. I've loved those books since my teens, and all of those novels are on my bookshelf. Horatio Hornblower, as a lieutenant, even has a brief cameo in Sails on the Horizon. Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander is the first of the Aubrey/Maturin series on which the Russel Crowe film of that title was based upon, and I did enjoy it and intend to read further in that series.

Placed beside those two, Worrall's book seems a rather weak sibling. The Hornblower tales are remarkable in pace, plot, and a character that is the Sherlock Holmes of nautical fiction: clever, brilliant, honorable and the inspiration for many incarnations, from Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe, a soldier in the British Army in the Napoleonic era, to David Weber's space opera heroine Honor Harrington. Unlike those other examples, I don't feel Worrall does enough to distinguish his work from Forster and O'Brian. Worrall's prose is at best pedestrian, and he certainly doesn't attempt a period style or tone such as O'Brian's novels. The captain and protagonist, Charles Edgemont, is fairly likeable but next to Hornblower and Aubrey seems to me bland. Worrall, unlike Forester or O'Brian, isn't British but an American, which makes me rather feel Worrall missed an opportunity to distinguish his series by say, setting it in the American Navy instead.

Worrall's background does figure in the novel in another way. The biographical note states he was "[b]orn a Quaker into a military family." Charles' love interest, Penny Brown, is a Quaker, and the famous pacifistic beliefs of that sect do play into his courtship--romance certainly figures a lot more into this book than it does in all but one of the Hornblower books or the O'Brian book I read. But I don't feel that aspect rose above routine. (And the way he seemingly became so filthy rich with prize money early on that he can hire ships of his own seemed implausible.) I do love nautical tales and found this one entertaining, but this first book certainly doesn't leave me in a hurry to look up the rest--especially with over a dozen of O'Brian's to try on my long to-read list. ( )