[.ca] The Corvette: A Nathaniel Drinkwater Novel (ISBN 157409100X)

One of his best:
I've now read the first five books in the Nathaniel Drinkwater series and continue to be impressed with the author's command of the English language and his colorful characterizations. In reading these books I get a strong feeling of having been with Drinkwater on his adventures; such is the extent of Woodman's talent for description and characterization. Even minor characters are not neglected. For example, here's a quote from page 167 describing the gunner's reaction to an unusual order: "The gunner frowned, raised an eyebrow and compressed his toothless mouth. Then, without a word, knuckled his forehead and waddled below." Gratuitous characterizations such as that demonstrate that Woodman misses no opportunity to animate his characters. Even though Drinkwater at this stage of his "life" is 40 years old and captain of a ship, the reader can sense that he's still learning how to be a good commander. He hurts from his old wounds and misses his wife and children. In other words, he seems real. I hate to compare Bernard Cornwell's Richard Sharpe books unfavorably to another author's series because the Sharpe books are entertaining, and I have read nearly all of them. But Sharpe is almost a cartoon character in comparison to Drinkwater. I often skip over much of the fighting scenes in Cornwell's books, but Woodman's power of description makes the fight scenes a pleasure to read. I expect to read the rest of Woodman's Drinkwater novels in chronological order.

Drinkwater Takes a Step:
The book is in three parts, in the first of which Acting Captain Drinkwater must establish his leadership in a new command and lead a convoy of hard-bitten and angry whalers onto the Greenland whaling grounds. The second concerns the hunt for whales and, despite its misfortunes, how Drinkwater slips into a yacht cruise mentality. The third part returns us to the fact they are all at war with the French, who are rumored to have sent out corsairs during the false peace of 1802 to lay in wait and cripple the British economy when the world war resumed. I found this one of the most interesting in the series. For all the Napoleonic era novels out there, this contains the first discussion of whaling in the North Atlantic I recall (and only a few other series include the more familiar Pacific whalers). Also, Drinkwater essays humor on occasion, despite his author's rather grim prose and concern with political machinations. Drinkwater often struggles with scepticism and faith, God, and duty to the navy, abetted here by a pastor/surgeon who is philosophically inclined and by a righteously subversive whaling captain. Woodman describes the arctic well, but only occasionally does he evoke its beauty and terror. Pay very close attention to the beginning chapters for there are clues to anticipating a final mystery. If you understand sailing commands and constantly track the state of the wind through the story then all the ship maneuvers make sense; otherwise ignore them as nautical "period atmosphere" and be poorer for it. We get to hear more sail commands than usual, thanks to an insecure but punctilious 3rd lieutenant, and also learn in great detail the meaning of "jury-rigged." What strange names some fictional captains have: Drinkwater, Hornblower-and quite the opposite of their true characters.

Action in the Greenland Sea:
This is book five in the Drinkwater series, and was a bit of a disappointment after some of the earlier books. Once again, the author skips forward. Book four, "The Bomb Vessel," ended in July 1801 after the First Battle of Copenhagen. This book covers a relatively brief period from May to November 1803, falling into the tendency that Patrick O'Brien had in some of his later novels of putting a little too much action into too short a period of time (sometimes moving ships about the ocean at fantastic rates of speed). At the beginning of this story, we find Drinkwater on the beach, recovering from a wound received between novels. Admiral Jervis (now Earl St. Vincent and First Lord of the Admiralty) was known for promoting officers based on ability rather than interest, and he gives Drinkwater (now a commander) temporary command of the twenty-gun sloop Melusine after the ship's captain in incapacitated and resigns (why this would only be a temporary command is not entirely clear - Jervis had the authority to promote officers). Action finds Drinkwater guarding a whaling fleet in the Greenland Sea, dealing with French privateers and English renegades, and seeking a French base. There is considerable detail about the operation of the whaling fleet and the hazards involved in arctic whaling. John Nicol, in his autobiography, gave a brief description of a voyage on a whaling ship to the Greenland Sea, and noted his resolution not to make another. Like other novels in the series, characters in this novel carry over into the next.

5th volume in this gripping series:
Nat is now elevated to Master & Commander and given Job-Captain cy in charge of a corvette as escort to a group of whalers bound for Greenland. As well as the usual excellent sail evolutions, there is wonderful description of below-decks life here, as well as incidental details (some qory) of whaling boats and the hunt. Several plots run together in this story; the threat of privateers; the differing agendas of the whalers; insubordination in the officers; and a pastor with a past. All are handled by a Captain who has matured as much as his author, in a way that has neither the bluffness of Jack Aubrey, nor the asperity of Hornblower. Excellent reading; but why can I not find Mr. Woodman on the average bookstore's shelves? *****