Midshipman Fury Lieutenant Fury Books - G S Beard. Comments and personal review.

This is the first in what is to be a series of books set in the late eighteenth century British Navy, no doubt leading through to the early nineteenth century.

The protagonist is 17 at the start in 1792 so will no doubt be 30 by the time of the Battle of Trafalgar, although no doubt Cape St Vincent, the Battles of the Nile and Copenhagen will probably also feature before then as well as single ship actions against the French until about 1815, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Our protagonist is Midshipman Fury, John Thomas Fury, who starts his naval career under a cloud, occasioned by the past actions of his father, also a naval man.

As the book jacket says, his father, ten years earlier was a brig commander who became mentally unbalanced, forcing the crew to mutiny and go over to the French.

The book starts with a whole chapter prologue, set in 1783, devoted to this incident to set the scene. I have to say I liked this up-front scene setting rather than having to wait for the details to come out later in the story.

The tale proper then starts, setting the current scene for Midshipman Fury, his attitudes and the way he is seen by both ordinary seaman and fellow midshipmen.

If you have read any Dudley Pope (Ramage), Patrick O’Brian (Aubrey), Alexander Kent (Bolitho) or C S Forester (Hornblower) then you will know broadly what to expect.

There is the maturing of the midshipman due to some act that has a character forming influence on him followed by a naval engagement in which he is thrust into a position not ordinarily available to him due to the indisposition of a lieutenant, and a further thrusting of responsibility onto him when he has to take even more command under fire due to the death of the ranking officer.

As you would expect, as the hero, Midshipman Fury will have to do well and rise to the occasion, but it how the author G S Beard writes about these phases that should keep you reading.

You will also recognise the heroic counter-attack set pieces, the taking of prizes and the command of said prizes, storms, disaster, shipwreck, more action and prizes and coming to the rescue in the nick of time.

So in terms of the set pieces there is probably nothing new here, and to be fair, due to historical accuracy and the requirements of fiction there probably cannot be much deviation from this.

However the deviations occur in setting and of course in the narration.

This first book Midshipman Fury by G S Beard is set in the context of a journey to Bombay (modern Mumbai) in India aboard the HMS Amazon and is set in the seas around that area. That does provide some deviation from the other books as a starting point (yes I know that some of the other authors have also gone to India, but not usually as the starting point) and I found the prose easy to read.

If this is your first foray in to historical naval fiction you may find some of the descriptions of setting sail, reefing, stays, shrouds and scantlings and the various nautical instructions a bit confusing - but there aren’t really that many of them; you can usually find the meanings of the terms on Wikipedia.

I would say that this is probably easier to read than O’Brian, Kent and Forester and probably Pope as well.

I think the characters could be better developed but that may come out in later novels.

The second novel in the series, Lieutenant Fury, has been written but I have not as yet read it. When I do I will write about it.

All in all, Midshipman Fury was an easy read, relatively enjoyable but the characters could do with some development. The naval stuff was competently dealt with and it was a good yarn – what more could you want?

UK readers can buy the books here Midshipman Fury

Lieutenant Fury by G S Beard takes up a few months after Midshipman Fury ends. John Thomas Fury, now Acting Lieutenant Fury, is still on the HMS Amazon having left Bombay.

I started reading this late at night and had intended to only read the first chapter or two to get a flavour of the book. Before I knew it I had read the first 100 pages, so I obviously found it quite readable.

The book starts off with an action with an enemy frigate, and Beard does hold the suspense from the initial sighting to the start of action reasonably well. Naturally this ends in triumph for the British but not without some tragedy as well.

Then it's on to Gibraltar for the Amazon and the prize, the ship they capture and a rendezvous with the British Squadron under Vice Admiral Lord Hood. in HMS Victory, and mention of HMS Agamemnon, Captain Nelson's ship.

Of course, Acting Lieutenant Fury has been well mentioned in the ships journals and is brought to the attention of Vice Admiral Lord Hood. For Fury to be confirmed as Lieutenant Fury, Hood convenes an impromptu Lieutenant's exam, which as you would expect, Fury passes.

He is then assigned to a 74 gun ship of the line in Hood's Squadron where he strikes up an amiable friendship with a midshipman that is useful for the rest of the book. The squadron has the task of blockading Toulon so it looks as if we are in for a rather dull time. However his ship is assigned a different task so the scene is set for derring-do and action. There is a bit of fort stormnig and then back to blockade duty and occupation of a French port.

During the occupation a small romance blossoms for Lieutenant Fury but he is quickly sent away to sea again.

Until once more there is an action resulting in Lieuteneant Fury being put in charge of the prize (captured ship). This is the device Beard uses to ensure that Lieutenant Fury can continue his adventures and personal development. Remember he is still only nineteen so he still has a bit of maturing to do.

His adventures constitute a long spell on land at a garrison fort, some small actions, and daring rescues, during which he picks up some noble French refugees.

He is ordered by Hood to take the French back to England, but as a result Hood has to take him out of the Service as there will be no way for him to rejoin his Ship-of-the-Line.

He thus ends up in England without a ship and unsure if or when he will be assigned another ship.

This book does develop the characters a bit more. There is no formulaic writing noticeable although there are one or two repeated phrases. The suspense is well kept and both actions at sea and on land are well described.

The book is easy to read and all in all I can recommend Lieutenant Fury to you.

Should UK readers wish to buy it you can buy Lieutenant Fury here.