Horatio Hornblower

A while back, a friend of mine mentioned the Horatio Hornblower series as a series of books that Jared might like when he's a little older, with not much more about them than that she though she'd heard that one of the Star Trek captain's character was modeled after Horatio Hornblower. A couple months later while perusing at a used book sale, I found a couple of the books from the series and bought them. A few months after that while looking for a movie at the library, I stumbled upon a couple Horatio Hornblower movies. Chris and I watched one of the movies and then another, not even knowing what order they went in and inadvertently, watching them in the wrong order. The movies were good, really good. So, we checked out the first book from the library. I read it first, then Chris. We both loved the book and as with most series, couldn't wait to read the next one. I have read the first two books (Mr. Midshipman Hornblower and Lieutenant Hornblower) and Chris has read the first three (including Hornblower and the Hotspur).
The Horatio Hornblower series is set during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. Horatio begins his service in the British Navy as a 17 year old who although very good at arithmetic, knows next to nothing about sailing or war. He very quickly learns the ropes of life at sea, overcoming the hardships that inevitably fall on a Midshipman. Horatio proves to be very talented with a sextant and navigation, which doesn't always win him brownie points with the other crew members. He also has a fire that burns within whenever they are engaged in battle. This fire enables him to think fast and make good decisions, which in the end prove to his benefit and ultimately his promotion. Chris and I both love the combination of tongue in cheek humor, dry intellectualism, and swashbuckling adventure. I would recommend these books to anyone, but would readily admit that not everyone would find them as entertaining as do we.
The most amazing aspect of this series is that the movies are actually better than the books. I believe this may be the first time that I have ever seen a movie based on a book that has surpassed the excellence of the book. So, if the prospect of reading 10 books full of dry intellectualism does not excite you, then look for the movies. There are 8 made-for-television movies. As far as I understand, the movies only cover the content of the first three books - which might be one reason why they are so good - the producers didn't try to cram 10 books into 4 hours, but rather picked the best part of the series and elaborated on that. The only negative thing I've discovered about this series is that it is difficult to find in it's entirety, but hey! I like a challenge.