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Like probably everyone here, I'm a huge O'Brian fan. It took a while to come to terms with his style, but then there was no going back.

I've also loved Douglas Reeman over the years, but having become captivated by Patrick O'Brian, I couldn't never to terms with Reeman's Alexander Kent novels. After Jack and Stephen, I found the Bolithos unconvincing and at times a little annoying. Is there something I'm missing with the Bolitho stories? Is this just me?

Frankly, I'm just the opposite. I've read all the Richard Bolitho books, but have read only a few of the Aubrey/Maturin. They're okay, but they don't interest me the same way the others do. I am also a big Hornblower fan.

I started reading nautical fiction, as I suspect many did, with Hornblower when I was young. I was introduced to O’Brian after college and liked tremendously the pacing and language that was quite different from what I had read before. Sometime I like a ripping yarn and find those in other authors. So I think the choice of books to read, like the sea itself, can present itself in many ways.

One of the qualities that sets O'Brian apart, for me at least, is the humour, and the fact that he never lets self-importance or pomposity gain any traction, in the narrative or in the characters themselves. Ceremonial dinners are disrupted by a servant tripping over with a tray and crashing to the floor. Young officers misbehave; an Admiral might have to keep excusing himself due to stomach cramps, or a diplomat would accidentally turn two pages of his speech at once, meaning his serious point on the progress of the war would conclude with an incongruous punchline intended for the joke at the end. Or Maturin's disastrous attempt at playing cricket. Having said this, I'm thinking I should perhaps be a little more open minded in terms of other writers of this genre.

For me, in terms of general literary quality, elegance of style, and depth of plot and character development, the C.S. Forester and Alexander Kent novels pale in comparison to those of O'Brian.