Tag Archives: sea stories

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Posted on December 8, 2025 by smellincoffee

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader opens with one of my favorite lines from Lewis’s fiction, and repeats that achievement toward its close. “There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.” Said lad is the … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics and Literary, Religion and Philosophy, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Oceans and fishes and magic needles

Posted on December 6, 2024 by smellincoffee

Within the last few weeks I’ve read a couple of science titles, one of which was a big ol’ book that deserves a proper review, but given that my mental energies are entirely focused on my last project for this … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Ghosts on the Titanic

Posted on October 11, 2024 by smellincoffee

Billionaire Jackson Riggs has a plan: raise the Titanic! Currents and bacteria are steadily eating away at it, so if the Mary Rose can be brought to surface, why not the big T? (Well, 40 feet versus 12,500 feet….) So … Continue reading →

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Deck Z

Posted on September 22, 2024 by smellincoffee

(Don’t worry, I only read two of these.) Captain Smith is preparing for his triumphant final voyage, captaining the Titanic in her first trip across the Atlantic. Unfortunately for him, those nasty Germans are going to muck things up. Smith … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Damned Un-English

Posted on August 6, 2024 by smellincoffee

Gilbert Maltravers, of His Majesty’s Ship Hindustan, has just been promoted to full lieutenant and has decided to jump ship. The Hindustan, anyway, not the Navy, though he has his doubts about his future there unless there’s a war. Gilbert … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Back to Battle

Posted on July 24, 2024 by smellincoffee

Kelly McGuire came of age in his Majesty’s Navy during the Great War, and unlike many he stuck it out through the ‘peace” — though for him it wasn’t so peaceful, between running around in China and having his heart … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Sons of the Waves

Posted on April 5, 2024 by smellincoffee

Heave your ship to, boys, deep soundings to take! Sons of the Waves is a celebration not of the gilded brass, not of a handsome oak-forest-falling ships, but of the ordinary — and able — British seaman in the Age … Continue reading →

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The Outlaw Ocean

Posted on November 6, 2023 by smellincoffee

The Secret Life of Groceries was a disturbing wake-up call for me last year, exposing as it did how slavery is a core part of the fishing industry that supplies seafood the world around — in which men are trapped … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

A Sea Unto Itself

Posted on April 28, 2022 by smellincoffee

A Sea Unto Itself© 2013 Jay Worrall272 pages Amid the bloodshed and chaos of the French revolution, a singular figure has emerged: General Napoleon Bonaparte, a minor Corsican nobleman who distinguished himself on the field of battle and now has … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

We submariners two

Posted on October 16, 2021 by smellincoffee

A few months ago I encountered the Danny Jabo submarine series, written by a nuclear subs veteran. As I’m still in recovery from surgery this week, I’ve been finishing the series! First up, Zulu Five Oscar. Zulu opens with a … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments