Reviews

Praise for Thunderer

The latest tale in the Thomas Kydd Series is out now, and already generating rave reviews!

‘Stockwin creates a knotty narrative, writing with authority about Britain’s Georgian navy and the physical world at sea with intrigue, captivating characters, and deft storytelling. Thunderer is a suspenseful journey’

– Quarterdeck

‘Julian Stockwin yet again delivers in his impressive series. Too many historical novels use contemporary lingo, but you can tell Julian does his research and this helps draw the reader deeper in, so you’re almost able to smell the tar and hear the stays thrumming. As ever the action is intense and believable – as it’s based on actual naval actions – and the relationships between the characters is authentic. Plus there’s always something for the history buffs, from the overblown and preening Prinny, whose blowhard brittle character is a delight, to the crusty admirals and jealous peers. Can’t recommend highly enough.’

– Amazon

Plaudits for Balkan Glory

‘Balkan Glory utilises real events and people alongside its fictional cast of favourites who have gone from ship to ship with Kydd. Flying his commodore’s flag in the frigate HMS Tyger, Kydd’s ships engage in an epic clash . . . Balkan Glory is thrilling stuff indeed’

– Warships

‘An impressively entertaining action/adventure novel by an author with a genuine flair for the kind of narrative storytelling style that keeps his readers compulsively engaged from cover to cover’

– Library Bookwatch

‘There is the Stockwin roller coaster ride of triumphs and reverses and the play of court life against a life in a wooden warship. Once more a page turner that will keep the reader engrossed to the last page’

– Fire Reviews

Kydd’s Video Wiki

The Kydd Series and my other books feature in a video Wiki ‘Captivating historical novels full of intricate detail’. The segment begins at 4:10.

[ Click to activate Wiki video ]

---

Plaudits for A Sea of Gold!

The latest tale in the Thomas Kydd Series is out now, and generating rave reviews!

The eagerly awaited 21st episode in the Kydd and Renzi Saga is another compelling story in the tradition of ripping yarns. This is another extensively researched story that provides fresh insights into the naval, political and social world of the early 19th Century. For those fans of the Kydd and Renzi tales, this is yet another tale from a best selling, master story teller that builds on the well-established reputation of his work. For those who are considering this as a first book in the series, this is a gripping stand-alone book but it grows more if the reader then invests in all the earlier stories which each add a further layer to the rich seam of entertainment and knowledge. Most Highly Recommended.

— Firetrench Reviews

A Sea of Gold is the latest of Julian Stockwin’s Thomas Kydd Napoleonic age of sail series and for my money, it’s the best yet. That’s saying a lot, because I have loved the whole series. The characters are always memorable, the story lines are always exciting, and the settings are always true, based on thorough research. Supporting the story lines is the beat of action, whether on the seas or on land. And commanding the action is the hero Thomas Kydd and his loyal crew…This novel is quintessential Kydd and a great read!

— Amazon

Tension surges through A Sea of Gold, as Captain Kydd weathers a knotty relationship with Admiral Cochrane, confronts inner fears in battle, and plunges into despair over a lost fortune. In this rousing yarn, Stockwin again raises naval fiction to a new level.

— Quarterdeck

---

The Iberian Flame

‘Grips the reader from the opening pages, holding the attention to the end.’

Click on book for Review

---

The Baltic Prize

‘A stirring tale of conflict and battle at sea’

Click on book for Review

---

‘More exciting ups and downs than a white knuckle Roller Coaster ride. – Another
cracking instalment in the Kydd and Renzi Saga from international best selling author Julian Stockwin –
Most Highly Recommended.’

---

‘A Man on a Mission…’

I was delighted to be featured in the latest issue of the prestigious ‘Warships’ magazine. Editor Iain Ballantyne’s piece touches on th appeal of the new Kydd titles; the importance I place on deep research, my latest book Persephone – and more…

---

Toledo Blade on TYGER

‘Tyger’ teeming with authentic adventure

JEFF LESSENBERRY
SPECIAL TO THE BLADE

There are only really two kinds of readers: Those who are devoted fans of British seafaring novels, particularly novels set in the swashbuckling era of the Napoleonic wars, and those poor benighted souls who aren’t.

And for those who do love a good seafaring yarn, there are also two — and only two — classifications: Those who have been lucky enough to have stumbled on Julian Stockwin’s Thomas Kydd saga, and those who have yet to discover these treasures, which have delighted many a sailor, armchair and otherwise, since the turn of the century.

Tyger: A Kydd Sea Adventure is the 16th and newest book in that series — and by most accounts, it’s the best one yet, a gripping yarn about a self-made captain whose loyalty to a man he admires earns him the wrath of those higher-up — and causes him to be stuck with command of a down-at-heels frigate fresh from a bloody mutiny.

Naturally, as anyone familiar with this wigmaker-turned-nautical hero knows, Kydd not only shapes up the crew and turns things around — but leads them on some adventures they’ve never dreamed of — secret and otherwise — and enough non-stop battle action to fill more than one adventure movie:

“Every detail of the enemy frigate could be seen through the eddying powder-smoke: The frantically laboring figures behind the gun-ports, the sadly scarred scroll-work, and the glitter of blades as a boarding party readied.

Then her deck erupted in a lethal spray of splinters, scattering the assembled party on a welter of screams … it went on, but Kydd could see that the tide of war was shifting. Tyger’s skill at arms — her matchless rate of fire — was telling.”

You won’t fall asleep reading this book. Action and adventure is one thing, but Tyger, like Stockwin’s other Kydd books, has a genuinely authentic feel to it, and there’s a reason for that.

Julian Stockwin, 71, is a man of the modern era — but he really did go off to sea as a boy. Not impressed into service, as was the fictional Kydd and too many real young men to count.

Instead, he joined Her Majesty’s Navy entirely of his own accord. Stockwin, whose uncle was a seaman on the Cutty Sark, seems to have been born with saltwater on his veins. With his family’s permission, he went off to sea-training school at 14 and joined the Royal Navy at 15.

Later, in an odd twist, he transferred to the Royal Australian Navy, served eight years and became a petty officer. But he was a great deal more complex than your average swabbie; he later dove into far Eastern Studies and did post-graduate work in cross-cultural psychology; became a software and computer manufacturer designer, returned to the Royal Navy, became a lieutenant commander, and was awarded the prestigious MBE — Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

Having accomplished all that, what else was left but to become a novelist? Stockwin’s first novel, Kydd, appeared in 2001. A disciplined and prolific writer, he’s pumped out a book a year in the saga since then, with plus one extra in 2005 for good measure. (Not to mention an entirely separate novel, and a nonfiction work or two.)

While each book in the series can be read on its own, I think readers will benefit more if they begin with Kydd, when our hero, a young man without the slightest intention of going to sea, is grabbed by a press gang and forced into the British Navy.

But Tyger will, without a doubt, take your mind off that garage roof that needs to be fixed, your exasperation at the office, or that sinking feeling that ice and snow are on their way.

Be forewarned: If you are a strict landlubber who doesn’t know a mizzenmast from a remote control, this book is heavy on not only nautical terminology, but nautical terminology of the late 18th century.

Fortunately, the author provides a glossary at the end, plus a helpful and informative author’s note. My main criticism is that the glossary could have been more complete — and that both of these should be read before the reader plunges into Tyger, and the sea.

In an interview five years ago, Stockwin, who sports a white beard worthy of a sea-captain, reflected that “The sea has always had a special place in our psyche. Fashions come and go, but the sea has a timeless appeal.”

He added that his Kydd series seems to touch many readers because, while set two centuries ago, “It is in many ways a modern story — that of a man achieving against the odds and achieving greatness.”

Something, that is, which so many of us yearn to do.

Jack Lessenberry, the head of the journalism faculty at Wayne State University in Detroit, is The Blade’s ombudsman.
Contact him at omblade@aol.com.

Waterford Today on The Silk Tree

Rome is about to be sacked by the invading hordes of the Ostrogoths and anybody who isn’t able to get out is set either to be murdered or enslaved. The Western Empire seems to be under continual threat and its citizens unless they are rich enough to get to safety under Emperor Justinian’s reign in Constantinople know that they are in serious trouble. It is only the Eastern Empire of Rome that has been able to survive over the centuries and has been able to survive through treaties, guile and intimidation from all the hostile forces that surround it. Two people trying to get to Constantinople are Nicander a merchant who has just seen all of his business go up in very fragrant flames, he was an incense dealer, and Marius a former soldier.

Somehow this pair form an uneasy friendship as they try and make their way to the capital in the East. When they reach the city they go their separate way only to meet up again later when Nicander saves Marius from poverty. They decide to go into business together with Nicander providing the brains and Marius the brawn. But a very unlucky gamble means they are back at square one and looking for some other way to get rich. They hit upon a scheme to swindle the Emperor. It is completely outlandish but they think they will be able to get away with it. Central to their scheme is silk.

A hugely prized material shrouded in mystery the only thing that is known about it in Constantinople is that it is deeply coveted, that it comes from some place at the corner of the world called ‘Seres’ and that tons of gold are handed over to the Persians, their erstwhile enemies, to ensure constant supplies. Silk is so rare and so prized that a King’s ransom is paid every year in order for the elite in Constantinople to have access to it. Nicander and Marius decide to hatch a plan to con the court into giving them a lot of money to go to Seres and bring back the secret of silk, which at this point is believed to grow on trees and is harvested by maidens with combs. Through a combination of planning, sheer luck and circumstance they get the money but their plan to just run off with it doesn’t turn out the way they want it and the two find themselves traveling to Seres.

Much of the story in The Silk Tree turns on circumstance and chance as well as the wild good luck that is seldom seen outside of far fetched adventure stories. It is a testament to the quality of the writing that the reader’s credulity or patience is never taxed and Nicander and Marius do end up in Seres but not in the manner that they had planned. Now all they have to do is uncover the secret and bring it home. At this stage the story comes into line with the myth of how the secret of silk was brought to the west, by a princess escaping with her lover, although the myth is adapted to suit the particulars of the story.

If you like books that are full of the names and legends of far away places, histories of cultures that are rarely mentioned today and impossible tales of derring-do than this is certainly the novel for you. The travels and travails that Nicander and Marius go through are tough and unrelenting but they never give up and never give in. Their journeys are legendary but their trials are rewarded in the end. What is really rewarding is that the characters are fully fleshed out and there is a lot of humour in the book. The Silk Tree is an enjoyable, adventurous romp and time spent in the company of Nicander and Marius is no trial at all.

---

Acclaim for PASHA & THE SILK TREE

… in the March issue of Warships International Fleet Review…

---

The Silk Tree – Editor’s Choice

… in the Jan/Feb Good Book Guide …

---

The Buchanan Review on The Silk Tree

Julian Stockwin is best known for his ‘Kydd’ series of nineteenth century nautical adventures, but with the publication of ‘The Silk Tree’ he changes tack, delivering instead a tale of Byzantine exploration, complete with historic detail, raucous action, and wry humour.

Escaping the sack of Rome in 549 AD, a Greek trader, Nicander, stumbles, almost literally, across the path of a former legionary, and hardened man-of-the-world, Marius. The two make for unlikely friends, but between them plot to re-establish themselves as men of substance by convincing the Emperor Justinian to fund an exploratory mission to the mystical east, where they propose to steal the secret of silk from the Chinese, and thus allow the Emperor to circumvent the long and costly Silk Road trade in that most exotic of materials. What neither Nicander nor Marius count upon, however, is the distance they must travel to reach their goal, and the number of potential enemies who will attempt to thwart them.

As noted, this is a substantial departure for Stockwin, who had hitherto limited himself to naval fiction, set in much more recent periods. What emerges is still a man’s tale, aimed primarily at a male readership – just as his ‘Kydd’ novels have been – Stockwin was educated from an early age in one of Britain’s toughest sea-training schools, ‘Indefatigable’, and while you can lift the boy out of the sea (and a story which takes its protagonists across deserts and over some of the world’s highest mountain peaks certainly does that), you can’t hope to take the sea out of the boy. Nor would you want to – it is Stockwin’s understanding of the oceans, of world trade, and of the history of seafaring, that combine so readily with his knowledge of the sorts of men who would undertake these challenges, and help to produce a fast-paced, yet well-researched action-adventure. Whether ‘The Silk Tree’ remains a one-off, or will prove to be merely the first in a series of successful stand-alone novels from Stockwin remains to be seen. What it certainly does though is prove to the publishing world that he has more than one mast to his ship, and plenty of canvas to employ across the full spread of them.

---

‘Meticulous detail brings Kydd the Sailor to life’

I was delighted to be featured in one of Southwest England’s leading newspapers recently, The Western Morning News. The piece was wide-ranging, covering the lure of the sea from my very early years; the genesis of the Kydd series; my historical standalone, The Silk Tree; my working relationship with Kathy – and more…

---

Independent booksellers praise The Silk Tree

The Silk Tree has been picked by an panel of independent booksellers as one of their top recommendations, describing the book as:

“

A fast-paced historical adventure of friendship and courage. The tension and thrill of this book is rooted in the fascinating history of silk and follows a quest that spans a vast geographical canvas. With an air of myth, mystery and intricacy this epic tale will have every reader gripped.

”

---

Latest review for The Silk Tree

‘I enjoyed this book very much and will look out for this author again.’

---

There came certain monks who promised Emperor Justinian Augustus that they would provide the means for making silk from Sinae where they had learned the art…

Thus wrote Procopius, Byzantine scholar and Court historian at the time.

This story follows the journeyings of two such ‘monks’ from Constantinople to China and back, bringing with them some silkworm eggs. The journey is hazardous from the beginning, and our two heroes, Nicander, a Greek incense merchant who becomes known as Brother Paul, and Marius, a Roman Legionary (Brother Matthew), face hardship, danger and set-backs from page one. Their plans and schemes constantly go awry, and their lives are often at risk.

I knew that silk originated from China and was brought to the West in camel trains (the caravanserai) along the route that became known as the Silk Road, but had never known that the secret of how it was produced, and subsequently brought to the West, was thought to have been down to two monks. Here, Julian Stockwin takes this tale and turns it into a fascinating story, full of colour and incident. Many of his characters were real people who lived and died during this period of the 6th century. His other characters, including Nicander and Marius, are fictitious, but they dovetail in perfectly and are totally believable participants in the story. I enjoyed this book very much and will look out for this author again.
— Historical Novel Society

---

Latest review for Pasha

‘One of Stockwin’s particular achievements is that he successfully broke the Trafalgar barrier that has defeated some other writers of naval fiction.’

It really doesn’t seem like this is the fifteenth story in the Kydd series. Pasha is a worthy addition to the series and will provide as much pleasure and information as any of the preceding books.

This new book, set in the Eastern Mediterranean, is a standalone story in that it can be picked up and enjoyed without the reader needing to first read the earlier stories. However most readers will be motivated to buy earlier books because of the enjoyment they have gained from this tale. One of Stockwin’s particular achievements is that he successfully broke the Trafalgar barrier that has defeated some other writers of naval fiction.

Pasha is a cracking read. The only downside of this new book is that there is the wait until the next story is published. – Firetrench

You can download and read the full review here.

---