As a seventeen-year-old with a touch of sea sickness, young Horatio Hornblower hardly cuts a dash in His Majesty's navy. Hornblower's fear of heights terrifies him, but tries to assure himself that he was courageous in his situation with Hales. Snad to nebude znamenat, že to u nás podobně jako O’Brianova série po pár dílech skončí bez vydání všech dílů.

Yet those headless corpses up there in Muzillac; those shattered redcoats; those Frenchmen caught in the four- pounder’s blast of canister—they were all as dead as if it had been a day in which history had been changed.Chronologicky první, datem vydání snad až osmá z knih o námořních (i životních) eskapádách Horatia Hornblowera. The 50-50 odds give him an “even chance” of escape, which is better than any 17yo novice would get in hand-to-hand combat against the burly Simpson. The ocean is deep, and it can be deadly, and I’ve never gone into it without feeling that undercurrent of unease.

Though not an unqualified success, this first naval adventure teaches the young midshipman enough to launch him on a series of increasingly glorious exploits. It would have been fun to see a more substantial, carefully crafted arc for Hornblower or to see the stories tied together into a significant plot, but honestly I didn't mind too much once I knew what to expect. Here is part of Gene Roddenberry's description of his hero from the original Star Trek pitch to the networks. Pulling for Calypso they came across a brig on fire caught on the Santa Barbara's cable endangering some two thousand prisoners.The chapter ends with Foster, impressed by Hornblower's actions, telling Hornblower that, since the attack prevented him from failing the examination, he should "Be thankful for small mercies.