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(More customer reviews)Sometimes, I almost wish people wouldn't dig up unfinished pieces. Not because they may be bad, but because they may be so good that it's frustrating and disappointing to have reached the end and realize there's no way it will ever be finished. This is the case with Forester's "Hornblower and the Crisis", unfinished at the time of his death.
Forester had deliberately shied away from writing about Hornblower's role in the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar because he didn't want to deal with such a famous battle nor take away from the real heroes of the day - as such, Hornblower's exploits jump from Commander to him being given the command of Nelson's funeral boat after the battle. However, Forester finally decided to reveal the crucial part our hero played in the months leading up to the climatic sea battle of the Napoleonic Wars.
From the first chapter it's obvious Forester had not lost his touch. The prose flows cleanly and elegantly, and I was soon lost in a tale of Hornblower in his prime. A secret mission is handed him, to misdirect the French, so Hornblower prepares to play spy - but then the book ends, with only a few brief notes to say how the story ends. Somehow, this isn't enough - we know Hornblower will emerge victorious and history told us Trafalgar would be a triumph, but I still wish we could have had Forester tell us these things in his own inimitable style.
Two more short tales are packaged with the unifinished novel, as a consolation prize of sorts. These are also top notch, but don't quite take away from the disappointment of what might have been.
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