Pasha

By Julian Stockwin

Word has come from the British ambassador Arbuthnot that the neutral Turks are being wooed by the French and if the ancient city of Constantinople falls into their hands, Napoleon's route to India will be completely unfettered and his plans for world domination a reality. Concerned for his safety, Arbuthnot is demanding a large fleet presence to take him off and bring the Turks to their senses. Braving treacherous currents, unreliable winds, and giant bombards, Thomas Kydd returns to sea and rescues the ambassador, but as Kydd waits for the rest of the expected fleet, the French are able to strengthen the Turkish defenses. Meanwhile Kydd's friend and confidential secretary, Nicholas Renzi, has assumed a new and dangerous role that he can never make public. He engineers a coup in the Topkapi Palace that turns the tables on the French but at the cost of both infidel nations being ejected from the Ottoman Empire. When Kydd learns of Renzi's incarceration in a Turkish prison, he knows if will take superb seamanship and sheer bravado to free his friend.

• Language: English
• Publisher: RowmanLittlefield
• Release date: Nov 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781590136843

Julian Stockwin

Julian Stockwin is the internationally bestselling author of Kydd, Artemis, Seaflower, and Mutiny, the first four novels in the Kydd adventure series. Having joined the Royal Navy at age fifteen, he retired from the Royal Naval Reserve as a lieutenant commander and was awarded the Member of the British Empire (MBE). He and his wife live in Devon, England. Visit the author's website at JulianStockwin.com.

Reviews for Pasha

[mfvetter-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've read all of the Kydd nautical adventures and this is my least favorite. Too much time spent in Kydd's activities on land and not enough on the sea. Needs more storms, chases, clashes, and BOOMING CANNONS!!

[cuicocha · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Once again, Julian Stockwin delivers a tight historically based novel featuring Captain Thomas Kydd of the British Royal Navy. As always, the action sequences delivered by the author are fast paced and engrossing.Particularly of interest was Stockwin's presentation of the story surrounding the British forced passage of the Dardanelles and the resulting efforts to keep Turkey from allowing the French to gain a road to India. Description of the political machinations and some of the characters involved gave depth and substance to the novel. Also of interest, though not as in depth as I would have desired, was the introduction of the Russian navy and their blockade of Constantinople along with the resulting naval battle that developed between the Turks and the Russians.Julian Stockwin continues as one of the premier authors of historic naval fiction and offers a look into historical events that are not always well known.

[lmhtwb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pasha, by Julian Stockwin, is the latest installment in the Kydd Sea Adventures. In this volume, newly knighted Sir Thomas Kydd is sent to Turkey to help prevent the French from befriending the Sultan and thus establishing a land bridge to India. Meanwhile, his close friend, Renzi, leaves the ship and pursues his own destiny.The writing, especially of the dialogue, was very impressive in this book. Not only were many of the accents accurately written, but the work choice itself was very reflective of the early 19th century. Likewise, the historical details, such as the loss of the Ajax, were spot on. The tale itself moved nicely along with enough details to be interesting, but not too many to drag.Sadly, the book also suffers from predictability. Much of the plot is clearly foretold so that the climax is lacking. Additionally, and this is probably just me, but in 15 novels, Thomas Kydd has gone from pressed wig-maker with no sailing experience to a knighted captain on his way to admiral. I know this is fiction, but can't the guy have a failure?Overall, it was a good, bedtime read. Not great, but serviceable.

[command3r · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Pasha is a sea adventure that spends too much time on land wrapping up what appears to be a previous storyline from the continuing series. Fans of the series would likely be gratified by the events that open the first third of the book, but to a reader new to the series, its a bit dull. It picks up when the story heads back to sea, and I enjoyed the historical aspect of the novel, but while it may fit in well with the Kydd Sea Adventure series that it is a part of, it is not notable as a standalone introduction to the series for new readers.

[drmaf-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Entertaining romp, even if sea-time gives way to a lot of land time in this story. Captain Thomas Kydd finds himself knighted for his heroism in the Caribbean while his friend Nicholas Renzi is unexpectedly elevated to the peerage. Left no time to come to terms with their precipitous rise in rank, Kydd is sent off to the Mediterranean to join a naval expedition to run the Dardanelles and pressure the Turks into abandoning their flirtation with France, while unbeknown to him, Renzi is dispatched to Constantinople on the same mission. The sea scenes are good, running the Dardanelles is tense and exciting, however, there arent enough of them, there are no sea battles of note and most of the action occurrs in admiral's cabins and on land. That said, it remains a fast, exciting and well-written story, I look forward to reading more of the series.

[dwwilkin_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Stockwin is a master storyteller, giving us plots that in the context of the age of sail period, work well, whilst he gives his main character the chance to remain at sea. He however has begun to suffer because of his buddy sidekick subplot. The Nicholas Renzi plots stopped working many novels ago, and yet Stockwin continues to beat this dead horse.Kydd is a wonderful 'Tar' hero. But Renzi who has been a morose anchor for so many books looked like he could be written out. But no, he returns against all logic and reason to be on seen again. In the author notes Stockwin even tells us he moved around events in history so that his Renzi, spy, character could be witness to them. Sorry Julian, a first rate book loses a star because you need to either give plausible credence for the character, or let him stay at home in England making heirs with Kydd's sister. There is plenty of intrigue in Parliament during this period that Nicholas could be involved in while Kydd sails the seas making them safe for England.

[mrbove · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

(Reviewing Tyger) What a fantastic selection! While I have read other nautical adventure stories (Horatio Hornblower, Aubrey / Maturin, etc.), this was my first foray into the Kidd series, and I was not disappointed. It contained a great mixture of flight-of-fancy and realism, with exactly the right degree of technical detail to keep the story flowing while making the action visceral for the reader. As others have noted, the one downside was that, without having read the others in the series, I felt like I was "missing something" every time Kidd's previous adventures were mentioned (which, unfortunately, was a rather frequent occurrence). That being said, I feel it is my duty to pursue the other volumes in the series posthaste!

[jamespurcell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Kydd and Renzi go separate ways for the best of reasons and reunite in of all places, Constantinople. More plotting than fighting but a fast moving sea tale based upon actual events. A well plotted and executed race in the dark to rescue the Earl of Farndon, through perilous waters aptly demonstrate Kydd's nautical skills.

[whitmelb · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Like all good seafaring heroes such as C. S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower, and Patrick O’Brien’s Jack Aubrey, Julian Stockwin’s Thomas Kyyd has risen far in Britain’s naval forces. In Pasha we find Captain Kyyd has been made a Knight of the Bath thus overcoming his humble beginnings, becoming “a man of consequence.” And to our further delight his closest friend Renzi has assumed the mantle of Earl of Farndon. We do not lose anything by all this elevation. Rather Mr. Stockwin sends his heroes to the Dardanelles and Constantinople during the time of Napoleon’s attempts to break out of Europe in which he was trapped by the British navy. Looking East Bonaparte sought influence at the Court of the Ottoman Empire which would provide him with a land bridge allowing him unfettered access to India and beyond. To this end he has sent Horace Sebastiani, a brilliant general and diplomat.And around this historical happening we find our heroes in their usual roles but this time separated and each’s activities unknown to the other. Captain Kyyd’s task is to break into the Dardanelles and Renzi’s to appear at the Ottoman Court as a flighty English scholar but to undermine Sebastiani’s influences. Mr. Stockwin has written an excellent adventure, his heroes have their usual human qualities which keep them from becoming insufferable and the reader can continue to admire them for their fortitude and skills. And best of all Boney is foiled again.

[squeex_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While sea adventures are not my usual cup of tea, I found this to be rather exciting once I got used to the seafaring language. I believe it was more actual than the usual poshed or pirated up verbage a reader or movie watcher sees or hears and it took a little bit of getting used to. Once enmeshed, I enjoyed the story of Captain Kydd and his friends, family and fellow sailors. Fabulously researched, this could have been a dry treatise, but was actually a well-written adventure. I can recommend it and I look forward to finding the rest of this series and start at the beginning.

[avogt221-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received this as part of the Early Review program through LibraryThing. I enjoyed this book. This doesn't come as a significant surprise because I really enjoy this period of history. What I hadn't realized at the time was that this book is the latest in part of a pretty long series. For the most part, that wasn't really a problem because the story is self-contained and so no prior knowledge is really necessary to read it as a stand-alone. However, there were quite a few callbacks to what I assume must have been prior adventures. My one complaint is the language used. Very often in historical novels, authors use "period" language. When done well I don't even notice that it's there but when done poorly it actually serves to break my concentration. This book did it pretty well but there were still some parts where I found the "period" language a bit distracting. That said, I plan to add the earlier books in the series to my to-read list.

[chrisweir-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Got this as an Early Review copy on LibraryThing. Was an enjoyable read overall but I must say that the seafaring slang did take some getting used to. This has Captain Kydd and Renzi going their separate ways for a while. Kydd is benighted the King of England following his most recent adventures. Renzi goes to his old homestead to find that his father has passed and he is now part of the landed gentry and a Lord in the English aristocracy. This does not keep the sailor and the lord apart however. Kydd is remanded to the Mediterranean. Renzi on the other hand takes on a role of international intrigue that has Kydd rescuing him near the end of the book. I did enjoy this book overall but at times it seems to be a bit long winded. I can't really say that I wish it to have been two books each based on the main characters of choice, but again it just seemed to drag in some places.

[belgrade18 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the second Kydd novel I have read by Julian Stockwin (the first was Invasion), and he has again written a terrific historical novel. It is well-researched (I especially liked the Ajax scene), and his writing style is very smooth and readable. The main focus is the Dardanelles Campaign, a dust up between the British and Ottomans during the Napoleonic Wars, an incident about which I knew nothing (and it caused me to look it up and learn more). His characters are three-dimensional and well-balanced. The only weakness is some of the dialogue and story-telling set in England before the sailing begins, but that didn't put me off much at all. Overall an excellent novel, highly recommended for English, French, and Turkish history buffs.

[pallandavid · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pasha, by Julian Stockwin is one in a series of sea adventures of the fictitious Captain Thomas Kydd and his closes friend Nicholas Renzi. One does not have to read this series from the beginning as this book (as I am assuming all the books in the series are) stand-alone stories in their own right. Occurring in the very early 1800's, this adventure takes us to the capital of the Ottoman Empire, the beautiful and historic city of Constantinople and into the center of intrigue between English, French and Ottoman politics. The English have a treaty of peace with the Ottoman Empire - The French, led by the empire builder Napoleon Bonaparte, are working through private negotiations to replace the English in this treaty. The French and English are at this time in history at odds and the balance of power is teetering as Napoleon leads his army through Europe, concurring all they come across.As Captain Kydd, at the helm of his frigate L'Aurore, joins a flotilla of Nelson's navy, fights it's way through the Dardenelle's to Constantinople hoping to encourage the Sultan Selim to expel French from court and reestablish a strong relationship with the English through military might. Nicholas Renzi (Lord Fardon) becomes an undercover diplomat under direction of the highest English powers, is sent to Constantinople to use diplomatic means to sway the Sultan back to the English. Following historical figures through actual events, we see an overturn of leaders of the Ottoman Empire as the French and English, with help from the Russians, battle with guns and words for control of this highly prized port.I enjoyed this historical fiction for young adults. Although at times, usually in the diplomatic scenes, it is a bit wordy, there is an easy flow as we follow the two prongs of this story - the sea adventure of Captain Kydd and the diplomatic intrigues of Nicholas Renzi. This is no profanity and the violent parts of the action are more implied than fully described. This is a part of history I know very little about and was pulled into the intrigue very easily. I definitely recommend this for a young adult who enjoys or is curious about naval history, the Napoleonic era or history in general.