Hornblower and the Crisis

By: C. S. Forester

Narrated by: Christian Rodska

Exclusively from Audible:

In this, the final Horatio Hornblower adventure, C.S. Forester throws his hero into one of the most challenging missions yet.

Upon discovering highly confidential papers dispatched by Bonaparte, Hornblower sets off to enlighten the Admiralty about his game-changing, new findings. Troubled after having been informed of Pierre-Charles Villeneuve's escape into Spain, they welcome Horatio's news and send him off on a high-priority assignment that they believe will lead to England's victory over Napoleon.

His first and only espionage mission, Hornblower lights the powder trail which will eventually lead to the battle of Trafalgar and with a myriad of unexpected twists and suspenseful turns, Hornblower and the Crisis becomes one of Forester's greatest works.

Hugely celebrated for his Napoleonic naval warfare series, and later for the publication of The African Queen, C. S. Forester came to writing much later than expected. Having originally studied medicine at Guy's Hospital, Forester first developed a love of story-telling after being inspired by his travels with the Royal Navy.

Stricken with arteriosclerosis whilst voyaging to the Bering Sea, C.S. Forester was crippled in his later life. Sadly, he passed away before completing this final instalment, but his plans for Hornblower and he Crisis were clearly set out within his detailed notes. These can be found at the end of the audiobook and serve to offer further insight into the mind of this incredible author.

Narrator Biography

Christian Rodska is an English television and voice actor best known for his role in the 1970's series Follyfoot.

From the The Monuments Men and The Eagle of the Ninth to The Likely Lads, Z Cars, The Tomorrow People, Coronation Street, Bergerac and Casualty, his extensive and diverse acting career has led him to become a highly solicited radio and audiobook narrator.

He has now voiced over 150 unabridged audiobooks including Winston Churchill's biographies, Evelyn Waugh's Men at Arms and Sebastian Faulks' A Possible Life. He has been praised for his ability to vary in vocal pace and style and as such, Christian boasts 12 Earphone Awards from Audiofile Magazine.

©1967 C.S. Forester (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Exciting, but over priced.

Christian Rodska beautifully narrates another Hornblower, but as the story is incomplete (due to Forester's death) and only running about three hours long, $11.50 feels a bit over priced. Adding a short story about Hornblower as a signal Lieutenant on the Renown hardly takes away the sting. Worth it for a die hard Hornblower fan.

Not complete, but a must-read!

This book is a "must read" for the C.F.Forester enthusiast... so i had to read it. Yes, it does end abruptly (because the author dyed before finishing), but the end of the plot is explained from Foresters notes, so one still gets the story, and even some surprises from Hornblowers life at the age of 70.
This book was written as a very late book 4, long after the many books to follow were written. For me it’s interesting to read Foresters ideas of what happened in Hornblowers life at this time.
One can easily skip this book to understand and enjoy the Hornblower series, but for the "serious collector" this is a book to read.

Captivating. great writing.

Where does Hornblower and the Crisis rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

a little less than some of this C.S. Forester series but it fills in some of Hornblower's life as an English Sailor.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes

Great Book

My only gripe with this book is that it could have used a second introduction into the short stories. I was thoroughly confused at first and had no idea what happened. A simple introduction would have been appreciated. Aside from that it was another wonderful tale expertly read by Rodska. I really enjoy his readings of Hornblower.

Fast paced, Excellent story and very well read

The Reader- Christian Rodska is the star of this book. Very well read with great pace and excitement. This is probably a favourite so far (reading in chronological order of Hornblowers career). Very believable story with neat twists that tie this story to the real history of the day. Forester does a fantastic job of keeping this work of fiction in tune with historic events. So much so it is easy to believe (almost understand) how the fictional Hornblower influenced the histroy of the RN and the battle of Trafalger.