Just Finished Reading: Passage to Mutiny by Alexander Kent (FP: 1976) [319pp] 

Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, October 1789. Richard Bolitho, captain of His Majesties frigate Tempest is glad to finally arrive despite bearing disturbing news. Another of His Majesties ships, Bounty, has mutinied and could be in the area under her pirate crew. But as one of the only two Royal Navy vessels in that part of the Pacific Tempest and her captain have other tasks to perform. One of them is both a delight and a frustration – to escort a new island administrator and his wife to his post and provide security whilst there. Bolitho could care less about the new posting and administrator Raymond clearly returned the favour. His wife, Viola, was however another matter. Meeting again after years apart, Viola and Richard renew their love for each other much to the sympathy and worry of Tempest’s crew. Despite (some) friendly islanders, the Pacific is far from a friendly place – with storms, disease, aggressive natives, pirates and now news from France of Revolution it is not the time for a shipborne romance.  

This is actually the NINTH book in the authors Bolitho series – unknown to me – but that seemed to make little difference to the story. The author slipped in a few references to previous actions and events without overloading the pacing, so I never felt like I was missing anything substantial. I actually pick up this and three or four more from the series years ago from a random book buying trip. As they were originally published around 50 years ago they’re quite difficult to acquire in anything but Kindle format. But that’s OK. It’s not like I’m short of books to read – even ones with much wood and sail involved. This was actually a very easy novel to get into. There wasn’t a HUGE amount to learn about life in the Age of Sail after reading various novels based in the period. Some types of sail and other bits of the ship were mentioned from time to time, but I tended to pick these up through a process of literary osmosis. They certainly didn’t interrupt what was going on in the story. Being the time it was set and the nature of such things I found out very quickly not to get attached to anyone, even those you rightly suspect are main characters. It’s the kind of book where no one is ‘safe’ which makes each splinter and each sniffle a cause for concern, never mind flying cannon and musket balls. 

Overall, I can say this was a very creditable read. Maybe not in the Patrick O’Brian league, but then again who is? Definitely entertaining though – definitely. There are an impressive 30 books in the Bolitho series but I’m not aiming to read ALL of them – considering the difficulty in finding them – but I’ll pick up any I do find. Bolitho is an interesting and complex character, and I liked the interplay with his fellow officers and crew. Recommended for all sail and gunpowder fans and well worth the effort of searching them out. 

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