Set the Seas on Fire

By Chris Roberson

Book Overview

1808. While Europe burns and the Napoleonic Wars set the world aflame, the HMS Fortitude patrols the sea lanes of the South Pacific. When the ship is smashed by storms and driven far into unknown... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1844164888
• ISBN13: 9781844164882
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: Solaris
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.9" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Genre Bender on the South Seas

Early in Chris Roberson's "Set the Seas on Fire" (Solaris 2007), an intellectual debate breaks out among the crewmen regarding the question: is there one ocean or many on this watery planet of ours? The protagonist of the novel, Lieutenant Hieronymous Bonaventure, takes the position that "There is, I put to you, but one ocean, around which the lands we know are arranged like a necklace of stone and tree. A true orbis terrarium, the circle of lands of which the ancients spoke, and which we are just now rediscovering to be the truth." Later, at the end of the novel, Bonaventure speaks again of the watery world: "Bonaventure knew well that there was but one sea, vast and unending." Within the image of the "unending sea" we have the metaphor of the novel. Bonaventure as hero is, in a sense, "unending." As he should be, because, after all, he is a "pulp fiction" hero. However, there is another more important meaning in the image of the unending sea--a literary conclusion about the nature of genre, which I contend is Chris Roberson's true subject. In other words, in his literary weltanschauung there are no boundaries between the various genres. A historical novel can easily morph into a tale of horror and a hero in a tale of horror can step through a portal into another world. So "Set the Seas on Fire" is a "genre" bender, a mélange of pulp fiction tropes. Chris Roberson, like Robert E. Howard and Michael Moorcock, is working within the confines of pulp fiction. Pulp fiction arose in inexpensive magazines in the 1920s and continued through the 1950s in mass market paperbacks. Pulp fiction contained a wide variety of genre topics: fantasy, detective, western, science fiction, adventure and westerns. Some writers of pulp mixed the genres, creating some of the more exciting and enduring stories. Additionally because the stories were short, the pulp writers learned how to tell an intriguing story concisely. Within a sentence or two the writer was knee-deep in the action. In the first and last analysis, then, "Set the Seas on Fire" is a pulp fiction/heroic fantasy, tending toward horror, and should be read as such. And Chris Roberson is a meta-fictionist skillfully playing with the genre tropes. His precursors, on one hand, arise from film and horror, history and adventure, fantasy and science fiction; and on the other, there seems to be a hidden alliance with Jorge Borges and Paul Auster. To read the novel otherwise is to cause confusion. Although the uninformed reader might stumble onto the book and think it was historical fiction, which it masquerades as, it is only historical fiction to the extent of setting and costumes. Its true progeny lies closer to the works of Robert E. Howard. In fact, I found myself several times as I was reading remembering Howard's stories of Solomon Kane, the 16th Puritan adventurer. Roberson even goes so far as to name an island warrior and Bonaventure's adversary in love--Kane. There is also a conscious nod to Micha

Good writing style, disappointing plot outline

The book description gives a relatively accurate portrayal of the action of the book. Two ships fight a battle until a storm drives them apart. There is an evil on a (different) island. Men go to fight the evil. If you're just reading for the 'adventure' side of a book, this is a reasonably good read. However, the description on the front cover, "Horatio Hornblower meets H. P. Lovecraft", is somewhat misleading. True, there are horror aspects to the story, but 95% of them only appear in the last 25 pages. When they do appear, it's in such a hurried way that the mood isn't quite built up yet. THe storyline doesn't exactly suffer from this, but it doesn't benefit, either. All in all, the book moves along quickly and Roberson's style is such that you can follow along easily enough. The semi-frequent flashback interludes do little to enrich the story and really detract from the overall flow of the book, but I suppose they form nice "resting spots" for a mind weary of descriptions of tropical paradise. Set the Seas on Fire is a quick read, and it contains aspects that many readers will enjoy. Just don't expect great literature.

Swashbuckling Good Time

In the early 1800s, young Hieronymus Bonaventure is a lieutenant aboard the HMS Fortitude. His ship encounters two extremely ill Spanish sailors, spouting danger about a nearby island. But as the HMS Fortitude is damaged, the crew must seek refuge on the closest island, and meanwhile try to uncover the truth from the Spaniards. The island on which the British crew arrives is a seemingly tropical paradise, complete with friendly natives. But when the British express interest in the volcanic island nearby, the natives warn them that the island is forbidden and dangerous, of supernatural proportions. The story jumps back and forth between Hieronymus as a young boy, just beginning to learn swordplay, and as Lieutenant aboard the Fortitude. From his early years, we learn about his excitement for adventure and what has shaped him into the man he is to become. Following Hieronymus' adventures as a man, we're treated to a swashbuckling good time. With action and suspense a plenty, Set the Seas on Fire is a wonderful adventure on the high seas.