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The Commodore
- Narrated by: Christian Rodska
- Series: Horatio Hornblower (chronological order), Book 9
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
Non-member price: $28.87
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Publisher's Summary
Exclusively from Audible
In the ninth instalment of the series, C.S. Forester transports us to the quaint village of Smallbridge. Predictably restless and eager to embark on his next adventure, Horatio Hornblower dreams of returning to the seas and commanding his next ship.
Now happily married to Lady Barbara Leighton and widely celebrated for his recent successes with the navy, Hornblower has been knighted and appointed a commodore.
Fortunately for Horatio, his uneventful days as village squire are soon interrupted when he is sent word from the Admiralty. Ordered to embark upon a diplomatic and military mission to protect Britain's Baltic interests, Horatio is quick to choose a squadron and leave his small village life behind.
Fighting against the savage Baltic weather, Hornblower must impede Napoleon from conquering Sweden and Russia and, as always, ensure that no French privateer can prevent him from achieving his goals.
Hailed by the likes of Ernest Hemingway and Sir Winston Churchill for being 'admirable and vastly entertaining,' C.S. Forester became a hugely influential 20th-century author.
Born in Cairo, raised in London and buried in California, the metropolitan writer experienced huge success with his Horatio Hornblower series as well as with his later works, The African Queen and The Good Shepherd.
His literary genius is perfectly encapsulated within this endlessly entertaining narrative, and his heroic protagonist draws us in to another titillating journey through the Napoleonic wars.
Narrator Biography
Christian Rodska is an English television and voice actor best known for his role in the 1970s 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.
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What listeners say about The Commodore
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- peter brazel
- 07-04-2016
Excellent novel
C.S.Forestor novels, is a craftsmanship of words of telling a naval .Sad as he didn't do more naval, battles, 10 out 10 , , regards Peter James Brazel
2 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 11-09-2020
Outstanding performance!
Christian Rodska's reading brings this book to life in a wonderful way! An exciting book well worth the time!
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- KATHRYN
- 25-10-2010
Missing last chapter
Christian Rodska does a fine job speaking this book but the last chapter is missing.
17 people found this helpful
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- Merlin
- 24-02-2012
Stiry decent, narration superb
Christian Rodska narrates all the Hornblower books he's done brilliantly. This story is pretty good, although the section where Hornblower is in France seemed a bit stretched out. One reviewer says the last chapter is missing. Certainly the book ends very abruptly.
4 people found this helpful
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- Smytheville
- 22-08-2013
Missing Last Chapter, as already noted by another
I love all of the Hornblower books, and this one had an accomplished performance. However, as noted by reviewer Kathryn below, the last chapter is missing. After I saw Kathryn's comment, I confirmed it by checking the printed book in the library. I don't understand why Audible doesn't correct or explain this. It's still worth listening to, but find a printed copy and spend an extra 5 minutes to finish the story.
11 people found this helpful
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- S. Peckham
- 10-12-2010
Ripping Yarns, all of them!
Narrated superbly, you can just about hear the wind in the rigging. It is well worth listening to them in chronological order - start at the very beginning, with Mr Midshipman Hornblower. You won't regret it - I find the series totally addictive.
3 people found this helpful
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- Suspect
- 30-07-2020
Note: Last Chapter IS missing as of July 2020.
Nothing new to add here as everyone who‘s listened to the first six novels is already aware that each one is fantastic, despite the distinct and abrupt endings. In fact, this novel simply stops in the middle of the third word of the last chapter.
This novel is a solid 3-star story, but Rodska’s 5-star narration raises its overall average to 4-stars.
2 people found this helpful
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- Jean
- 25-05-2012
A Great Sea Story
Christian Rodska does an outstanding job narrating this series. This is book 9 in the series. Hornblower is now a Commodore and sent off in command of the Baltic fleet. All the other books have taken place in the mediterranean so this is a nice change of place. Napoleon has taken, Denmark, Norway, German. During the story he attack Sweden and Russia as well as Latvia. The battle is the book is the battle of Riga. This book is so different with the Swedish, and Finish (taken by Russia) politics and the scenes from St Petersburg and Hornblower meeting the Czar. C.S. Forester writes a great story and provides a great deal of history with his story. If you love the Napoleon era sea story you will enjoy this story.
7 people found this helpful
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- Peter
- 07-05-2015
The last chapter is NOT missing!
Any additional comments?
Don't believe the other reviewers who talk about the last chapter being missing. I bought this audiobook in March 2015 and all the chapters are present. The last words in both the audiobook and the printed edition is at the end of chapter XXIII: "What the devil was Brown doing, staring at him like this?" Perhaps the last chapter was missing in a previous edition of this audiobook. If so, the problem has since been corrected. I almost didn't buy the book based on their comments.
6 people found this helpful
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- John Ursillo
- 15-06-2020
This adaptation is incomplete!
I know this series almost by heart. “The Commodore” as presented here is missing the last critical chapter. Currently it ends with HH hearing music but does NOT include the book’s last chapter explain he has contracted typhus almost dies and been evacuated to Konigsberg, Prussia which, by his efforts, has turned against Bonaparte. It omits his return to England and Barbara on Christmas still ill but recovering. I complained about this years ago but Audible has obviously done nothing to fix its error. THIS in an ABRIDGED VERSION! Fans of HH beware!
1 person found this helpful
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- Mary
- 29-01-2018
missing ending
Any additional comments?
There was a problem with this book or the download. There was at least one chapter missing.
1 person found this helpful
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- morganchild
- 18-10-2015
Permission to Come Aboard
We used this book on a long routine road trip and it made the miles pass faster. The voice and accent of the narrator was enjoyable. The writing is interesting and has many surprises in the use of words. The inner thoughts of the Commodore as he navigates through a new rank and new battles holds interest.
This audio book had the ability to make me laugh out loud in places. It was interesting in its insights into battle plans and use of the ship's weapons.
The writing isn't gory and bloody like lots of adventure sagas. It employs action with an easy sense of being there.
This is a very enjoyable audio book in every respect.
1 person found this helpful
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- Donn Edwards
- 21-07-2014
Complete and Enjoyable
Once again Christian Rodska does an amazing job of bringing the characters to life and reading the story very well. I am also glad to report that the "missing chapter 23" has been fixed and the story is complete.
I'm looking forward to the next book in the series, and have enjoyed the series immensely thus far.
5 people found this helpful
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- Mark Pack
- 12-10-2011
Last chapter is missing from the audio book
Luckily the last chapter is more an epilogue than the climax of the book, but even so to be missing the last chapter is a pretty disappointing error in an audio book.
5 people found this helpful
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- RTW
- 28-06-2020
Brilliant
Another great story read by the perfect narrator. On to the next
book. Perfect for summer
1 person found this helpful
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- Catherine
- 16-04-2020
Awesome!
Very different to your usual hornblower , but all the better for it . Wonderful descriptions and a solid pace in the arc of European history. Brilliantly narrated !
1 person found this helpful
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- Robert Taylor
- 17-08-2018
Really good
Glad to have the best narrator back. A cracking story as told by a great writer and story teller.
1 person found this helpful
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- Alex Bowling
- 04-06-2017
Hornblower in the Baltic
The loose political alliance that Napoleon cobble together starts to fall apart around him. Christan Rodska narrates magnificently.
1 person found this helpful
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- Nicola
- 13-01-2021
Excellent
As a lover of the series I wondered if this one would be boring - but no, another gripping tale this time in the Baltic.
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- Sir Bazile
- 11-12-2020
Shiva me Timbers... Ship Shaped & Bristol Fashion.
My hope that the others are as good, has in fact, proved certain. I have been looking F'ard to the series as I have amassed this treasure trove, with the movie popping it's head above the poopdeck every leeward. I have to say that I am more surprised than I thought I was going to be. I assumed it was going to be good, and I am very glad to be proved wrong Sir.
It is very GOOD Indeed Sir.
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- S. C. Reston
- 18-10-2020
another exceptional tale
Apologies for a very simply review. Another great tale in a series of great tales with our hero Hornblower. A must listen for any fan and I would urge any not familiar with these stories to listen from the beginning of the series.
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- MrP
- 28-07-2019
Incredibly dull.
Even the narrator sounds bored. Very odd storyline which goes on and on and on. I’ve tried really hard to like this book but I cannot.
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