Ramage Series - Entertaining, despite flaws

The resolutions were a little too pat, and the hero's personal life modeled Nelson's a little too closely (again!), but i still found myself reading through the entire series, groaning when I reached the last one and realized the author was in no condition to finish the series

I think you summed the series up nicely.

The fact he was a lord (not using his title) and the feud based around his father made it a bit different from some of the other series. Some like Ramage's Diamond where he has the crew split so many ways stretch credulity a bit far but they are a good read

Interesting you speak about stretching credulity.

After having finished the first volume - which no doubt I enjoyed very much - I had the feeling that Ramage is too good to be true even for a fiction... The 22 year old Lieutenant is mature, intelligent, cool headed in his first command as an experienced old Post Captain just a few days before hoisting his flag...

I agree with your take, Big Joe. I have tried a few Ramage books and the hero did seem a bit too dime-novel dashing and amazing (the ladies love him and so do the men!). I will give them a try again in the future but after reading a few I still remain unhooked by Ramage.

Just finished Ramage's Signal and until this book I did'nt think the above posts rang true, but this book really shows what you guys seem to be talking about, but still a good read in the end.

Cheers, I am just about to open Ramage and the Renegades, I'm curious how this one might go.

Tom

I am a little behind you. My next Ramage is Touch. But during the last month I read alternately Ramage and Kydd, and this week it's Kidd

One reason for this is that I can't make up my mind which is better...

Got it BJ, I won't post anything more til your caught up my friend.

About comparing series, I think each has their own place, so to speak, some "speak" more to me than others but I'm sure I will get all of them in the future.

Kydd seems to have so much more potential and in the end it left me a little off on it. Rammage on the other hand until that last book I comented on really kept me going throughout all of the books, until that one, if you know what I mean I hope.

But everyone has their own tatses in what they think is a great sea going read, I like my variety but some I like better than others. NOT meaning others are bad or anything, just different enough that I do'nt get as much out of it as some other series.

Cheers, thanks for the post sir.

Tom

I must generally agree with your observation. I would only add that in series that long like the ones we talk about, it would be impossible for the author to keep the same quality for every single volume. Even O'brian had different qualities in his series.

I hear ya there, more like how they might all mesh together if it happens that situations and topics from other books in the series are used in other ones, kind of.

Cheers, it also depends on ones moods sometimes, yep old HB would just hit the spot tonight for a couple hours, or I feel like I'm in the mood for some Rammage tails or another writers. Each writer tends to bring different things to their books with their Age of Sail "Touch" LOL, if I may say so.

Tom

I am rather partial to Ramage, mainly I think due to Pope's writing style, which for some reason I feel very comfortable with. I find myself gelling with the character despite agreeing with many of the comments above - Ramage is certainly too good to be true, but I suppose that what heroes are! Haven't yet completed the series but will do before long.

I'm actually rereading the Ramage series at the moment. I'm about 2/3rds of the way through Freebooters. I agree with the general opinion expressed in the above posts, though I have to throw out one observation: No one, not even POB, has managed to convey the tropics as well as Pope. His love of and familiarity with the tropics shines through on every page set there.

I am in a certain mourning mood. I have just finished last week "Ramage and the Dido" and I am painfully aware that I will never see a new volume.

Stings a bit, doesn't it? I find I miss Mr. Pope, though perhaps more for his non fiction than fiction.

I read Ramage and the Saracens and didn't like it at all. Are the others better?

It's been a few years, but I remember that one was pretty typical .

I agree it is typical. But I disagree with the dislike. But then, we all have our personal and individual tastes.

I enjoyed these very much, at least the earlier ones in the series, for what they were - adventure fiction set in the AoS genre. I still enjoy them as light period reading. They are typical, but that doesn't mean they can't be entertaining. (I mean, good lord, has anyone here ever read Louis L'Amour?)

Oh, I didn't mean that it was typical of the genre as a whole: I meant it was a typical Ramage episode, meaning that if he didn't like this one, he probably wouldn't enjoy the rest of them. And vice versa of course.


And yes, I did go through a phase of reading L'Amour and Max Brand westerns a few decades ago, when I had gone through my local library's stock of science fiction and fantasy books (this was before the inter-library loan system came into being).

malchya wrote:I enjoyed these very much, at least the earlier ones in the series, for what they were - adventure fiction set in the AoS genre. I still enjoy them as light period reading. They are typical, but that doesn't mean they can't be entertaining.

I think that sums the series up nicely

kujakupoet wrote:I read Ramage and the Saracens and didn't like it at all. Are the others better?

Kei

I'd start off with the first book in the series then go from there, up to signals, there it gets kind of unreal, at least to me.

Cheers, I do think the series is worth getting, as it is another different "type" of Age of Sail reading, can't have enough of that!!

Also it helps if you read one right after the other and don't switch off to another series in between.

I did a lot of switching and now I plan to reread all of the "main 5 series", book by book and in series order, starting with Lambdin, on book 5 now.

Tom

I have read most of the Ramage series,enjoyed most of them.One fault of the series,is Popes reluctance to kill off any of Ramages regular crew,or perhaps that happens later!

captain yogi wrote:I have read most of the Ramage series,enjoyed most of them.One fault of the series,is Popes reluctance to kill off any of Ramages regular crew,or perhaps that happens later!

Sounds a bit bloodthirsty, doesn't it?

Yes, I like my HNF like my crime fiction....Hardboiled!!

Have now read the first two Ramage novels in sequence. Enjoyable and the pace is good. Ramage certainly has luck and some strong men on his side. The Kathleens certainly liked him and served him well.

Will continue with the rest.

Moved to Ramage series topic to make it easier to find. The Dudley Pope topic is intended to be a generic topic for the discussion of Pope's works as a whole.

Finished the last of the books yesterday. I interspersed them with several other books for I did not want them to end.
Highly enjoyable but Ramage's luck and that of his close crew is phenomenal!
Well worth the reading time.

Moved to Ramage series topic to make it easier to find. The Dudley Pope topic is intended to be a generic topic for the discussion of Pope's works as a whole.