Flying Colours vs Hornblower and the Atropos: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Napoleonic wars, Naval History, English literature, Fiction
Flying Colours
Hornblower faces charges of violating the laws of war and probable execution by Napoleon's French forces.
vs
Hornblower and the Atropos
“HAVING CLIMBED through the locks, the canal boat was now winding over the pleasant Cotswold country.”
In the wake of a humbling incident aboard a canal boat in the Cotswolds, Captain Horatio Hornblower arrives in London to take command of the Atropos, a 22-gun sloop barely large enough to require a captain. Her first…
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Flying Colours is the quickest read — about 3 hours vs 7 for Hornblower and the Atropos.
- Hornblower and the Atropos has the widest readership — 41 ratings behind its score.
Scores by source
| Flying Colours | Hornblower and the Atropos | |
|---|---|---|
| Hardcover | 4.0 (36) | 4.0 (41) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (30) | 4.5 (20) |
Reception
| Flying Colours | Hornblower and the Atropos | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 36 | 41 |
| Editions | 42 | 46 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Wikipedia attention | 73 | 458 |
| Pages | 192 | 411 |