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Nautical Fiction

Nautical fiction is about as close to sailing the high seas as you can get these days. If that sounds a little depressing, remember that real sailors had to contend with all manner of disease, loneliness, bugs, pirates (who were not fun and not glamorous), shipwrecks, storms, mutiny, madness, poor (or non-existent) sanitation, frequent injury....basically, really bad stuff was lurking behind every coil of rope or powder keg, sometimes in them.

From that perspective, living vicariously through Horatio Hornblower, Jack Aubrey, Fletcher Christian, Ishmael, and Nathaniel Bowditch seems like a pretty great alternative. The fact that many of those characters were the inventions of seafaring men who knew what it was like out there on the blue and harsh ocean simply makes these stories all the more believable and fascinating.

It's usually not a good idea for writers to clutter their fiction with jargon—it can distract us from the narrative, frustrate us because we don't know exactly what's going on, or slow us down because we have to look up every other word. Stories about sailors, ships and the sea, however, need the technical terminology to help establish the authentic atmosphere, and in most cases it does exactly that whether you know the terms or not.

These are some of our favorite books at Exodus. Sailing maintains a romantic appeal that steamships and automated consoles have failed to render obsolete, and these writers give us exactly the elements we want: the danger, the fear, the glory. If you've got enough imagination to imagine running away and serving as cabin boy aboard a man o' war, you've got enough to imagine similar adventures on these pages.

Some of the best writers of all time wrote sea stories. Rudyard Kipling, Robert Louis Stevenson, Joseph Conrad, Herman Melville—men whose love of words enabled them to transcribe their love of the water for generations to come. As long as they're read, the creaking of masts and the crack of sails will remind us of the days before man believed he'd mastered the sea, when the sea clearly still mastered him.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.

 

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152 Items found Print
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Active Filters: 9th grade (Ages 14-15)
21
Aubrey/Maturin #21
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies
Hornblower Series #11
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies
Hornblower Series #11
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
African Queen
by C. S. Forester
from International Collectors Library
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
All But Lost - Volume I
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
All But Lost - Volume II
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
All But Lost - Volume III
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
And the Ocean Was Our Sky
by Patrick Ness
from HarperTeen
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.99
Big Six
Swallows and Amazons #9
by Arthur Ransome
from David R. Godine
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Black Falcon
by Armstrong Sperry
from John C. Winston
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Blue at the Mizzen
Aubrey/Maturin #20
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Bounty Trilogy (School Edition)
by Charles Nordhoff & James Norman Hall
from Globe Book Company
Nautical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Bounty Trilogy - Wyeth Edition
by Charles Nordhoff & James Norman Hall, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth
from Little, Brown & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Captain Blood
Penguin Classics
by Rafael Sabatini
from Penguin Classics
Historical Romance for 7th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.00
Captains Courageous
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Lawrence Beall Smith
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 5th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Captains Courageous
Signet Classics
by Rudyard Kipling
from Signet Classics
Nautical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$5.95
Captains Courageous
Signet Classics
by Rudyard Kipling
from Living Book Press
Nautical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Captains Courageous
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Rudyard Kipling
from Reader's Digest
Nautical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1956 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
Catriona (David Balfour)
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Living Book Press
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$11.95
Commodore
Aubrey/Maturin #17
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Commodore Hornblower
by C. S. Forester
1st edition from Little, Brown & Company
for 9th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Coot Club
Swallows and Amazons #5
by Arthur Ransome
from David R. Godine
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$14.95 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Cruise of the Arctic Star
by Scott O'Dell
from Beautiful Feet Books
for 6th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$13.95
Curse of Carne's Hold
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Curse of Carne's Hold
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Desolation Island
Aubrey/Maturin #5
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Doctor Dogbody's Leg
by James Norman Hall, illustrated by Warren Chappell
from Little, Brown & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
ECL: Treasure Island
Educator Classic Library #1
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Don Irwin
Complete and Unabridged Edition from Classic Press
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
Far Lands
by James Norman Hall
from Little, Brown & Company
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Far Side of the World
Aubrey/Maturin #10
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Far Side of the World
Aubrey/Maturin #10
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Fiddler's Gun
by A. S. Peterson
1st edition from Rabbit Room Press
for 7th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99
Fortune of War
Aubrey/Maturin #6
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Golden Ocean
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (2 in stock)
Great Northern?
Swallows and Amazons #12
by Arthur Ransome
from David R. Godine
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Great Northern?
Swallows and Amazons #12
by Arthur Ransome
from Red Fox
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
H. M. S. Surprise
Aubrey/Maturin #3
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
H.M.S. Surprise
Aubrey/Maturin #3
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Hidden Foe
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Hidden Foe
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Horatio Hornblower Saga - Complete Collection
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Historical Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$149.49
Hornblower and the Atropos
Hornblower Series #5
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Hornblower and the Hotspur
Hornblower Series #3
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$17.99 $11.00 (1 in stock)
Hornblower Companion
by C. S. Forester
from Naval Institute Press
for 8th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Hornblower Companion
by C. S. Forester
from Bonanza Publishing
for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Hornblower During the Crisis
Hornblower Series #4
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Hull-Down for Action
by Armstrong Sperry
from Doubleday & Company
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Hundred Days
Aubrey/Maturin #19
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Hundred Days
Aubrey/Maturin #19
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Ionian Mission
Aubrey/Maturin #8
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
John Hawke's Fortune
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
John Hawke's Fortune
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Kidnapped
by Robert Louis Stevenson; illustrated by William Sharp
from Random House
Action/Adventure for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Letter of Marque
Aubrey/Maturin #12
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Lieutenant Hornblower
Hornblower Series #2
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Life and Times of Horatio Hornblower
by C. S. Forester (based on the works of), C. Northcote Parkinson
from Sutton Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Lobscouse and Spotted Dog
by Anne Grossman & Lisa Grossman Thomas
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Cookbook for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.11
Lord Hornblower
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Lost Island
by James Norman Hall
from Little, Brown & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Lost Lagoon
by Armstrong Sperry
from Doubleday & Company
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Master and Commander
Aubrey/Maturin #1
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Master and Commander
Aubrey/Maturin #1
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Mauritius Command
Aubrey/Maturin #4
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Men Against the Sea
by Charles Nordhoff & James Norman Hall
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$21.99 $11.00 (1 in stock)
Men Against the Sea
by Charles Nordhoff & James Norman Hall
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Midshipman Bolitho
by Alexander Kent
from McBooks Press
for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Missee Lee
Swallows and Amazons #10
by Arthur Ransome
A Godine Storyteller from David R. Godine
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Missee Lee
Swallows and Amazons #10
by Arthur Ransome
from Red Fox
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Missee Lee
Swallows and Amazons #10
by Arthur Ransome
from Puffin Books
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Moby-Dick
Signet Classics
by Herman Melville
from Signet Classics
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$5.95
Moby-Dick
Everyman's Library
by Herman Melville
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$35.00
Moby-Dick
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Herman Melville
from Reader's Digest
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Moby-Dick
by Herman Melville
from Penguin Putnam
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$16.00
Moby-Dick
Wordsworth Classics
by Herman Melville
from Wordsworth Classics
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Moby-Dick
by Herman Melville
from Dover Publications
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Moby-Dick
Macmillan Classics
by Herman Melville, illustrated by Robert Shore
from Macmillan
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Moby-Dick
Calla Editions
by Herman Melville
from Dover Publications
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Moby-Dick
by Herman Melville
from Franklin Library
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Moby-Dick
Modern Library
by Herman Melville
from Modern Library
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Moby-Dick
by Herman Melville, illustrated by Boardman Robinson
from Easton Press
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Leather Bound Collectible Books (Location: VIN-LEA)
Mr. Midshipman Hornblower
Hornblower Series #1
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99
Mutiny on the Bounty
by Charles Nordhoff & James Normal Hall
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.99
Mutiny on the Bounty
by Charles Nordhoff & James Normal Hall
Book Club Edition from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.50 (1 in stock)
Nutmeg of Consolation
Aubrey/Maturin #14
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Picts & the Martyrs
Swallows and Amazons #11
by Arthur Ransome
from David R. Godine
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Picts & the Martyrs
Swallows and Amazons #11
by Arthur Ransome
from Red Fox
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Pigeon Post
Swallows and Amazons #6
by Arthur Ransome, illustrated by Mary Shepard
from David R. Godine
for 5th-9th grade
1936 Carnegie Medal
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$15.95
Pigeon Post
Swallows and Amazons #6
by Arthur Ransome
from Red Fox
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Pitcairn's Island
by Charles Nordhoff & James Normal Hall
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$21.99
Pitcairn's Island
by Charles Nordhoff & James Normal Hall
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Post Captain
Aubrey/Maturin #2
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Reverse of the Medal
Aubrey/Maturin #11
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Robinson Crusoe (abridged)
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-9th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Robinson Crusoe (abridged)
Illustrated Junior Library Series 1
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Sea of Words
by Dean King, John B. Hattendorf & J. Worth Estes
3rd edition from Henry Holt and Company
Nautical Dictionary for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.00 $11.00 (1 in stock)
Sea Wolf
Signet Classics
by Jack London
from Bantam Books
Nautical Fiction for 8th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Secret Water
Swallows and Amazons #8
by Arthur Ransome
Revised from David R. Godine
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$16.95
Squalls Before War
by Ned Bustard
from Veritas Press
Nautical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.00 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Storm Canvas
Junior Literary Guild
by Armstrong Sperry
from John C. Winston
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
12
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