This week’s topic for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is “Books Set In X (Pick a setting and share books that are all set there. This could be a specific continent or country, a state, in outer space, underwater, on a ship or boat, at the beach, etc.)”
I am listing here, in no particular order, ten books that are set entirely or mainly at sea. Let me know if you’ve read any of these!
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1. She Rises by Kate Worsley – I’m starting my list with this novel about a young man press-ganged into the Navy in the 18th century, and his sister, left behind in England, trying to find out where he has gone. I found this a very atmospheric book with some clever twists when the two storylines begin to merge together.
2. A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle – I loved this murder mystery set aboard a cruise ship crossing the Atlantic in 1924. A ship is the perfect setting for this kind of novel as the suspects are all together in one place and nobody can arrive or leave!
3. Life of Pi by Yann Martel – I didn’t expect to enjoy Martel’s Booker Prize winner, especially as I’d had a previous failed attempt to read it a few years earlier, but I ended up loving it. An Indian boy, Pi, finds himself stranded in a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan – and a Bengal tiger!
4. Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini – I could have included both this book and The Sea-Hawk, but decided to stick to one book per author. This one tells the story of Peter Blood, who is wrongly found guilty of treason after the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685 and is transported to Barbados as a slave. Driven into piracy, he sets out to clear his name so he can marry the woman he loves. Sabatini’s books are always entertaining and this is one of his best known.
5. Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian – No list of nautical fiction would be complete without at least one book by Patrick O’Brian! This is the first in his Aubrey-Maturin series, set during the Napoleonic Wars and following the adventures of Captain Jack Aubrey of the Royal Navy and his friend, the surgeon and spy Dr Stephen Maturin. I confess to not really understanding all the naval terminology, but I’m eight books into the series now and looking forward to reading the rest!
6. The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton – This is a wonderfully eerie novel set aboard a cursed ship on a trading voyage from Batavia to Amsterdam in 1634. I loved the atmosphere and the twists and turns of the plot, but wished the historical setting had felt more authentic.
7. My Beautiful Imperial by Rhiannon Lewis – Set in the 19th century, this novel follows a young Welsh sailor, Davy Davies, as he embarks on a career at sea, becoming captain of the Imperial, which just happens to be sailing down the coast of South America when civil war breaks out in Chile in 1891. I knew nothing about the Chilean Civil War before reading this book, so I found it fascinating, particularly after learning that the main character is based on the author’s own ancestor.
8. Blue Water by Leonora Nattrass – This is the second book in the Laurence Jago historical mystery series, although it would also work well as a standalone. A murder takes place aboard the Tankerville, sailing from Britain to Philadelphia to deliver an important treaty to George Washington. I’ve enjoyed all three books in this series so far.
9. Cup of Gold by John Steinbeck – This was Steinbeck’s first novel, published in 1929. The story is loosely based on the life of the 17th century Welsh pirate, Sir Henry Morgan, taking us from the hills and valleys of Wales to Barbados and Panama and incorporating some Arthurian legend along the way. It’s beautifully written, but not at all what I’d expected from Steinbeck!
10. Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh – This is the first book in Ghosh’s Ibis Trilogy and introduces us to a large, diverse cast of memorable characters who are thrown together on a voyage from India to Mauritius aboard a former slaving ship just before the First Opium War. I enjoyed all three books in the trilogy and learned a lot from them.
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As someone who has never really considered myself a fan of nautical fiction, I’m surprised to see how many books I’ve enjoyed that are set on ships and boats! I could also have included Georgette Heyer’s pirate adventure novel Beauvallet, The Night Ship by Jess Kidd in which a ship is wrecked off the coast of Australia in 1629, and The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware, a modern thriller set on a cruise liner in the Norwegian Fjords.
What books have you read that are set at sea?
She Reads Novels 
Nice list! Some others that spring to mind are the Temeraire books by Naomi Novic (like Master and Commander, but with dragons). And Joseph O’Connor’s Star of the Sea, set on a ship carrying refugees from Ireland to America during the potato famine. A nonfiction book that read like a novel to me was In the Kingdom of ice by Hampton Sides, about a doomed voyage to the North Pole.
I’ve read the first two Temeraire books, but forgot about them when I was putting this list together! I haven’t read Star of the Sea but would like to read it as I’ve enjoyed other books by Joseph O’Connor.
I really enjoy books set at sea and found your choices very interesting and have just ordered She Rises! Can also highly recommend Leeward by Katie Daysh that came out recently.
I hope you enjoy She Rises. I can’t remember it very well now, but I know I liked it at the time. I haven’t come across the Katie Daysh book – thanks for the recommendation!
Great list! I have a few of these on my to read list–Captain Blood, Sea of Poppies, Master and Commander and the Turton.
I hope you enjoy them! I really liked Captain Blood and Sea of Poppies, in particular.
Brilliant list. Another historical one set mainly at sea would be The Ghost Ship by Kate Mosse.
I read one of Kate Mosse’s books years ago and didn’t get on with it very well, but her more recent ones do sound appealing and I keep thinking I should give her another try!
They can be very slow sometimes. I think these latest three are better
The C.S. Forester, Hornblower series comes to mind as a nautical series.. I read them as a teenager. I remember them being a bit bloodthirsty and the realization that to the officers the sailors’ lives were ‘cheap and expendable’. The Mutiny on the Bounty series by Nordoff and Hall captured my imagination; although I don’t know if it qualifies as fact or fiction as it is some of both. Finally I recently read The Wonder Cruise by Ursula Bloom. It was a light read but I enjoyed it. It was written in 1934 and was a great snapshot of the days when cruising was a luxury only the wealthy could afford.
I actually read Wonder Cruise earlier this year and really enjoyed it, but somehow forgot about it when I started to put this list together.
I loved The Life of Pi too. A Dangerous Crossing by Rachel Rhys is very good and so is A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice by Rebecca Connolly.
I think the Rebecca Connolly book has been recommended to me before – thanks for reminding me about it!
A *fun* selection.. I have ‘A Fatal Crossing’ (unread naturally), I *hated* ‘Life of Pi’ [lol], and I’ve read two of the O’Brian series (but not the one you listed). I’m enjoying the WW1 series by Alan Evans (hard to get probably), ‘The Midnight Watch’ by David Dyer – about the Titanic disaster – was good and from an interesting PoV – and I’m looking forward to more Alexander Kent’s Captain Bolitho series. SO much good naval drama out there…!
I think Life of Pi is one of those books people either love or hate! The Midnight Watch sounds interesting – thanks.
I once made a list of books set at sea and had all different books. Which makes sense since I haven’t read any of these yet! It’s amazing how many books take place in a given setting once you start thinking about it.
Here’s my list: https://franlaniado.wordpress.com/2023/11/28/top-ten-tuesday-books-set-in-theaters/
I was surprised to find I’d read so many books set at sea! I keep remembering more that I’d forgotten about, so this list could probably have been twice as long.
I enjoyed a book called Batavia’s Graveyard which you might enjoy too. https://piningforthewest.co.uk/2017/05/12/batavias-graveyard-by-mike-dash/
Yes, that does sound like something I might enjoy. Thanks, Katrina!
Great choice for this week’s TTT! I haven’t read any of these, but I do have both Cup of Gold and Fatal Crossing on my TBR list. 😀
I enjoyed both of those, particularly Fatal Crossing – I hope you like them too!
What a good topic!
Thanks – I’m glad you like it!
Arrrrgh, I was gonna do this one, but then I realize me grad school project maties had contributed nothing to our mutual project, so I had to focus on doin’ their part instead. They’ll walk the plank come presentation time, sent straightaway to Davy Jones’ locker. Dunno why him instead one of the other Monkees. Fan of Master and Commander, nae heard of the rest.
This looks an interesting bunch. The only one I definitely shan’t read is the Stuart Turton. I couldn’t come anywhere near to finishing The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.
I enjoyed The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle but I can definitely see why not everyone would!
Great list! I’ve only read Life of Pi (loved it).
A Fatal Crossing’s cover would’ve attracted me too. And the story is right up my street. Will check this again later.
I really enjoyed A Fatal Crossing. It almost has the feel of a real Golden Age mystery.
I’ve read a couple. The best so far was “A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice” which is about the Titanic. I also enjoyed a book just recently which takes place mostly at sea – “A True Account: Hannah Masurey’s Sojourn Among the Pyrates Written by Herself”!
You’re the second person to mention A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice here, so I’m definitely interested in reading it. The pirate book sounds good – I’ll look out for that one too!
Hi Helen, what a wonderfully nautical list of books! ⚓The only books I can think of set at sea, that I have read, are Treasure Island and Sandokan novels by Emilio Salgari. I enjoyed them both and really must read more.
Blessings, Jessica 💌
I think I have the first Sandokan novel on my Kindle. Must read it soon!