Hornblower was the inspiration for Star Trek's Captain James Kirk, as well as Cornwell's Sharpe. Hornblower is more cerebral and socially awkward than Kirk (or O'Brien's Aubrey), more educated and refined than Sharpe. In his own right, Hornblower is certainly an engaging and complex character and the series is an interesting study in leadership, and a fascinating portrait of life at sea in the age of sail.
In the course of reading several books in the series Hornblower begins to feel real in a way few fictional characters do. I'd say he's easily as indelible and remarkable a literary creation as Sherlock Holmes--and just as brilliant in his field as Holmes was as a detective. However, this particular book I'd only recommend to people who are already fans of the series. Forester was in the middle of writing the title story when he died, so it remains an incomplete fragment of a novel. The book does include two short stories of Hornblower at the beginning and end of his career: "Hornblower's Temptation" and "The Last Encounter," and I greatly enjoyed both.
