I stumbled into this series not realizing there was a whole series of stories before it. However, the writing and story telling were such that the references to the past were intriguing without going into needless detail in rehashing the past. The story stands on its own yet makes me want to hear more both of the past events that led up to this book and the future where the story is going.
It has the feel of Horatio Hornblower or Jack Aubrey series’, or even the Hammers Slammers universe by David Drake. The author understands what he is talking about from a technical standpoint but doesn’t kill the story with the technicalities. There is enough detail without becoming a technical treatise.
The other thing that I really liked was the technical accuracy when using nautical terms which carry over like “head” instead of bathroom.
Finally he captured accurately the personalities behind the characters without falling into tropes and cliches.