I got a recommendation at GenCon from Joseph Goodman to read Captain Blood as a next thing to read after appendix N. Captain Blood is a pirate story with fights and sailing and romance. I really enjoy Sabatini’s writing style and his stories are set in the age of sail, the American War of Independence, and the French Revolution.
Almost all his stories are romances hiding inside of action swashbuckling novels. Most of his protagonists are gentlemanly men who wind up falling in love and spending the book fighting the bad guys with a hope to win the girl.
These are dated books with traditional social roles and a lot of character behavior is based on social norms of the 17th century. Many of these norms create tension for the character and might confuse a modern audience.
