The naval-fiction comparison begins with Hornblower and then settles on the grittier Drinkwater series. The difference concerns tone and characterization, since Hornblower is still described as realistic while presenting a cleaner world. The review then turns to Glynn Stewart's habit of building a complete backstory for every character, including people who appear for only a few pages. Readers may never see those histories directly, but their presence shapes how the minor characters are written.
Notable Point · 1:41-3:16
Hornblower, Drinkwater, and rounded characters
The review places the novel closer to the grittier Drinkwater series than Hornblower and notes that even brief characters seem to have complete histories.