In my armchair sailing in the evenings before bed, I have finished volume 1 of this excellent 2-volume novel series, "The Adventures of Laforest-Dombourg" by Eric Gautier and translated by Roger D. Taylor. I recommend it highly. I offer a few quick thoughts below for potential readers:
1) This isn't just the French version of those British Napoleonic era sailing novels where the captain swans about the seas capturing prizes afloat and hearts ashore. This is a finely crafted novel. Vol. 1 starts off as a murder mystery, adds an intriguing spy story, and finally culminates in more familiar scenes of sailing battles, missing treasure, and his constant sweetheart.
2) One learns a lot. The importance of nobility, honor, and dueling cannot be exaggerated. The author realistically describes the details and challenges of the French Navy in the late 1770s, and its conflicts with the French Army.
3) It's not War and Peace, but the reader needs to pay attention to names in the early chapters or one may later struggle to distinguish the Baron from the Chevalier. Kudos to Roger for ameliorating this. In his translator's forward, he notes that he has "in general stuck with a single form of address for each character" (instead of multiple different forms in the French language original), which definitely helps. Anyway, this is not a big problem. Tip: There is a list of principal characters at the end of Vol. 1 that I didn't see until I finished. Before you start reading, earmark that list and refer to it a few times early on to clarify the cast of characters.
4) Anyone who has sailed in Brittany will appreciate that much of the action occurs in those waters and inland towns. Morbihan is mentioned a few times. Suggestion: someone should produce a map of Brittany indicating principal places from the novel.
5) Dueling. Lots of dueling.
Good job, Roger!