SO I’VE BEEN READING CHRISTOPHER TUBBS’ DORSET BOY SERIES for a while, and it’s pretty good. Certainly not Patrick O’Brien, but the books are page turners, and if his protagonist seems implausibly successful today, the Napoleonic Wars were a time when a 13-year-old midshipman could turn a battle. Interestingly, I think these books are better because so many books have been set in that period, providing a rich background already in mind for most people who are likely to read them.