Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini

Basically, if entertainment was a drug, this novel would be the purest heroin. I seriously feel like I've just gotten a fix of the most unalloyed adventure, complete with fast-moving, exciting plot, fun characters, swoon-worthy hero and a bit of melodrama, and I've totally revelled in it. I love a good adventure novel or movie, and this is really the cream of the crop. I remember that I complained about Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped that he made adventures sound so very uncomfortable and miserable and cold, and this book is the complete opposite. It makes everything sound unbelievably exciting and fun. In terms of its literary merits, I was actually surprised at the fact that it's written with a fair amount of wit and humour. The title character is a total charmer, with a quick tongue, a bit of a stage Irishman (only narrowly avoided saying 'begorrah', but we did have a few incidents of 'bad cess'), but so dashing and something of a fop. I felt like the plot was the perfect level of complexity for the genre, enough to be interesting, but not enough to confuse in case you aren't giving your whole attention to it, and Sabatini actually somehow manages to describe battles maneuvers and strategies in a way that is interesting. Just a really fun and indulgent read.