What happened to Richard Delancey between the end of the last book and the start of this one?

Sure, it comes during a brief period of peace between England and France, and Delancey -- lately master and commander of a sloop of war -- has some time on his hands. But author C. Northcote Parkinson devotes fully the first half of So Near So Far to ... fluff.

The last book ended with the escape of a mad Frenchman who might have proved to be an interesting foe for Delancey in future escapades. Instead, Parkinson has the French captain launch an immediate attempt to get revenge, which Delancey predicts perfectly and foils with ease, killing his erstwhile opponent and numerous French sailors simply because it would be an inconvenience to keep them alive. Then, Delancey becomes involved -- some might say engaged -- to a lady with wealth and advantageous political connections, then quickly loses interest when he spies a pretty young actress. So he conceives a plan to dissuade his lady and win the heart of the girl, and of course both strategies work to perfection and Delancey finds himself happily married to someone he's known for ... was it more than a few hours they spent together before tying the knot?

In the midst of all that, he competes in a series of yacht races. By God, I was ready for war to resume by the midpoint of this book!

Oh, Delancey also stumbles by chance into a meeting with the American inventor Robert Fulton and learns about his plans to build a steamship and a submarine, both of which he is offering to the French because the British government showed no interest in them. This means, of course, that when the British navy faces both menaces later in the book, Delancey -- now captain of the frigate HMS Vengeance -- is the only man with any knowledge to share. Later, he perfectly predicts a French plot to kidnap the British prime minister, which he is of course perfectly poised to prevent (acting more as a spy than a naval officer) but he decides not to warn a becalmed frigate nearby of the danger, costing the lives of that ship's captain and most of her crew. (He also decides to destroy both the steamship and submarine rather than let his superiors know they worked admirably well against British defenses -- and while his desire to forestall future military technology might seem admirable, it certainly is not a wise course of action to take when the French could easily build more of the same.) He concludes the book by acting as a spy on the French mainland, apparently because no one else in the service is up to the task.

Delancey does not come off well to readers of this book. Most of the text is filler, and what action there is feels flawed when Delancey so easily guesses how things will play out -- and always provides the singular means of countering any disadvantages.

The last novel, Touch & Go, had a few missteps but was still an enjoyable adventure. So Near So Far, by contrast, had some enjoyable interludes but, for the most part, I could not wait for it to end.