Blue at the Mizzen (Vol. Book 20) (Aubrey/Maturin Novels)

Having Jack Aubrey finally attain his long-desired goal, an admiral's commission with its blue flag, brought the series to a very satisfactory conclusion for me. I don't plan to read the unfinished, unedited Book 21, because I have deeply enjoyed the entire series of 20, and Book 21 seems gratuitous. If O'Brien had lived to finish it properly, I'd of course have bought Book 21. But "Blue at the Mizzen" as a conclusion is so satisfying that I'm happy with it--though I could wish for the series to have gone on forever.

But with "Blue at the Mizzen," I can close the books reluctantly for the second or third or fourth time..., and rest assured that in the universe of the imagination, Aubrey and Maturin forever sail the Napoleonic seas just beyond my view, while Killick fusses and Sophie frets.

(SPOILER ALERT: I shall even take the liberty of having Bonden back. END SPOILER.)

What a wonderful world of characters, high drama, action, and laughter O'Brien created, and what a fine ending "Blue at the Mizzen" is!

11/6/2013: Just reread the series for what, the sixth or seventh time? Fell in love with it again! Now I'm reading the famed "Hornblower" series and enjoying it very much, too!

Even though I believe that the Aubrey-Maturin series is one of the great works of prose fiction of the 20th century, the latest (and 20th) book in the series, Blue at the Mizzen, is a disappointment. Indeed the last few books in the series (starting with the Wine-Dark Sea, have gotten progressively weaker, but even they have always had many compelling pages. The great humor, the exciting naval action, the lovely historical feel, but above all the wonderful language and psychological acuity are missing here. The female characters are, no surprise, mere plot devices. (Both Sophie and Clarissa barely figure, and the smart and beautiful Mrs. Wood, who Maturin falls for, makes little sense as a character.) But the subordinate characters in general lack interest, even the prominently featured midshipman Hansen, the bastard son of the Duke of Clarence. The local color in early 19th century Chile seems washed out, insubstantial. Worst of all, the two principals are presented pro forma, as if O'Brian is just tired of them. While there is a satisfying (finally) move up to Admiral for Aubrey, the story (with no more Napoleonic foes, and no more money worries) has run out of gas. Is this the last of the novels? Aubrey-Maturin fans will be disappointed that we have lost track of Pullings, Babbington, Mowett, and Martin completely-what happened to them? Where oh where is to Aubrey's illegitimate son, Sam Panda, last seen in nesrby Peru-and why do Jack's thoughts never run to him? This is, of course, a must-read for Aubrey-Maturin fans, but compared to the invigorating, full-blooded novels in the series, this one reads like the weak, lukewarm tea that Jack and Stephen so detest.

The Hundred days read like a ghost-written book based on O'Brian's notes. The scene in the desert listening to lions was O'Brian's voice, pure and sweet. The rest was cloudy. I advised friends -don't waste your money.
Blue at the Mizzen (an Adm of the Blue broad flag flying at the mizzen - a squadron commander -as opposed to a "Yellow Adm " a passed over reject) is a saga worth buying. The sweet digressions are closely edited and battle scenes longer - this book sounds more like Alexander Kent than O'Brian.
From the wretched Hundred Days, a glow remains in the hearth. At his worst - and this certainly isn't - O'Brian is miles ahead of the competition.
The grief over a lost friend and (a little bit) a wife gets a mention here - response to the astonished reaction to the blaise reaction in the previous book?
I hope this is the last, before the embers die out completely. This is still O'Brian - not at his best - but still in the game.
The jacket cover picture is the best of the series

Until the very last couple of pages in this twentieth and last volume of the Aubrey-Maturin saga, I was unsure of the implications of the book's title. But I was pleased to find that Jack's "flag-sickness" has been appeased. With the Napoleonic wars ended, the captain of the SURPRISE has had to go to revolutionary Chile to find ways of continuing to build his reputation, this time in the development of the infant republic's navy. There is a fine ship-to-ship action against a much larger Spanish vessel, and all the usual trials and tribulations of beating around the Horn. Moreover, the recently widowed Dr. Maturin has a much larger part this time even than usual, in his slightly odd pursuit of Christine Wood, widow of the governor of Sierra Leone and a noted naturalist in her own right. A mid-life crisis? We don't know how all that will turn out, unfortunately. It's sad that there will be no more installments to the story, but this is a reasonably satisfying conclusion.

The final installment in O'Brian's smashing 20-volume nautical series has an unfinished feel. In the final pages we finally learn about Jack's career move --though the answer is given away by the book's title-- and this is something he has fretted over for several books now. But many other plot threads remain hanging, most notably that of Stephen's marital status. The previous book involved the sudden, unexpected and unmourned deaths of several key characters, and this one leaves a dozen or two other secondary characters wholly unfinished. It feels as though the elderly O'Brian had meant to write another book or two to bring Aubrey and Maturin back to England for the final denouement, but perhaps his energy failed him.

In any case, this is another excellent story. With Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo, the "Surprise" must refit after suffering damage in a collision before making her way on her long-delayed voyage to Chile. The action and intrigue in Portugal and Chile are wonderful. As always, Stephen Maturin's wry humor, brought out by the author's sublime prose, leaves the reader smiling. Another wonderful story, but it just doesn't feel like it was meant to be the last one.

Some critics have referred to the Aubrey/Maturin books as one long novel united not only by their historical setting but also by the central plot element of the Aubrey/Maturin friendship. Having read these fine books over a period of several years, I decided to evaluate their cumulative integrity by reading them consecutively in order of publication over a period of a few weeks. This turned out to be a rewarding enterprise. For readers unfamiliar with these books, they describe the experiences of a Royal Navy officer and his close friend and traveling companion, a naval surgeon. The experiences cover a broad swath of the Napoleonic Wars and virtually the whole globe.
Rereading all the books confirmed that O'Brian is a superb writer and that his ability to evoke the past is outstanding. O'Brian has numerous gifts as a writer. He is the master of the long, careful description, and the short, telling episode. His ability to construct ingenious but creditable plots is first-rate, probably because he based much of the action of his books on actual events. For example, some of the episodes of Jack Aubrey's career are based on the life of the famous frigate captain, Lord Cochrane. O'Brian excels also in his depiction of characters. His ability to develop psychologically creditable characters through a combination of dialogue, comments by other characters, and description is tremendous. O'Brien's interest in psychology went well beyond normal character development, some books contain excellent case studies of anxiety, depression, and mania.
Reading O'Brien gives vivid view of the early 19th century. The historian Bernard Bailyn, writing of colonial America, stated once that the 18th century world was not only pre-industrial but also pre-humanitarian (paraphrase). This is true as well for the early 19th century depicted by O'Brien. The casual and invariable presence of violence, brutality, and death is a theme running through all the books. The constant threats to life are the product not only of natural forces beyond human control, particularly the weather and disease, but also of relative human indifference to suffering. There is nothing particularly romantic about the world O'Brien describes but it also a certain grim grandeur. O'Brien also shows the somewhat transitional nature of the early 19th century. The British Navy and its vessals were the apogee of what could be achieved by pre-industrial technology. This is true both of the technology itself and the social organization needed to produce and use the massive sailing vessals. Aubrey's navy is an organization reflecting its society; an order based on deference, rigid hierarchy, primitive notions of honor, favoritism, and very, very corrupt. At the same time, it was one of the largest and most effective bureaucracies in human history to that time. The nature of service exacted great penalities for failure in a particularly environment, and great success was rewarded greatly. In some ways, it was a ruthless meritocracy whose structure and success anticipates the great expansion of government power and capacity seen in the rest of the 19th century.
O'Brian is also the great writer about male friendship. There are important female characters in these books but since most of the action takes place at sea, male characters predominate. The friendship between Aubrey and Maturin is the central armature of the books and is a brilliant creation. The position of women in these books is ambiguous. There are sympathetic characters, notably Aubrey's long suffering wife. Other women figures, notably Maturin's wife, leave a less positive impression. On board ship, women tend to have a disruptive, even malign influence.
How did O'Brian manage to sustain his achievement over 20 books? Beyond his technical abilities as a writer and the instrinsic interest of the subject, O'Brien made a series of very intelligent choices. He has not one but two major protagonists. The contrasting but equally interesting figures of Aubrey and Maturin allowed O'Brien to a particularly rich opportunity to expose different facets of character development and to vary plots carefully. This is quite difficult and I'm not aware of any other writer who has been able to accomplish such sustained development of two major protagonists for such a prolonged period. O'Brian's use of his historical setting is very creative. The scenes and events in the books literally span the whole globe as Aubrey and Maturin encounter numerous cultures and societies. The naval setting allowed him also to introduce numerous new and interesting characters. O'Brian was able to make his stories attractive to many audiences. Several of these stories can be enjoyed as psychological novels, as adventure stories, as suspense novels, and even one as a legal thriller. O'Brian was also a very funny writer, successful at both broad, low humor, and sophisticated wit. Finally, O'Brian made efforts to link some of the books together. While a number are complete in themselves, others form components of extended, multi-book narratives. Desolation Island, Fortune of War, and The Surgeon's Mate are one such grouping. Treason's Harbor, The Far Side of the World, and The Reverse of the Medal are another. The Letter of Marque and the ensuing 4 books, centered around a circumnavigation, are another.
Though the average quality of the books is remarkably high, some are better than others. I suspect that different readers will have different favorites. I personally prefer some of the books with greater psychological elements. The first book, Master and Commander, is one of my favorites. The last 2 or 3, while good, are not as strong as earlier books. I suspect O'Brian's stream of invention was beginning to diminish. All can be read profitably as stand alone works though there is definitely something to be gained by reading in consecutive order.

Although Blue at the Mizzen is readable on its own, it is perhaps an injustice to it to do so. The book, as with any one of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novels, is merely chapter 20 in what is trully an epic. Each volume/chapter is integral; there is not a single weak link in the tale. It was thus with great sadness that I read of Mr. O'Brian's recent death; Blue at the Mizzen is the final chapter.
Things could be worse. Mr O'Brian, intentionally or no, has brought the resolution of many long-standing issues to his characters, though these resolutions also promise new beginings which the reader will now have to make up on his (her) own. Blue at the Mizzen is the type of novel Mr O'Brian's vast readership have come to expect: tragedy ballanced keenly with triumph, exploration of world and soul, the peculiar gains we find in loss, and the losses we face in victory. Blue at the Mizzen is a must read for anyone who has read the epic till this point. Others will still find it enjoyable, but are strongly suggested to start with volume/chapter one: Master and Commander.

As anyone familiar with the work of Jon Mellencamp may have figured out already, this last (complete) entry in the outstanding Aubrey/Maturin saga reminded me of a different Jack and Diane.

"Master and Commander" (the first book in the series) was written almost three decades before "Blue at the Mizzen", and approximately 15 years of story time have passed as well. Either due to the aging of the author or of the characters (or perhaps of both), the thrill of living in their world is almost gone by the last couple of books; just a wisp of its former self.

The late, great Patrick O'Brien was an immensely talented author. Most of his series crackles with historically accurate naval action that firmly pulls you into a long-ago time and place, a fascinating and intricate world that is totally gone. But even more importantly, his deep and nuanced characterizations made you really care about the people in the story, making the "lulls" between actions some of the most entertaining parts. Who could forget Jack's radiant joy at receiving his first command, or Stephen complaining, "Jack, you have debauched my sloth!", among dozens and dozens of other examples of wit and character that made a potentially dry topic come fully to life.

In "Blue at the Mizzen", however, much of the joy of life and character and language and action that made so many readers love these books has faded to gray. The plot revolves around political and military maneuverings in Chile as Britain tries to quietly help the Spanish colony become independent. (This is no spoiler, as Jack and Stephen have been trying to make it over there for most of the last two books.) But neither of our main characters seem to give a fig about their mission. As a consequence, neither does the reader. That would be acceptable if the characters interacted and developed as they did throughout much of the series, but here they do neither. Jack is distant and morose, and Stephen spends his time pining for his new (and frankly unrealistic) love interest and riding aimlessly across the harsh local landscape, with little sign of their warm friendship to be seen.

The characters are approaching middle age by this point, so it's unreasonable to expect them to behave as they did when the series began. They've been through too many victories and defeats and tragedies (both professionally and personally) to be the same people. But while forty year-olds don't generally grow and evolve at the same speed as younger men, they do change. O'Brien hints that perhaps now, when Jack and Stephen's long-held goals are finally within reach (raising a pennant) or already achieved (helping to defeat Napoleon), they might have started to realize that the journey was the thing after all, and that perhaps other goals are preferable now - a mid-life crisis, as it were. That seems to be a reasonable path for continuing the development of these wonderful characters, but O'Brien chose not to take it, and they're left as wooden caricatures of themselves.

Their supporting cast doesn't help much. Inexplicably absent are many of their usual shipmates (Pullings, Mowett, Babbington, etc.), which is odd since it is mentioned more than once that sailors are desperate for work now that peace has come. And where is Jack's son Sam? When last they were in South America, he was quick to visit. Here, nobody seems to remember that he exists. Poor Rev. Martin, last spoken of when he sailed back for England many books ago, again doesn't even get a mention, much less a return appearance.

Yes, a few newer characters are around, but they never take on much life. Dr. Jacob seems to be a more worldly replacement for Martin but never comes across as anything more than a 2-dimensional medical/intelligence aid to Stephen. Poll Skillings and Horatio Hansen have potential, but they aren't given much to do.

Let me repeat, I absolutely love this series. The books flow from one to the next and have been called a single (20-volume!) historical novel, and the best I've ever read. I have read them all from beginning to end more than once and will certainly read them again. However, there's no getting around the fact that this last chapter is a disappointment.

Near the end of the book, Aubrey receives a packet of letters from Sophie and tears up because he misses his family so much. It would have been much more satisfying, for both dear Jack and myself, if he would have been allowed to stop mucking around in South America and instead sail home to strike soundings in the channel of old England at last.

Unless there is an unpublished manuscript hidden away somewhere, this is the last book written by Patrick O'Brian who recently passed away, and fittingly the last of the saga of Jack Aubrey. The Jack Aubrey character was based on Lord Cochrane (See "the Autobiography of a Seaman" by Admiral Lord Cochrane, republished in 2000). While the early books in the Jack Aubrey series were quite good, the quality deteriorated in the later books (where he was no longer taking plot material from Cochrane's autobiography), and the author lost all sense of time, trying to cram too many novels into a three year period from 1812-1815. He then invented various assignments to keep Aubrey at sea, instead of going back (like C. S. Forester did with Hornblower) to fill in Aubrey's early career. I skipped many of the later books. The present tale would have been quite good by itself, but the author rambles and digresses excessively. He also seems to change location in the middle of sentences, and skips forward leaving the reader wondering what happened in the intervening time interval. The later part of the novel, when Aubrey arrives in Chile, gets back into historical context, and the novel seems to be set in 1819 and following years - Charles Tyng, in his autobiography "Before the Wind," relates his experiences in Chile during that time period, mentioning Lord Cochran and the presence of a British frigate. Bernard Cornwell's novel, "Sharpe's Devil" (copyright 1992) also covers the action in Chile. The present novel is OK for those O'Brien fans who want the final episode on Jack Aubrey, but it is not exactly a book which holds your attention.

So seemingly effortless, yet so rich in every phrase --- O'Brian is again at the top of his form; not just the tale he tells, but also the way he throws off ideas, characters, and plot with brief phrases that sing together so sweetly. It's a rare fine wine, enjoyed best by those who have developed a taste for it in the first twenty volumnes. Aubrey has aged, and has grown more silent, more brooding, the aging man of action losing some of his physical prowess, his ambition, but with habits of courage so deeply ingrained; Maturin the aging philosophe, brought to life not only by his spirited study of the natural world but also by the discovery of his aging heart's new trilling at the thought of Ms Woods. God, this stuff is great!

Who knew that early 19th century Naval history could be so exciting?

Girls, don't be afraid to read these books--I was a little intimidated, and boy, was I ever WRONG. Those who have compared O'Brien to Jane Austen are right on target. He could have written about sailors, soldiers or salesmen---as long as they were named Aubrey and Maturin, you can bet the stories would have been pure gold. But take a lesson from a previous reviewer--READ THEM IN ORDER!! And, if you have trouble with the nautical terms, like I did, get a copy of Dean King's "A Sea of Words", which does an excellent job of explaining them.

Never have I been as chagrined as when I reached the final page of "Blue at the Mizzen". It was as perfect an ending as could have been, and although the fates of Aubrey and Maturin are now left to the imagination, thanks to O'Brien, we have a rich treasury with which to create their final outcomes.

Interested reader,
If you are reading these reviews, chances are good you are wondering what all this stuff about Patrick O'Brian and the "Aubrey/Maturin" series is about. Wonder no longer.
"Blue at the Mizzen" represents the last volume of what is overall a rich, wonderful collection of literature. While I've read the disappointment that some have had with the last few books in the series, I respectfully offer the view of a reader who feels touched forever by the author's hand and grateful for having read this series in the first place.
Once you read "Master and Commander," chances are excellent you will adopt Aubrey and Maturin to be among your favorite characters of all time. Who could not chuckle when Stephen Maturin tries yet again trying to come aboard the ship without falling overboard? Who could not envision Killick's severe expressions when Aubrey gets grease on his number one uniform, or become anxious whenever Aubrey sets foot upon land? Who could not feel the loss of a shipmate sent over the side? It is sad to note that we finally see Aubrey make his flag as we get the news that Mr. O'Brian has made his number.
I believe that "Blue at the Mizzen" and all the other books in the series need to be looked at by the prospective reader in total. If you have never read from this series, start with "Master and Commander," and I will guarantee that if you like this first volume and continue through the series, you will be touched by a truly masterful hand.

Patrick O'Brien once described the Napoleonic Wars as "the Troy tales" of the British people, playing as central a role in the national myth as the Trojan wars did for the ancient Greeks. His incomparable series, based on the vicissitudes of the professional career of Jack Aubrey of the Royal Navy, who rises from humble Lieutenant to Admiral (with one reduction to the ranks and a court martial and public disgrace along the way), has become a cult among his many admirers.
There are three main reasons for this. First, the naval lore and action are quite as good and compelling as the battles of C S Foresters's Horatio Hornblower. Second, these are real novels, more than rattling good action yarns, with complex characters, credible women (Diana Villiers is a grand creation) and a genuine historical sense of life ashore that reveal O'Brien's admiration for Jane Austen. Above all, the series is given life and depth and tension by the heart of the books, the friendship between Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, the half-Irish, half-Catalan, who is naturalist, physician, musician and spy.
At times, the reader is lost in the world of Charles Darwin and the voyage of 'The Beagle' as Maturin delights in the flora and fauna that come the way of the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean, the Antarctic, the South Pacific and the Newfoundland Banks. At times, one is lost in a world of culinary history, or of secret intelligence, or primitive surgery. The French enemies are drawn with intelligent sympathy, and the American naval adversaries treated with proper respect.
To embark upon the long voyage of this marvellous series is to plunge into a compelling and enchanting world. I have bought half a dozen copies of the first book of the series, 'Master and Commander', to lure choice friends into this sweet obsession of O'Brien's world. My own favourite remains 'The Mauritius Command', but I know that once I begin it, I shall have to recommence the pleasure of re-reading the series. Life is too short not to surrender to the indulgence, again and again.

Patrick O'brien has left this world. His books and charachters have stayed at the turn of the century long ago and far away. His ships still sail, his music still sings, and his natural science still finds a world to explore and wonder at. He has created a world that will live longer, and find more resonance, than mere history and biography. I wish him well and fair winds. The circle is closed. A wonderful book, a wonderful series, a wonderful end.

Regretably the store only offers 5 stars. All of O'Brian's work hit 5 stars without breathing hard. Unfortunately this series is winding down, and it shows. Poor and careless editing, and careless ploting are beginning to show. If some of O'Brian's early works can reach 11 or 12 stars (on the the store scale) "Blue" only hits about 6 or 7. Having said that, a weak O'Brian is head and shoulders above anyone else's best. He is clearly in a league of his own.

Aubrey and Maturin, Maturin and Aubrey - their lives and fortunes are as convoluted as the plot twists of the latest of Patrick O'Brien's chronicles. Picking up where The 100 Days left off, the pair cross the ocean, engage in middle-aged derring-do, and save the day for the twentieth time, with a spot of unexpected romance thrown in. As always the historical references are accurate; the minor failures of plot in this latest episode are easily overlooked. After all, Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are men like no others in modern fiction; they fight, love, drink, indulge in excesses, mourn, spy, and get away with the loot better than anyone. They're a pair of upright Harry Flashmans, ready to rescue the damsel, make off with the gold, and free the oppressed colonials from their decadent rulers. Hornblower never had it this good.

This volume is a worthy successor to "100 Days" It follows the error of that volume in that Obryan continues his technique of failing to develop plot and characters as he did in earlier volumes. The main plot is excellant. Aubry and Maturin are indeed engaged in another worthy task envolving personal relationships, seamanship, politics and South American revolutions. The flow of the novel is great and it comes to a logical conclusion leaving us anticipating the obvious next novel where newly frocked Adm. Aubry hoists his flag and goes forth. Obryan is falling into the trench so many novelists fall into however as he assumes much knowledge on the part of his readers. He skips over many opportunities to develop many subplots and details that made his earlier novels such a delite to read and reread. Who can forget the exquisite revenge of Maturin in not only killing by dissecting his enemies; the dissertations of Maturing on women and other things. I'm not doing well at this and in thinking I'm doing the same thing as Obryan; describing the bones but the meat is thin. Charlie Cox

I picture O'Brian near the end, facing his mortality, wrestling ghosts from WWII, writing in a lonely room at Trinity College in his adopted Ireland, finishing what surely was a pure labor of love.
We all grow old and we cannot expect the same writing strength from a man of 70 as from a man of 40. Nor can we expect to read the like of O'Brian again, as his generation will be the last to possess the combination of erudition, intellectual curiousity and a psychic link to the past that formed the life of his novels.
Read O'Brian as an antidote to the values of the present. Read O'Brian to realize that there was a time in the recent past when, for many people, friendship, honor, love, learning, loyalty and courage were present in everyday life, and when expediency was not always the best policy.
Read O'Brian for what is surely one of the greatest sustained efforts in literature, for 20 volumes that together form a novel that in style, lanuage and subject matter, could have been published contemporaneously with Dickens - and is yet timeless.

The end of a great book always produces a letdown for me so it was a double whammy to realize as I turned the last page of Blue at the Mizzen that it was book-match-series. Reflecting back on the 20 Aubrey-Maturin books that I had read and the timeless quality of the characters, plots and historical background that brought these books to life only deepened my depression. And when I considered the tracks that O'Brian artfully laid down in this book to carry him into yet additional Aubrey-Maturin books--I decided that I needed a brandy. Patrick O'Brian is undoubtedly one of the few true masters of historical fiction and a polymath with incredible literary talent.

Immerse yourself once again in the seafaring adventures of Captain Jack Aubrey and his ship's surgeon Stephen Maturin as they roam the almost unexplored oceans of the early 17th century, and participate in the bittersweet "liberation" of Chile. The 85 year-old O'Brian's flawless dialogue and meticulous attention to detail makes this book -- like the rest of the series -- a historical tour de force. Unfortunately after 20 previous books, Aubrey and Maturin have few surprises left, and hundreds of pages filled with the impenetrable politics and minutia of daily naval life may be as stupefying as Dr. Maturin's regular doses of laudanum and hellebore for readers unaware that a great naval battle invariably lurks in the closing pages. O'Brian addicts will welcome another chance to visit their favorite characters, but people new to O'Brian should visit the earlier, fresher books of the series -- say "The Far Side Of The World."

-- Auralgo

This final novel from Mr. O'Brian surpasses recent favorites of mine such as "Gates of Fire" and "The Triumph and the Glory", and stands alone as my best-loved historical fiction novel. "Blue at the Mizzen" brings history to life as only the best novels of this fascinating genre can, the characters are vividly drawn and the setting and action are portrayed with striking authenticity. But it's the humanity and candor of those brilliant characters, Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, that make these novels so superb. These novels will be read and admired a century from now, you owe it to yourself to read them all.

I listened to the tape version. This was mistake number one, as another reviewer noted on this site. Mistake number two, also mentioned several times by other reviewers, was making this my virginal experience with this author. Frankly, I was totally lost. Maybe that freeway driving had something to do with it also (I listen in my car).
I can tell from the other reviews that this is a series for special interest people only, and that the whole series should be digested, from the beginning, not from the end.
Steven's love affair, such as it was, I couldn't understand. I did gather that he had a daughter and was a widower. And whatever happened to that young fellow, the lord's adopted son, who came on as the helmsman? Well, as I say, it was all just a little abstruse.
But unlike one other reviewer, I thought the book was well read on the audio version. The reader didn't have a great diversity of voices, as some other readers do, but he did have passable accents for his Spanish and English characters.
Also, I did learn something about the war between Peru and Chile. I was able, occasionally, to imagine being aboard the Surprise.

While certainly not a bad book, Blue at the mizzen is not one of the most interesting in the Aubrey/Maturin series. There is not a lot of action or tension in our hero's adventures in South America. Jack Aubrey is increasingly distant, and we get the majority of the story from Maturin. Even so, Maturin's espionage activities are somewhat less than gripping. I've heard rumors that this is the last book in the series, but there are a ton of things left unresolved, and I find It hard to believe that O'Brian would end the series this way.

Thanks to the late Patrick O'Brian for wrapping up the series on an up note. I grew as a mariner with each book in this series from a landlubber to...maybe a ships boy. Patrick O'Brian brought this incredible era of honor, corruption and raw bravery to life for me with this historically accurate series. Now that I'm reading the memoirs of the Admiral that Jack Aubrey is based on, I'm finding that much of the action in these books really happened as Mr. O'Brian tells it.

"After a last salute Jack glanced aloft--still the sweet west wind--and then looked fore and aft: a fine clear deck, hands all at their stations and all beaming with pleasure, and turning to the master he said, 'Mr Hanson, pray lay me a course for Cape Pilar and Magellan's Strait."
Farewell, dear Jack, dear Stephen, and dear Patrick. Thank you so very much.

Thanks to the late Patrick O'Brian for wrapping up the series on an up note. I grew as a mariner with each book in this series from a landlubber to...maybe a ships boy. Patrick O'Brian brought this incredible era of honor, corruption and raw bravery to life for me with this historically accurate series. Now that I'm reading the memoirs of the Admiral that Jack Aubrey is based on, I'm finding that much of the action in these books really happened as Mr. O'Brian tells it.

"After a last salute Jack glanced aloft--still the sweet west wind--and then looked fore and aft: a fine clear deck, hands all at their stations and all beaming with pleasure, and turning to the master he said, 'Mr Hanson, pray lay me a course for Cape Pilar and Magellan's Strait."
Farewell, dear Jack, dear Stephen, and dear Patrick. Thank you so very much.

I am a confirmed Forrester/Hornblower fan, and received this book for Christmas. I'd read the reviews about wonderful characterization and historical accuracy, and expected a treat. Not so. Although I had read Master and Commander years ago, this was my first O'Brian in recent memory. I did not find his characters especially detailed, nor the narrative very well done. It was a good adventure story, but much of the time I was lost as to why such and such a thing was done, or who this or that person was. I'm sure having read the books in order would help greatly, and I imagine some day I will do that. At the moment, though, this book doesn't come close to Forrester for characterization, detail, and true nautical enjoyment. There is too much skipping of key points, few sensible transitions, and a giant question left unanswered at the end of the book. If you haven't read Forrester's Hornblower books, I recommend them instead. At the very least, don't start with this one, but with Master and Commander, and continue in order from there!

Aubrey and Maturin at sea once again in the beloved ship, Surprise. Aubrey seeks his Admiral's Flag and Maturin, endless new species, a Chilean political embroglio, and, a new wife.
As always, a fascinating and addictive read; this is a true credit to the series.