The Fortune of War (Aubrey / Maturin)

Disappointed when this book arrived to see it had a deckle edge.
I have wanted to build a collection of hardback copies of the Aubrey/Maturin novels and ordered the first 6 volumes to find they all have the tatty page edge that to me looks very cheap and nasty.
WIll look on UK websites in the hope I can find better quality product.

I love Patrick Obrian and the Captain Jack Aubrey series - I've read every one and this is arguably the best! Start with any one, and you're hooked, particularly if you start with THE FORTUNE OF WAR. Patrick Obrian ranks at the very top of historical novelists. I would put him smack dab on top. When reading, savor every word - Obrian makes his words and sentences as good as the plot.

The sixth Aubrey-Maturin book grounds itself on two real-life naval actions, putting our protagonists in the midst of the action without substantively changing the course of events. Before and between these two actions, we get a heavy dose of O'Brian's historical fiction as well-written as any that he's published in the series thus far. The setup: Jack and Stephen are sailing for home, the former to take command of his next ship, having paid off the nearly-wrecked Leopard and leaving it in the East Indies. Various misadventures occur and Jack and Stephen end up on HMS Java, just as the War of 1812 has broken out between the U.S.A. and Great Britain. Java then meets USS Constitution in a real-life engagement, the British ship being forced to strike and the crew imprisoned in Boston. Thus, our two heroes are set ashore in Massachusetts, which is where the majority of the action in the book takes place.

For a "naval" book, there is remarkably little naval activity. Most of the action takes place ashore in Boston, and centres on Maturin's espionage activities. As a direct continuation of the events in Desolation Island, he learns of the effects of the planted false intellegence he sent out with the American spy Louisa Wogan some months before. When the French and Americans learn of the deception (too late for some of their executed countrymen) they are sure that Jack Aubrey must have been the source. Some of the best passages of the novel are visits from the Franco-American counter-espionage investigators to Jack's hospital room (he was shot in the Java action and is convalescing). Jack, naturally under the influence of painkillers and oblivious to the nature of Stephen's false intellegence, supplies the comic relief of the book. The action eventually picks up when Diana Villiers arrives - love interest to Stephen, mistress of the American spy master, and cousin of Jack's wife - and through bad luck and bad judgement the suspicion shifts to where it rightly belongs.

Hitting book #6 in a series, it's probably the right move to change things up, and O'Brian gives us a heavy dose of espionage, Maturin, and life ashore in the United States, instead of the usual life at sea featuring Capt. Jack Aubrey and scientist-surgeon Stephen Maturin. The writing is still the same crisp, engaging style with a dry wit and heavy on historical detail. In addition, this is a true sequel to the immediately previous novel, also a bit of a departure from numbers 1 to 5, which could be read as stand-alone stories. I enjoyed the bulk of the narrative immensely, although I have to admit feeling that the overall plot was clunky - specifically designed to shoehorn Jack and Stephen into historical events. Similarly, it is a little disappointing that Captain Aubrey is a mere spectator in the two naval battles that are depicted (which helps with the historical accuracy but is not satisfying from a literary point of view). Ultimately, I think I liked this better than the immediately previous book, and I hope the series continues to improve as a read through it.

Although it's something we all have to simply accept as it's a feature of many of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series, this book goes absolutely nowhere for around 120 pages, then - bang - it explodes. Jack and Stephen and some of the usual crew have a very strange stuttering journey across the Atlantic, but this part, being honest, is itty-bitty, but then, wow. Warfare, politics and espionage arrive on the pages in spectacular style.

What will bemuse and perhaps amuse us all, is the immense respect enemies have for each other in these tales (I can only think this must have been real, seeing as the author did his level to be authentic), and one second they are flinging deadly cannonballs and grape at each other, with swords and pikes ready at the nets, then after, it's all Port and Roast Beef in the Captain's cabin, enemy officers included.

I won't say too much indepth; I've realised that like me, many have come to the tales recently, via Russell Crowe's and Paul Bettany's brilliant bringing to life of Jack and Stephen, and so assuming that a 30 year old tale is already fully known is actually wrong, so no spoilers here. But I will say that as war exists between the US and Britain, the US sort of have France as an ally, but it is not a totally strong uniform alliance, and Jack and his people benefit from pockets of US resentment towards their supposed new allies against Britain.

If you are like me, then as the story progresses, you actually speed up your reading and race through the tense and deadly action sequences, in this book, far more than the previous books, the battles grab you and pull you into the pages. And afterwards, when the battles won or lost, if you have a strong urge to climb on your roof and check whether it is noon by any astronomical charts and appliances you may have to hand, then don't blame me, blame Patrick O'Brian.

Wow, another fabulous adventure with Captain "Lucky Jack" Aubrey and Doctor Stephen Maturin ! The historical setting was perfect and the intrigue of the War of 1812, as viewed from a British perspective, was enlightening. The gentlemanly fashion in which Captain Broke invited the American Captain to engage in a sea battle was a story in itself !
This book had it all; especially, the subtle and not so subtle, spy related activities of the British, French and Americans. The detail was awesome. The presentation of Boston as it must have appeared during the period was very vivid and the description of the local Boroughs of Quincy, Salem, Nantucket, etc all appeared to be quite accurate and well researched ! I can't say enough good things about this book. I am now getting ready to start reading book 7, The Surgeon's Mate. Having spent the last ten years on a large ocean going replenishment ship;
the shipboard routine and relationship of the officers and crew has many similarities to those described in the series. Particularly, the changing of the watch, the meal time ritual, and of course the many shipboard drills.

I'm really impressed by this book. Not only because it's an excellent read, but because it's the 6th in a series. After being hurt by the utterly financial motives of wringing franchises dry in many a fantasy series (Feist, Jordan et. al.), I'm very wary of anything much beyond a trilogy. So often what could have been a decent book or two becomes increasingly lame carbons of itself.

Not so here.

As well as the usual flawless atmosphere and engaging characters, all of a sudden this book slides into a spy thriller! An excellent, page-turning spy-thriller. I love that O'Brian has given himself the room - in terms of characters, setting, and timeline - to roam freely between and around historical minutia, high-seas adventure, social commentary, humour (both broad (e.g. Maturin's hilarious cricket triumph) and subtle, philosophy, friendship, war, peace, anthropology, intrigue, domesticity, romance and natural history - to name just a few. Sure this may mean readers may prefer some books over others, but it also means O'Brian can more effectively avoid formula.

I wonder whether there's a pattern emerging in my appreciation of this series: I relish a book; I approach the next book with high expectations and am mildly disappointed; I approach the next one with lower expectations and relish it etc. Or is it my mood that is changing, not the quality of the books? I fully intend to test this theory by going back to the start once I've worked my way through all twenty (twenty!) of them. Just at the moment I'm relishing that I've got so much to look forward to.

"The Fortune of War" continues where "Desolation Island" left the readers hanging in Patrick O'Brian's previous novel. But rather than being rescued and safe, Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are taken out of the frying pan and put in the fire. Whether it is an exploding ship heading home, the pummeling broadsides of the USS Constitution, or the clutches of the fledgling American intelligence network; Patrick O'Brian gives his famous and beloved protagonists almost more than they can handle.

Aubrey and Maturin spend the majority of this novel as prisoners of war in Boston, while the War of 1812 continues a series of great victories for the newly founded American Navy. Aubrey, severely wounded, is more of an auxiliary character in this novel, and Stephen Maturin comes fully into the foreground as the main protagonist attempting to save his friends. Diana Villiers also returns to the series, and Maturin must deal with his feelings for her in addition to the American agent with whom she is currently associating. The great intelligence coup Maturin achieved in the previous novel has returned to haunt him, as his powerful enemies close in on all sides. . .

This novel is great spy adventure set in Boston, and contains two very well written historical engagements with America's new fleet of frigates- the USS Constitution and the Chesapeake. As a patriotic American, it was a challenging read, as my two favorite literary characters would have been my adversaries if I had been their contemporaries. However, O'Brian writes this story with a well balanced eye to this conflict of interests between the British and American people. Additionally, I have to give a shout out to the USS Constitution, as I am a member of its honorific namesake in the modern American Army- the 1st Armored Division "Old Ironsides", and have spent some great times in her city of origin, & where she can be seen today: Boston. The one drawback of this story is that it has a substantive portion of the adventure on land. Granted, it is still a great story and very well written, but the magic of journeying across the wild and untamed ocean is not present.

While not the best of the Aubrey/Maturin series; I am always eager for more action at sea, "The Fortune of War" is very readable and enjoyable. It is also essential to read in order as the second installment of the first miniseries within O'Brian's larger story arc. Make sure you start with "Desolation Island" first.

The Aubrey/Maturin series seems to get even better with each installment. The Fortune of War begins with Lucky Jack bringing his ship into port after the events of Desolation Island and reaches a thunderous conclusion with historical battle between the Chesapeake and the Shannon. In between O'Brian provides the reader with naval disasters, naval battles, cloak and dagger, tense escapes and even a cricket game! All this is set against the backdrop of the opening months of the War of 1812. The reader lives through unexpected reverses at sea and unanticipated successes on land in what is a tragic and senseless war.
In The Fortune of War Aubrey and Maturin spend much of their time in the United States where Louisa Wogan and Diana Villiers of early books reside. The reader gets an excellent feel for the period and place. Interestingly, in what appears to be a nod to modern readers, O'Brian cites the low taxes in the USA. Also, many modern readers might be surprised to read how unpopular "Mr. Madison's War" was at the time. Ironically what was a nasty, vicious war on the Canada/US border was a gentleman's war at sea. Officers were paroled and free to roam the streets in an enemy city. Ships' captains could write courteous letters to enemy captains inviting them out to engage in bloody naval conflicts. Perhaps the greatest irony was that the two societies with the freest men were engaging in a wasteful conflict while a tyrant was running roughshod over Europe.
Perhaps the most interesting perspectives for the naval buff are O'Brian's explanations of initial American successes at sea and their affect on British morale. According to O'Brian American frigates (the largest class they had available) outgunned their RN counterparts. Furthermore, many of their officers and men had learned their gunnery skills on RN ships. However, the RN was also the victim of some its own policies and past successes. The restrictions on the use of gunpowder in practice left Captains without independent means the opportunity to maintain crews with a high level of fighting efficiency. Furthermore, the systems of privilege and patronage had put a number of excellent captains on shore and poor or mediocre captains at the helms of fighting ships. Nelson's successes were also a problem. His approach to attacking French and Spanish ships was inadequate for better trained American crews. For the RN, which had a magnificent track record for decades culminating with Nelson's victory at Trafalgar, the few relatively insignificant tactical losses to the Americans were devastating to morale. Aubrey's reaction demonstrates this thoroughly. The fact that ships like the Constitution were severely damaged and out of action for long periods after victories did not satisfy. Nor did the victories on land in Canada.
The Fortune of War features some of the best action sequences that O'Brian put on paper. In particular, the historical battle sequences are riveting. The reader also gets to see the good Dr. Maturin as a man of action. Somewhat surprisingly the gentle doctor can be quite ruthless when the need arises. Rescued from torture by Jack Aubrey earlier in the series, it is now Maturin who plays the role of rescuer.
O'Brian has succeeded in providing his most action packed novel to date without sacrificing any of the use of language and insight into human nature that have been constants in the series. This is the best entry to date in what may be the greatest historical series written.

As always a well written story of the sea. Aubrey and Maturin are wonderful as always. The action is well written and it was easy to become part of it. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series. Anyone that enjoys historical fiction is bound to enjoy these books.

The previous volume ended with the orchestrated escape of Mrs. Wogan and Michael Herapath from Desolation Island in an American whaler, and the reader knew that "the horrible old LEOPARD" was about to forge on, too, having managed to replace her destroyed rudder. This volume begins in late 1812, with the LEOPARD limping into harbor in the East Indies, with only a sentence or two given to the fate of Gov. William Bligh in Australia -- which didn't strike me as quite fair. The historical Bligh is a very interesting personality. However. The LEOPARD is good now only as a transport, and Jack Aubrey has been told of a nice frigate awaiting his command on his return to England, so he and Dr. Maturin and their followers take homebound passage with an old acquaintance of Jack's. It's a lovely voyage as far as the mid-Atlantic, but then events catch up with them, and they find themselves in a small boat struggling to reach the coast of Brazil. They're rescued by the JAVA -- which is then taken by the CONSTITUTION, the third British frigate to fall to the small U.S. Navy in a very short time. Very depressing for our heroes, but O'Brian doesn't hesitate to laud the abilities of the American seamen and commanders. Maturin and the wounded Jack end up as prisoners of war in Boston, where Stephen Maturin's intelligence activities against Napoleonic France come back to haunt him, and where he joins up again with Diana Villiers, Herapath (father and son), and Louisa Wogan. The focus is more on Maturin in this book than in most of the others (so far), and he shows himself to be quite cold-blooded when necessary in pursuit of his covert objectives. Escape from Boston becomes necessary when it becomes obvious that no exchange is contemplated for them, and they make their way to the SHANNON, which is maintaining the blockade of Boston Harbor, and which sends in a gentlemanly challenge to the CHESAPEAKE to come out and fight -- all of which is historically accurate, though strange to modern notions of warfare. And that brief but epic engagement is where this volume ends, with an obvious segue into the next. The earlier volumes were generally self-contained narratives, with a period of unremarked time passing between them, but the present novels cover too great a series of events to be dealt with properly in a single volume. And the greater the impact they have on history, the more Jack tends to recede into a secondary position -- which is only fair, since O'Brian didn't want to perturb the historical record too greatly. I enjoyed this volume in the series rather more than the last one, perhaps because I'm more knowledgeable than most about the early National period in the U.S. and the War of 1812 in particular. O'Brian does an excellent, balanced job of describing the local political situation in New England, and his powers of characterization are as strong as ever.

"Fortune of War" is the sixth installment in Patrick O'Brian's monumental 20-volume 19th-century maritime series. It is full of energy, as Captain Jack Aubrey and best friend Stephen Maturin limp into port in HMS Leopard, after their adventures from the previous book. Aubrey learns that he is to be given a fine new ship, but must take a transport to Britain to meet her. He never makes it. He suffers shipwreck, two burnings, and two of the epic sea battles that O'Brian depicts so keenly that a reader is torn between reading them apace and pausing to catch some breath. The War of 1812 with the United States has begun and the American frigate USS Constitution is building what will become an enduring historical legacy. In Boston, Maturin meets Diana Villiers, his long-time love, and confronts shadows from his past of espionage.
Once again, O'Brian has combed the historical records and offered up an engaging blend of fiction and fact. These ships did exist, the spirit of 1812 Boston is faithful and evocative. Odd as it sounds, Aubrey and Maturin have evolved in something of a Kirk-and-Spock team. Aubrey is all action, sometimes a bit shallow, but always gregarious and outgoing. Maturin is stoic, deep and introspective, and always pulling strings that others can not even see but that often reach across seas and years in their reach. They are a well-matched team, they make us smile. This is a good book.

This is the sixth volume in the Aubrey/Maturin series, and focusses on the War of 1812 - although less than a third of the way through the series, we are now getting quite late in the Napoleonic Wars. The story continues the same voyage from 'Desolation Island', and the events and characters of that book are significant. So it's advisable to read that prior to this, even if you don't read all of the five prequels.

Two naval battles and a desperate longboat voyage are featured, but the heart of the story is Aubrey and Maturin as POWs in Boston, where Maturin's past spying activities are coming back to haunt him. This part of the story is done very well.

The principal complaint is one that applies to all the books in this series, so at least readers will be used to it by now. The books are loaded with contemporary naval terms and slang which O'Brian never stops to explain, leaving the reader to spend almost as much time at sea as the heroes.

The series is generally strong on historical authenticity, but an earlier revewer complains that this volume is an exception. I suspect that is so; from my own knowledge of the War of 1812, the close Franco-American alliance which is portrayed in this book, while it would have made political sense, never really existed. Such errors are unfortunate in an author who normally avoids them, but they didn't spoil the story for me.

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.

In "The Fortune of War" Patrick O'Brian cranks up the action & never lets it falter. This, the 7th installment of the Aubrey/ Maturin series, starts in Java & takes us to the infant United States where war has been declared with Britain.
Jack Aubrey & his friend Stephen Maturin survive a fire at sea, near death from dehydration & exposure, a close battle at sea which leaves Aubrey with a severely injured arm, being taken prisoner by the Americans, pneumonia & fatal intrigues between battling intelligence agents. The situations Maturin finds himself in due to his previous disinformation campaigns are particularly exciting. The book ends with a victorious HMS Shannon defeating USS Chesapeake right outside Boston Harbor.
This is an intricately plotted, exciting installment of Patrick O'Brian's excellent series, that wraps up story lines from previous books, & introduces complications to be pursued in the following "The Surgeon's Mate". If you are dipping into this series, you will definitely not want to miss "The Fortune of War"! It will leave you eager for the next book.

As an American I found it extremely interesting to read "The Fortune of War." Fourth grade history books always gloss over the second war with Britain, now here's a book that brings it to life. My only problem: whom should I root for, our British heroes or my American countrymen?
O'Brian has managed to inject his characters into several real historical battles without allowing them to have any influence on the outcome. If the main characters don't have an influence on the outcome, what's to keep a gal reading? A lot, it turns out. Subterfuge, espionage, romance, danger, and exploration of "the human condition" made this a page-turner for me. (Though not as much as the last book, "Desolation Island.")
I recommend this book. If you liked the others, you should enjoy this one too.

Aha! I got you, O'Brian! Johnson and the doctor are discussing turkey buzzards and such, and Johnson mentions that he expects to see a bald eagle's nest the following day at a friend's place "in the state of Maine". But Maine did not become a state until 1820; before that year, it was part of Massachusetts.

This is the last of the superb sextet which begins the series; then a decline in quality sets in, and the final few installments are just plain bad. But I would recommend the first six to anyone. "The Fortune of War" belongs more to Maturin than Aubrey, who is without a command from very early in the book. It's quieter than its predecessors, with more inner monologue than action.

After several wonderful tales involving Lucky Jack and his sidekick, the Good Doctor, it's high time for Stephen to take center stage. From the minute our intrepid travelers land in Boston as POWs in the War of 1812, Dr Maturin takes command of the well-being of his dear friend, Aubrey, his love interest, Diana, and his own future. Stephen single-handedly foils the French and American Intelligence Networks, destroys years of work by his misinformation, and disposes of several nasty French Spies himself. O'Brian has outdone himself with The Fortune of War. Masterful setting, plot shifts, characterization and changes in mood combine with Carriage Chases in the Boston Fog, daring and narrow escapes, and a reversal of the usual story of Stephen falling down hatches or out of boats with Jack there to save him. This time it's Stephen on his own ground, thumping the combined Yankee-French Intelligence Network and saving his loved ones in high dramatic style. But, in all fairness, Jack gets back to sea in time to perform his own feats of derring-do in this wonderful Aubrey-Maturin dazzler!!

An excellent book, though no less could be expected from O'Brian. I took a considerable amount of time off between Desolation Island and this book so the characters and the nautical terms were a little unfamiliar to me. After the first twenty pages or so the characters, terms and myself came together like three old friends laughing and remembering our past adventures.
O'Brian re-introduces characters from his previous books (Diana Villiers, Michael Herapath and Louisa Wogan) which I found tiresome from his previous works. In this book, however, O'Brian uses these three characters to great effect. To see my old friend Stephen Maturin become the ruthless spy I always wanted him to be was exhilirating.
This is an excellent book and should be read by anyone who professes a liking for sea stories or historical fiction. Any bibliophile who is aimlessly scanning these reviews and has not read this series should start as soon as possible. Any O'Brian fan who wants to know if this tale is as good as the others in the Aubrey-Maturin series, let not your heart be troubled, it is excellent.

Amazing.
The above reviewer dissatisfied with this book misses the (whole) point I fear, else he is small-minded.
I confess I don't read for historical accuracy, but enjoyment.
This author has it all; psychology, character development, action/suspense, technics, logic, you name it. (Maybe not history; I don't follow.)
I am not a scholarly reader, but these books astonish me; I believe some of the best in english fiction.

I bought all twenty of the hardbacks, and spent a few weeks ignoring everything else in my life. I was so absorbed by this series. It is fantastic. I'm sorry it came to an end. I bought the eleven books of Horatio Hornblower which I'm reading now. While it is enjoyable, they don't match up against Captain Jack and Dr. Maturin.

This one has it all! Romantic tension, exploding ships, climactic battle scenes, and (my favorite) ingrigue! The characters, are at their most Jack-and-Stephenesque. O'Brian manages to fit more meaning and emotion into a single simple sentence than any author since Austen and he manages to fit more events into this book than many of his others. Anyone who has gotten this far in the series doesn't need me to urge them to read this one, but I couldn't help but sing its praises.

This is the sixth volume in the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian.

In the first (Master & Commander) I was exposed to a new language and the nautical terms were a bit of a mystery, but now after reading the first six books I am addicted to O'Brian's "voice", style and masterful story telling. I finished this book while on vacation and the ending left me eager to pick up the next one in the series; alas, I had to wait for my return to "civililization" to find #7. This is character development at its best and O'Brian must be among the finest authors of action/adventure novels, especially of the Napoleonic wars era.

This is the sixth volume in the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian.

In the first (Master & Commander) I was exposed to a new language and the nautical terms were a bit of a mystery, but now after reading the first six books I am addicted to O'Brian's "voice", style and masterful story telling. I finished this book while on vacation and the ending left me eager to pick up the next one in the series; alas, I had to wait for my return to "civililization" to find #7. This is character development at its best and O'Brian must be among the finest authors of action/adventure novels, especially of the Napoleonic wars era.

A worthy addition to the life-changing Aubrey-Maturin opus, chiefly distinguished for this reader by its heart-stopping description of an attempted assasination attempt on Maturin on the fog-bound streets of Boston, an episode matched in the series only by the chase of the Waakhaamzheid in Desolation Island.

I assume that people interested in audio versions of O'Brian's novels have already read the books. So, listening to to the book is a supplementary pleasure that can follow a great read. My rating here has nothing to do with the literary quality of the work in question. The whole Aubrey-Maturin series is superb. But if you want to listen to them I warn you to stay away from any of the versions read by Simon Vance. His are tedious, monotonous readings, in which he is unable to sufficiently differentiate the characters, with their diverse accents from around the world. For example, Maturin grew up in Ireland, and should therefore have a bit of an Irish accent. Vance can't do it. Rather, he gives us wooden characters that makes Jack sound like a bombastic jerk, and Stephen like a mincing prig. And in his hands, Diana sounds like a silly simpering ninny. An actor, not just a reader is required. I highly recommend Patrick Tull, who recorded the entire series with consistent success and enthusiasm, as well as John Lee, who unfortunately only recorded the first 6 volumes.

I assume that people interested in audio versions of O'Brian's novels have already read the books. So, listening to to the book is a supplementary pleasure that can follow a great read. My rating here has nothing to do with the literary quality of the work in question. The whole Aubrey-Maturin series is superb. But if you want to listen to them I warn you to stay away from any of the versions read by Simon Vance. His are tedious, monotonous readings, in which he is unable to sufficiently differentiate the characters, with their diverse accents from around the world. For example, Maturin grew up in Ireland, and should therefore have a bit of an Irish accent. Vance can't do it. Rather, he gives us wooden characters that makes Jack sound like a bombastic jerk, and Stephen like a mincing prig. And in his hands, Diana sounds like a silly simpering ninny. An actor, not just a reader is required. I highly recommend Patrick Tull, who recorded the entire series with consistent success and enthusiasm, as well as John Lee, who unfortunately only recorded the first 6 volumes.