Patrick O'Brian Books

what can i say -- i love the author & the illustrator!
my nephew wrote this wonderful story of how life could be if we (the world) could see how we are the same & not different...
the 'presidents' are the continents & each thinks it is best by virtue of something unique. they seek the wise man who tells them that 'planet earth is the best'
illustrated beautifully...

Despite his millions of dollars, Clouse has been unable to purchase peace of mind and safety for those he loves. In this sequel, it soon becomes apparent that someone has been following his every move as well as watching his friends. The saddest part of the journey has been the deaths of Paul's closest and dearest friends over the past two years (some of my favorite characters). Daniels remains his ally and Clouse adds Tim Niemeyer's brother in the fight against the evil avenger. Four reapers have died, but still a cloaked killer threatens Clouse's family. The addition of the historical diaries from the past brings a new dimension to the historical legend, but other objects introduced into this story will change the direction of future events to come. Speculation about characters from the second novel adds more mystery and the answers to those questions are revealed in the plot. At the end of the novel the mystery surrounding various characters has been revealed, but don't count anyone out in this continuing mystery series.

Although Paul Clouse is vaguely present in this episode of the series, he still has a prominent importance in the plot. Never say never when considering what might be plausable. The twist in the events will surprise readers, but no doubt the ending will delight. The characters in the investment group visiting the mansion seem believeable and personable. O'Brian has again created characters who resonate with real life individuals and touch your heart. The villians are delightfully evil. I can't wait to see what will happen in the next book. The murder scenes/descriptions are again gruesome and adult language is present in the text. The pictures at the end of the book illustrate the rich history of the area which is tied into the writing. Vivid description and humouous metaphors and similies add to the colorful writing. Don't miss this one!
Note: Although this is book four, most of the characters in the first three books are not central characters in this novel so you may easily read book four without having first read the earlier trilogy. The investment group characters are the main focus of the plot as Clouse has decided to sell the Dome and move on with his life. I suspect that there will be a book five and book six so this may become the second trilogy, but that is my own personal speculation at this point. It is hard to "give up" the members of the investment group without expecting to see them return and take up where this book stopped much as was the case in the first three books.

I have read the entire series four times. I have several companion books including one w/maps of the various adventures and so on. I highly recommend that every reader give this series a try... you won't regret it.

I purchased this "Movie Tie-In Edition" of Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander to complete my collection of the 20-odd volumes that O'Brian wrote on the partnership of Jack Aubrey and Stephan Maturin during the Napoleonic wars and after.

I had read the original and was concerned that this volume might have more to do with the movie version than on the actual book. This an unfounded concern. Although the cover (and price) reflect the recent movie, the text is true to the original, except for "americamizing" the spelling of some of O'Brians english idioms.

The book is exactly what I expected and I recommend it highly to those who delight in getting their media entertainment from the written page and not DVDs, CDs, iPods or such like BS. If you enjoy the prospect of having a cohesive, well-written and well-researched series of historical novels to enliven your reading, this book and the series behind it are for you.

I have lost count of the number of times I have read and re-read all 20 books in the Aubrey/Maturin canon (about 7000 pages) in recent years. O'Brian is a master storyteller with an unbounded imagination and razor wit. The action is fast paced, and his characters are richly drawn, compelling, amusing, heroic and flawed. O'Brian is 20th century Charles Dickens.

Master and Commander introduces the Jack Aubrey/Stephen Maturin seafaring series, which takes place during the Napoleanic Wars. It tells the story of the developing friendship between Jack and Stephen. It portrays life aboard a war ship, describing the conditions, expectations, hardships and attitudes in the kind of detail a landlubber such as Stephen would need. While there are a couple of battles, particularly toward the end, most of the action comprises setting the stage for what will come.

O'Brian is a master storyteller whose command of the English language ranks among the best I have ever read. He uses an old writing style, which I believe is intentional; it sets the stage for the early 18th Century-late 19th Century. I have never encountered so many words new to me in a single book. But rather than distract from the story, this challenged my mind.

I found the author's dry wit highly entertaining. One of the reasons I'll read the book again is that I'm sure I missed a lot of his subtle humor. For example, in one scene, Jack is writing a letter to his superiors, who he wants to impress. In it, he uses the word, "insidious," when he means "invidious." In another scene, he refers to the Catalan language as a "putain" when he means a "patois." Putain is Spanish for something several degrees coarser than the word, hooker.

I'll admit that a lot of the naval lingo - although explained - went over, or out of, my head. I just don't care which part of the ship is the stern or bow, how many guns it has, or which way the wind is blowing. Keel is a verb that means to faint and poop is something you scoop off the sidewalk when you walk your dog. But never, ever did I feel like I was being lectured.

Master and Commander is a riveting story. It's funny, informative and entertaining - all at the same time.

Highly recommended, especially for readers who prefer action/adventure and an intellectual challenge.

This is where it begins. Jack Aubrey becomes captain of the Sophie. He hires as his ship's physician Stephen Maturin. The two of them sail across the Mediterranean. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Ursula LeGuin recommends this book in Steering the Craft, a good manual for aspiring writers. I took her advice even if I had already seen the movie based on the book (and disliked it very much). I have to admit the book is nothing like the movie. The book makes the heroes, and the naval everyday life, much more vivid and real than the movie ever did. To be fair, the script was a ill-conceived attempt to remix several books from this series in one action-packed naval drama... Well, more is definitely less.

Back to the book: I can't say I loved the book. I have nothing to complain about. It is well written - the style seems to emerge right away from the early nineteen century, it is never boring and all characters show a true delicacy of feelings. But it feels like a very long introduction to a tale that will unfold in another book. It is a very long, and very beautiful, expository lump.

If you know right away that you're going to read several books from the series, well, I highly recommend this reading. If you want to read this one first and decide after where to go, well, I have mixed feelings. I guess I will read the sequel one of these days. Who knows? I could very well end up loving the series.

Many complain that this volume lacks sufficient adventure, focusing too much on the manners of the time. I can understand that sentiment, although I don't sympathize with it. Patrick O'Brian was not merely trying to write rousing adventure novels - pot boilers, as they're commonly called. This he could have easily done, and saved much paper. However, I wouldn't have read them more than once, if that.

Instead, he chose to weave a complex tapestry of the time, to immerse us in the history, society and characters as they lived and breathed. The difficulty of this undertaking can hardly be overstated, and his mastery of languages, history, science, seamanship, culinary arts and the craft of authorship is astounding.

I am grateful that he would not sacrifice history to make a story more exciting; I don't mind having our doughty protagonists watch a battle as prisoners so that I can have a grander view of the events of the time. Or that we see how they would have found their respective spouses in the Dickensian society of the time. It doesn't make Aubrey and Maturin any less interesting -- and provides a depth to the plots that could not be had otherwise.

In fact, it is truly amazing how well these novels tie together, how events in earlier books can naturally lead to complications and subplots several volumes later. And how the characters evolve with extreme subtlety and psychological depth.

Perhaps, then, these novels were written specifically for me; sometimes I feel as if it were so. I revel in the minutiae, in the playful humor, in the nascent science and discovery. I enjoy the story on land as much as on the sea; the manners as much as the adventures. I have read them all several times.

Patrick O'Brian, whatever his faults, bequeathed upon humanity a rare and wonderful gift: a fully encompassing view into another time and place that let's us understand our own world better. And he did it with compassion and understanding and marvelous wit. It is with that view that I implore readers with a similar bent to embark on this enthralling voyage.

This second volume in the Aubrey/Maturin Series continues both the friendship and the adventure for the two protagonists. They vie for love, struggle with poverty, and continue to harass both French and Spanish shipping. Anyone who enjoys a good sea adventure will be sure to be entertained.

I am a great fan of the Aubrey-Maturin series, so I am loathe to write anything negative. However, I have struggled to finish "Post Captain". It is tedious reading, and dull for the most part. The book never really establishes a plot line. It shifts through a listless struggle between Aubrey and Maturin's romantic aspirations, and then back to Jack's dicey struggle with his chain of command. The book confuses and makes painful reading at times. It lacks the sublime feeling I had from reading other volumes in the series.

This is the second book a series which is most entertaining to me. There are people who may not like all the information about life on ships and sailing them but the action and the relationships between the characters is totally riviting. I even had to buy the companion books, one of which is "A Sea Of Words" to understand what I was reading and laughing at. I don't know if I would sugest reading these books out of order since they are so much fun going from the first to the last.

The setting is strong and the characters are interesting. This series has been given accolades for a quarter-century, and I know it has promise, and I know I'll keep reading. Even with all this, the sophomore entry in this series was a let-down in tension.

Tension doesn't have to be big sea battles between military-grade warships, but it does have to be engaging and threaten the protagonist. Other than a somewhat minor relationship issue between Jack and Sophie and Diana the only real novel-length theme was Jack's continuing struggles with his finances.

As a chronicle of the life in opening of the nineteenth century it is a great book. It demonstrated the core of military power - the Navy and it's ongoing internal political struggles as well as a rivalry with the Army. More interesting than Jack Aubrey and his money troubles is the revelations in this volume of the hidden life of Stephen Maturin, land-heir and intelligence spy - but for whom? His mini-adventures and influence keep one interested in the book and keep one guessing.

It's a serviceable book in the series, which put it above many author's best work.

- CV Rick, February 2008

An excellent book, I found all the words I could not find in other nautical terms compilations, well described too!

Sea of Words, Third Edition is the essential companion to the completed set of Aubrey-Maturin sea tales by Patrick O'Brian. You can't find these words in other dictionaries.

Without a good sea jargon dictionary the reader will loose the essence of rolling along with any sailing author. I keep at hand when roving with Lewrie and Aubrey on the briny.

It is clearly too ambitious a project to explain, in a 500-page trade paperback, every potentially confusing term and name in the Aubrey / Maturin series. But I expected a better effort than this.

The introductory essays on the on the nature and structure of the British navy and time line of the Napoleonic wars was quite good; the narrative on naval medicine not so much, but passable still.

The real issue is lack of content in the encyclopedic portion of the book. Simply put, you'll run across quite a few terms in any given Aubrey / Maturin novel that simply are not in this book.

Examples from "The Far Side Of The World" alone, as I quickly breeze through, of words and terms mentioned there but not here: "bar-tailed godwit" (kind of bird); "shamming Abraham" (pretending to be sick, or being a thief, beggar, etc.); "St Abdon's day (Saint Abdon, a cooper, is the patron saint of coopers); "specktioneer" (on a whaler, the lead harpooner).

Again, given the scope and nature of the Aubrey / Maturin series, it's beyond naive to expect any one reference book to answer every potential question the series might raise. But, at the least, all sailing terms should be explained without fail, as well as period-specific euphemisms.

Given that about 85 percent of this book is encyclopedia, I really have to hold that out as the defining standard of its worth. Simply put, it fails.

There are several Web-based documentation efforts for the Aubrey / Maturin series: A wiki (unforutunately, it's on a slow, unreliable Web server, which is why it's largely incomplete); a Google Earth project to point out all the places named in the series; and a hit-or-miss links page, all of which can be found at Wikipedia's Patrick O'Brian page.

It seems to me that new technologies provide the best way to document O'Brian's stories of old.

I bought the Patrick O'Brian anthology as a Christmas present for my husband. He has always been intrigued by the Navy and the Tall Ships and the history they played when our nation was formed. I think he vicariously sees himself as C.S. Forester's 'Horatio Hornblower'. I guess this could explain why he likes to do dishes, laundry or anything else that involves using water. He is a former Navy submariner(1957) and, me thinks, a person has to be daft or have an absolute affinity for any body of water no matter how great or how deep. In consideration of the enormity of this collection, I doubt that I will see my husband for several months as he will have his nose into these books...and enjoy riding the high seas once again.

I enjoyed this book. Besides the fact that Napoleonic History is a hobby of mine, I believe that the author truly has put to words what a naval commander must feel while assigned to year long mission. Aubrey is miserable on land and yearns for another command even though that means leaving his wife and young children. While Aubrey is a hero on the high seas, he is a ship wreck on terra firma. Back at sea, he comes back to life but begins to feel isolated from a crew that hasn't entirely warmed to him. As always his physician, Maturin makes insightful analysis of his friend Jack, but that is not all.
We begin to see more into Maturin's alternate persona, as a highly trusted intelligence agent, as he is entrusted with delivering an American spy to the Botany Bay penal colony. Has the good Dr successfully manipulated the American spy after arranging for her "escape?" We will see.
Throughout the voyage we are treated to the author's great tale-telling: cat-and-mouse encounter with a Dutch ship-of-the-line as well as the perils of the South Atlantic.
Definitely worth reading.

I admit that this fifth book in the Aubrey-Maturin series starts a little slow and remains seemingly mundane until several chapters into it. Then the tension builds up until you can hardly bear it. Of all the POB books I've read so far, this one gave me a breathless, tight feeling in my chest as the characters got deeper and deeper in peril. While the naval action is sparse, it is tremendous when it occurs. Several other reviewers have praised the battle scene in Desolation Island and I can hardly add more to their comments other than to say that O'Brian punctuates the military engagement with one of the most concise and moving moments of character development I have ever read. (And it is generally true that in the Aubrey-Maturin series character drives the action, and the action in turn reveals and further refines the character.) The main arc of the story involves Maturin's intelligence work, and the intrigues will appeal to fans of John leCarre. Indeed the pacing of it is much more akin to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy than to Forester's Beat to Quarters.

A devoted fan of the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey-Maturin series from book one, MASTER AND COMMANDER, I've been slowly savoring these novels. This one, the fifth in the series, takes a little while to really get started.

The uninitiated reader should not begin with DESOLATION ISLAND which, try as the author might to provide a modicum of amplifying information about events that occurred in earlier volumes, doesn't entirely succeed in helping the reader of the previous books recall all of the earlier events alluded to let alone, I would venture to say, assist the new reader navigate through them.

But never mind. Except for the especially well versed, or the extremely diligent, reader, there are always aspects of the Aubrey-Maturin books that one just lets slide: not knowing a spritsail from a foresail isn't going to detract from your enjoyment; in fact, it might help you better relate to the resident lubber, Dr. Stephen Maturin. I relish these books because of O'Brian's wonderful mastery of language that seems to capture so well the world of the early eighteenth century British Royal Navy. One can afford to let a thorough understanding slip a bit to stay immersed in O'Brian's intoxicating love of words.

O'Brian's novels revolve around the friendship between the captain, Lucky Jack Aubrey, and the ship's doctor, Maturin. (If this makes you think of Star Trek, you're not far off.) The way they interact is one of the joys of reading O'Brian. Of course, one also reads these books for the enthralling depictions of life at sea and the gripping sea battles. In addition, O'Brian throws in bit of the espionage genre to enjoy, insofar as that in addition to his day job as a surgeon, and his avocation as a naturalist, Dr. Maturin is an agent of the British government. Finally, there's a thread of humor that runs throughout the novels. (In DESOLATION ISLAND, for instance, Maturin is listening to the captain's orders being repeated, and "licking a piece of ice--it was quite fresh--once again meditated upon the enormous amount of repetition in the service" (p. 250).)

The significant problem with DESOLATION ISLAND is that the things that one enjoys about the O'Brian novels are in somewhat short supply for the first couple of hundred pages: the relationship between Jack and Stephen is not that much further developed; there's little battle action (though what there is is intense); with much of the book taking place on an isolated vessel, the espionage theme is constrained; and the humor is somewhat a pale echo of the earlier books. Fascinated by Chinese culture, I was at first delighted to see that a character introduced here, Herapath, is an American translator of classical Chinese poetry. Unfortunately, I had to suffer along with Maturin when the doctor found that circumstances made it difficult for him to learn much more about Herapath's interests.

Like the Monty Python peasant who said a witch turned him into a newt, the book does get much better. The last hundred and fifty pages or so are quite marvelous, in fact. O'Brian takes us to a place we weren't expecting, and the journey there is engrossing. These final sections really do redeem the entire work. And so, not put off by DESOLATION ISLAND, I look forward to further voyages with Lucky Jack Aubrey and Dr. Maturin.

Sorry but after reading this book and then seeing the reviews I have to ask if anyone is really READING it or just studying the words? Apart from Obrien's constant use of the old naval terminology which hardly anyone can understand (there were many whole paragraphs and chapters which made no sense whatsoever to the non-sailor) there was very little story at all? One review mentions Aubreys task is to rescue Captain Bligh in Australia. Apart from the mention of it at the start, it ends without them anywhere even close to Australia in a conclusion so abrupt I thought I'd lost half the book somewhere !!! Much as I enjoy these type of novels and will continue to consume them regardless of their quality(within reason),I have to say that reviews that class Obrien as one of the greatest historical fiction writer are pure fiction in themselves. How on earth these books can possibly be compared to Bernard Cornwell or C.S Forester is beyond my understanding(well I could be cynical and suspect that the critics have a conflict of interest somewhere) . I am begining to feel that the 20 odd books in the series could probably be condensed down into no more than 5 once the ramblings of old naval parlance and duplicated situations were dispensed with. I'm starting to feel I could even write one myself as long as I learned how to 'come up the fore and main topsail sheets half a fathom or ease my quoin for greater elevation' or maybe even learn what 'Royal and weather studding-sails' does? I really do hope that the quality improves over the next 15 I shall read. Yes I'll still read em but mainly due to lack of anything else new to me.

The fifth book in the Jack Aubrey/Stephen Maturin series of high seas adventure, DESOLATION ISLAND is neither as long nor as slow-moving as several of the other novels by Richard Russ, better known by his nom de plume of Patrick O'Brian. By and large, the adventure moves right along and even involves a few things that the indomitable Captain Jack Aubrey has never before experienced: an assignment to transport prisoners to Botany Bay, a ship in imminent danger of sinking, and an insurrection by a large number of his officers and crew who would prefer to risk the ocean in their small boats than to continue to man what they feel to be a doomed ship. When one considers the number of novel situations and various crises that appear in DESOLATION ISLAND, it is not inaccurate to observe that it may be one of the most exciting and readable novels in the series, at least among its early books.

Not unexpectedly, the usual authorial weaknesses displayed by Russ/O'Brian in his other books are also evident here, though perhaps not so blatantly. He attempts to foreshadow the desertion of the sinking Leopard through several conversations invoking the name of Captain Bligh and the mutiny that was raised against him on HMS Bounty. This proves to be an ineffectual foreshadowing, though, for not only are the circumstances of the desertion of the Leopard's crew quite different from those that motivated the Bounty's men, but, though an uncharacteristic permissiveness on Captain Aubrey's part, the crew actually desert with his acquiescence, thus technically avoiding a mutiny.

Russ/O'Brian, along with his readers, also reaches the end of the book with a huge question yet unanswered; that is, what the fate may be of the officers and crew who abandon the Leopard and depart in small boats, hoping for landfall a thousand miles away. Hopefully, this question is resolved in the following volume, THE FORTUNE OF WAR, but it is assuredly left hanging so far as this volume is concerned.

Russ/O'Brian has still not learned how to handle time transitions consistently, either. In one sentence, he may have an officer summoned, only to be addressing that officer in the very next sentence. Even the 23rd century transporter on the Starship Enterprise requires several moments to move an individual from one place to another! Occurrences of this annoying writing technique are, at least, less frequent than in some of Russ/O'Brian's other novels, giving the reader hope that they may disappear altogether before the twenty-first book of the series!

Still, even with these on-going shortfalls in writing style and technique, Russ/O'Brian has produced an adventure-filled novel which will hold the reader's attention quite well throughout most of its pages. On that basis alone, I am sorely tempted to rate it with four Amazon stars, but in truth I cannot quite justify that high a rating, for the appeal of the Russ/O'Brian seafaring novels lies solely in their plots, or, if one prefers, story lines. Great fiction is imbued with significance and meaning beyond the superficial story. The reader can discern a more universal message from the author, artfully depicted by the story he or she has chosen to weave. Alas, with Russ/O'Brian the story is all we get. It may be a moving story, and, indeed, it may depict a bit of the society and culture in which it is played out, but it is devoid of deeper or broader meaning. These novels are fine for entertainment and diversion, but as fiction that contributes to our knowledge of humanity or of the universe through which we move, they are insubstantial. Read them for fun, read them for pleasure, read them for diversion and relaxation, but do not come to them anticipating a great vicarious learning experience, for there is none to be had. With this observation in mind, I find that I am far more comfortable with myself in continuing to rate Russ/O'Brian as a three-star author.

This book, third in the wonderful series, is the first that makes one think that perhaps some of the usual descriptions are missing something.

If you read the story and reflect upon it, do you possibly come to think that perhaps, in reality, the story of Jack Aubrey's career is mostly a peg on which to hang the complex life-story of Stephen Maturin?

So instead of the sea-captain being the central figure, and Maturin his interesting companion, the books are about a wonderfully rich and complex individual who happened to spend much of his life at sea in the Navy of the early 1800's.

Consider: we are made privy to far more of Stephen's inner thoughts than Jack's: we usually see Jack from outside, but we look over Stephen's shoulder as he pens his diary. We are fully in touch with Stephen's emotions, in all the key points in his relationship with Diane, the terrible sadness over the child Dil - whereas when Jack receives a srong emotional blow, for instance in "Master and Commander," where he comes back from finding Molly Harte together with Colonel Pitt, "He was very pale, and in the strong moonlight he looked deathly - black hole for a mouth, hollows for his eyes." All right, we understand his feelings, but by outside observation, not by entering into Jack's thoughts.

By contrast, in HMS Surprise we have the heart-wrenching drama of Stephen and Diana: surely the moment when he feels through the envelope, the ring returned to him, that he had given with such hopes, is one of the most touching in literature. And what are we to think of Diana? Are moral judgments relevant? Surely we can understand her wish to escape the worlds of both India and England, which have both given her nothing but cruelty. Yet if only Jack Aubrey had agreed to take her home in Surprise, what a different outcome there might have been, being with Stephen for the whole voyage. But Jack was stern and unwilling, partly because he felt she would only hurt Stephen, partly to assuage his own guilt for his past wooing of her.

Yet with all the emotional drama, we do not lack for naval action, or marvelous scenes, or humor. The descriptions of India surely can be compared to none but Kipling's of nearly 100 years later. We get the thunderous action where Jack saves the India merchant fleet from the French navy. And we have Stephen's three-toed sloth, brought aboard from the jungles of Brazil, a favorite with the ship's company: but it doesn't like Jack Aubrey until one day Jack gives it a little cake soaked in rum - ah-hah! "Some minutes later he felt a touch on his knee: the sloth had silently climbed down and it was standing there, its beady eyes looking up into his face, bright with expectation. More cake, more grog: growing confidence and esteem." After a few days of this, Stephen notes its condition - he "looked sharply round, saw the decanter, smelt to the sloth, and cried "Jack, you have debauched my sloth." Quite a row ensues, to the entertainment of those overhearing it...

I will need to have the whole series of Aubrey/Maturin adventures to listen to as I work. Nothing like vacuming, cleaning the house, watering the plants etc, etc and listening to these stories.

For the bulk of this book Aubrey is the captain of the HMS Surprise, which he takes into Indian waters to protect Indiamen from a superior French force under a very capable admiral. While there, Stephen comes across his affection, Diana Villiers, who is also under the affections of an enterprising man named Canning. My review scarcely does the book justice, but suffice to say that HMS Surprise is an engrossing read, and will keep one impressed with O'Brian and yearning for more of Aubrey and Maturin

O'Brian manages to keep to his high standard, although with my expectations so high I'm not as able to relish the joy of first discovering Aubrey and Maturin.

There really is so much going on historically it's amazing that the detail doesn't swamp the story. The personal and professional lives of our two heroes really establish them as three dimensional people, but men so clearly of their time. Upon reflection, it's impressive that we've got a sense of progression in the series, but are also carried along by episodes that could stand alone: the midnight rescue of a spy; sea battles in exotic places; the gripping duel to mention just a few.

I would still advise that the books be taken in occasional doses rather than a steady stream - I intend to enjoy O'Brian's company in annual visits for many years to come. I just have to try to trick my mind into comparing him to others rather than himself to appreciate what I'm getting.

H.M.S. Surprise by Patrick O'Brian, is the 3rd installment in the 21st book in the phenomenal Aubrey/Maturin series. This book featured the Indian subcontinent, as well as several poignant moments featuring Stephen Maturin. I do think that the series really establishes Stephen as the sould of the series in this novel. There is a fair amount of the espionage portion of Maturin's service in this story, which leads to a dairing rescue by Captain Jack Aubrey. The true mark of these books is how accessible the characters are, in spite of the complicated naval terms and true to the period of time ways of speaking. I love O'Brien's works. They are highly recommended. To mix things up, I would suggest listening to the unabridged version of H.M.S. Surprise, read by the excellent Patrick Tull. Tull will have you feeling the wind on your cheeks as he reads this wonderful tale.

I enjoyed this book as much as the previous by the author. The continuous character development of "Lucky" Jack Aubrey from one novel to the next is amazing. You almost feel as if you are standing on the quarterdeck witnessing the events.

I have read the first four books of the series and definitely recommend them.

Another amazing book in the series. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Particularly happy to find the book so quickly in Amazon's used collection. I'm working my way through this series, and using Amazon makes it easy to get the books I need that aren't readily available locally.

This book, in connection with the others, offers a deep insight into the British Navy's operations at the turn of the 19th century. As a maritime lawyer this gives substance to the English admiralty law's treatment of seamen as wards of the court. The absolute power of the ship's master and the focus of maritime life as taking prizes and deriving wealth from that is something we have no modern corollary for. Admittedly, the sailing terms are a challenge in the beginning, but as I work through the series, I've learned a lot about sailing and how dangerous and difficult life at sea was.

THE MAURITIUS COMMAND, the fourth novel in the series by Richard Patrick Russ (1914-2000) writing under the nom de plume of "Patrick O'Brian," is a distinct improvement over one of its predecessors, POST CAPTAIN. Russ/O'Brian seems to have abandoned his annoying experiments in writing techniques and has settled down to, more or less, a simple, straight-forward narrative style, which is imminently more readable.

As in earlier volumes, this book does not continue precisely where its predecessor left off. However, in this case the missing events are easily understood and reconstructed in the reader's consciousness. We do find that Jack Aubrey's marriage to Sophie is not precisely fulfilling for him; not surprisingly, we find that Aubrey's first love remains the sea and that he is not exactly the model of a perfect spouse. Of course, if one reads the author's real-life biography, Russ/O'Brian was far from a perfect husband, and one wonders whether he has somewhat patterned Aubrey after himself, but let us not read too much into that.

Soon, Aubrey is called to sea again, and the maritime action resumes and continues throughout the remainder of the book. Unlike POST CAPTAIN, this volume does not ramble for pages and pages about Aubrey's floundering on-shore life, thank goodness.

If one has a creative imagination, he could actually begin with THE MAURITIUS COMMAND, but the reader will certainly have a more complete appreciation of the characters if he has begun with the first volume, MASTER AND COMMANDER, and has approached each successive volume in order (POST CAPTAIN, then HMS SURPRISE, and only then THE MAURITIUS COMMAND). Perhaps we should consider each novel as an additional chapter in one extraordinarily lengthy book. This is not necessarily a criticism, just a caution to a reader who might be tempted to sample Russ/O'Brian's work by starting in the middle of the series.

The author does engage in some character development, and, by this fourth book, the person of Dr. Stephen Maturin has become more complex that we suspected at first. Not only is he an unusually gifted physician, but it seems as though he has shadowy political connections and is as instrumental as a "secret agent" as he is as a doctor. While this certainly provides a most interesting twist to the character of the good doctor, I sense that Russ/O'Brian is learning about his creation at the same time we are. I do not feel that he prepared us for this sort of complication in Maturin's nature. While I enjoy the increased complexity in the doctor, I am not at all sure that the author intended this from the beginning but suspect that he may be developing his characters by whim rather than by intent.

THE MAURITIUS COMMAND keeps the reader entertained throughout its length, but, after having now read four books in the series, I feel that Russ/O'Brian is a somewhat superficial writer who realizes that he should paint some complexity into his characters to keep them from becoming mere stereotypes but does not quite understand how to do this. As a writer, he is certainly superior to the authors of what we used to call "dime novel bodice-rippers," but he is far from displaying the skill of a C. S. Forrester or a Herman Melville.

I would suggest that the Aubrey-Maturin series of maritime adventure books is decent entertainment but that the novels are not especially memorable. I also find myself wondering whether the surface action, that is, the plot or superficial story line, may not become repetitious and boring before one reaches the end of the multi-book series. I'm actually hoping that Russ/O'Brian will mature more fully as an author as he accrues more experience in writing the future volumes. We shall see how he handles the fifth book, DESOLATION ISLAND, next.

The opening of The Mauritius Command brings us some changes, especially for Captain Jack Aubrey, who finds himself in the improbable role (for him) of husband and father of twins. Unsuccessful and hapless in his domestic life, he immediately jumps at the chance to leave England and take over a new command. Off the coast of Africa, Jack is promoted to commodore, putting him in command not just of his own ship but of a small fleet. In the course of the book, Jack stretches his abilities to the fullest as the British vie with the French for possession of several small islands crucial to controlling the India trade.

Of course, Dr. Stephen Maturin is on hand too. His facets as doctor, naturalist, and spy all come into play in the course of the novel. The previous novel, H.M.S. Surprise, involved incredible physical suffering, loss, and rejection for Stephen so it was nice to see him get a break in this installment. However, Stephen is still haunted by what has happened to him. A dark current runs through him that no doubt will resurface in future books.

The overriding issue explored in this novel is leadership and what it means to be a good leader. Jack has to deal with two very different captains serving under him, one of whom is a silly and vain man who is kind and familiar with his men and thus beloved by them. The other is a brave commander who exercises brutal tyranny with those under his rule. The weaknesses of both men lead to very different disasters.

In spite of the battles and some serious turns of event, The Mauritius Command involves more action and comedy and less angst than H.M.S. Surprise, making it a lighter read.

The Patrick O'Brian naval series of books are an acquired taste. If you love the first book, chances are that over the next few years you will find a way to work through the entire series. I do not recommend reading the book on its own. The true joy is seeing the transformation and progression of the two main characters.

The books are not for everyone, the writing style differs from what is found in 21st century adventure novels. The language is deep and the sentences are carefully crafted. While the books appear on the outside to be simple naval adventure tales, they are really deep studies in character development of a British naval officer and his best friend/ship surgeon/intelligence operative.

The Mauritius Command is one of the best books in the series. Almost the entire book takes place at sea. A few of the earlier book got bogged down whenever the lead character, naval officer Jack Aubrey, steps onto land, but at soon as he takes to sea the books take on a whole new life.

While the characters speak of honor and duty, the author makes no attempts to hide the rough, cruel, and violent life aboard British naval ships during the early 19th century. While not a quick read, if you are willing to invest the time and energy, the Mauritius Command and all of the books in the series are well worth you time.

This deep into the Aubrey-Maturin canon, it seems pointless to write an in-depth review for an imaginary reader who is on the verge of buying The Fortune of War. By the time you're arrived here, chances are you're committed to reading the entire series, and the many sparkling virtues of O'Brian's writing hardly need praise. As have all the Aubrey-Maturin novels so far, this one kept me up far too late, on a weeknight no less, as I was unable to sleep until I had finished it. Having devoured it with so much relish I can hardly give it a bad review. But I must complain that it ends on such an abrupt note and leaves so much up in the air that I feel a little cheated. I have high hopes that the arc of the story in The Fortune of War will continue in the next book in the series, but I would encourage other readers who are about to buy this one to go ahead and purchase The Surgeon's Mate right along with this one. Indeed this one has convinced me to go ahead and purchase the box set containing all twenty novels, as even the six that I have already read warrant repeated reading in the future, and I will be spared the anguish of having finished one book without the next one to pick up.

THE FORTUNE OF WAR is the sixth volume in Patrick O'Brian's masterful adventure series about Captain Jack Aubrey, R.N. and his dear friend, Dr. Stephen Maturin. Though the Aubrey-Maturin novels can stand more-or-less alone, the narratives are closely linked. THE FORTUNE OF WAR in this way finds Aubrey's ship, HMS Leopard, limping into the fictional bay of Pulo Batang in the Spice Islands, after its disastrous near-sinking by an iceberg in DESOLATION ISLAND. This volume has Aubrey and Maturin suffer two more disasters at sea before finding themselves prisoner in Boston. Earlier books in the series, in particular DESOLATION ISLAND, had had Americans figure into the story line, but this is the first in which the young American nation features prominently. The cause for this is the War of 1812, and now the focus of battle turns from the French and Spanish to the United States.

Maturin plays an especially strong part in the plot of THE FORTUNE OF WAR. Although the Aubrey -Maturin novels are historical nautical fiction, largely renowned for their accurate depiction of the early eighteenth-century Royal Navy, some of the novels may also be seen as part of the espionage genre, with Maturin serving as a spy on behalf of the British crown. In previous stories, for instance, Maturin suffered torture under the French for his espionage; in another instance, one closely tied to the plot of this story, he tricks the French into killing off a number of their intelligence assets. In THE FORTUNE OF WAR, Maturin's past catches up with him, and he is forced to take action of a sort that belies his reputation as a physician and gentle naturalist.

This novel is in some ways much stronger than the fifth volume, DESOLATION ISLAND, which, though having a strong finish, at times appeared to lose the wind in its sails. THE FORTUNE OF WAR makes it clear that O'Brian's ideas and storytelling remain strong and vibrant in this series; with so many volumes yet ahead, this is indeed reassuring.

As usual, O'Brian's research is thorough, yet the historical details don't overwhelm the story. The pace is fairly brisk, with only some stalling--perhaps appropriately so--in Boston. This is fortunately not caused so much by the reappearance of Diana Villiers, Stephen Maturin's great love of his life. (She is as welcome to this reader of O'Brian's stories as is Jack's wife, Sophie.) The wimpy minor character Michael Herapath, the son of a wealthy American trader, also reemerges. But I find him somewhat interesting for his passionate interest in Chinese poetry; this accurately reflects the growing interest in the nineteenth century in the literature of China, and is an example of the interesting ways O'Brian treats the reader with tastings of such historical esoterica.

THE FORTUNE OF WAR describes a couple of naval engagements. The one that features at the end of this novel is as good (if not better) as any rendered by Patrick O'Brian in any of the volumes up to this one. In it, O'Brian captures the technical details of the fighting while also conveying very effectively the horror of the moment (actually, fifteen minutes). It is crackerjack writing, vivid and spellbinding.

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.

For the first five novels in Patrick O'Brian's hallowed Aubrey-Maturin series, Captain "Lucky Jack" Aubrey was the swashbuckling hero and Dr. Stephen Maturin was the mysterious sidekick. Thanks to O'Brian's wonderful prose, this balance worked exceedingly well.

And yet, there was always a sense that there was more to the surgeon-spy Maturin than O'Brian was letting on . . . that he was more than a sidekick, but a serious player in his own right. Of course, this was slightly undercut with Maturin's hilarious inability to master even the most rudimentary elements of the seafaring life, but you still knew that Maturin had a courageous, dashing heart to go with his naturalist's brain.

In "The Fortune of War," Maturin shoves his way to the fore and Captain Aubrey is more or less sidelined with a grevious wound to his sword arm. The War of 1812 has broken out, and the British navy experiences some shocking defeats at the hands of the heretofore contemptible American navy. Eventually, Aubrey and Maturin find themselves going broadside-to-broadside with the Americans, but perhaps since Aubrey is not in command of his vessel (Aubrey and Maturin being saved from certain death after their ship sinks in a fiery accident), Aubrey is forced to watch his ship strike its colors.

Maturin and Aubrey are brought to Boston as prisoners of war, and while Aubrey convalesces, Maturin dives pell-mell back into his life as a spy. Boston is a city of intrigues, and Maturin's history as a spy plays havoc with his attempts to free himself, Aubrey, and the lovely Diane Villiers. Maturin gets to demonstrate that he's got a bit of super secret agent in him, and many readers will be shocked at the violent means Maturin often uses to achieve his ends. He's a far cry from the non-violent physician he is often assumed to be!

Perhaps spending more time on land than any book in the series so far, "The Fortune of War" still offers thrills and escapades galore. For fans of this series, this novel is not to be missed.

"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.