The beginning to the sweeping Aubrey/Maturin series. “The best sea story I have ever read.” — Sir Francis Chichester
This, the first in the splendid series of Jack Aubrey novels, establishes the friendship between Captain Aubrey, R.N., and Stephen Maturin, ship’s surgeon and intelligence agent, against a thrilling backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. Details of a life aboard a man-of-war are … are faultlessly rendered: the conversational idiom of the officers in the ward room and the men on the lower deck, the food, the floggings, the mysteries of the wind and the rigging, and the roar of broadsides as the great ships close in battle.
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This is the first of Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin series about the British navy in the Napoleonic war. If you’ve ever wanted to know what it was like to sail on a tall ship, this is as close as you’re likely to get. Everything is meticulously authentic from the food they eat (“Spotted Dog”), to the medicine as practiced, to the disciplinary …
There just isn’t a better introduction to the age of fighting sail than this slim volume. It is beautifully written, witty, historically informative, and packed chock-a-block with action. Sailors the world over admire the craft and knowledge that went into making this novel, the first in the Aubrey/Maturin Series which spans 20 completed voyages, …
This is the first in Patrick O’Brians masterful Aubrey/Maturin series. Once you read this one, you’ll quickly devour the other nineteen.
A brilliant book and the first in a great series of historical novels set in the Napoleonic wars. O’Brian was a wonderful stylist and careful researcher. He knew seamanship, he knew the ways of the Royal Navy of the 18th century, and he could create indelible characters. Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are opposite sides of the same coin—Aubrey a …
I have read the entire series. The books present the world and the British Navy with all its glories and its ugly sides. Once you start, you don’t want to put them down. The character development is extraordinary.
A great and apparently technically accurate sailing ship man-o-war stpry. In the vein of Hpratio Hornblower. Could not put it down!
O’Brien was among the best authors of the 20th century. His 23 book series is a masterpiece that I’ve re-read three times and enjoyed all of them.
If you’ve read and liked the Horatio Hornblower series, you’ll love Patrick O’Brians Capt. Aubrey, Steve Maturin series.
If you enjoy this book…
you’ll be delightfully doomed to read the other nineteen (20, if you count the final, unfinished “21”). Along the way you’ll learn about sailing, natural philosopy, 19th century espionage and— without exaggeration— almost every other aspect of life during the Napoleonic era. Plus you’ll read some damned good writing, and …
O’Brian is careful to keep known history sacred, yet his story is engrossing, his personalities and relationships believable and fun, and he uses the technical art of sailing to aid the ambience smoothly, where it could easily be a stumbling block.
I grew up with C.S. Forester’ Hornblower books, which gave me a lifelong passion for both the sea and the navy of the long 18th century navy. It was this that attracted me to the work of Patrick O’Brian. I first picked up a copy of Master and Commander in the 1980s, and was immediately stuck by the writing style. The author was using authentic …
I love all the Aubrey-Maturin novels, but did not find them easy at first. I actually discovered them through reading the autobiography of Keith Richards (!), who is a fan. But when I first tackled Master and Commander, I couldn’t get through it and put it aside. I came back to it later, having eventually started the series with Desolation …
I have come to Patrick O’Brian’s books quite late. I was first introduced to the genre in my teens, when I read C.S. Forrester’s Hornblower series. I returned to them recently and was disappointed to find the writing dated, the characters lacking depth and the dialogue naïve.
Patrick O’Brian’s writing is the opposite. It is deep, insightful but …
I’m going to recommend this entire, voluminous series. Some might find the first one (Master & Commander) a bit slow, but the characters are wonderful, and by the second book (Post Captain), you will be in love with Jack and Stephen. I haven’t read an entire series multiple times since I was a kid, but with this one, I am on my third reading. …
The late, great Patrick O’Brian already has legions of fans, but let me put this out there in case anyone who hasn’t yet read his works is willing to try something new. The twenty-book* historical fiction series set in the Napoleonic war era follows the fictional heroic careers of “Lucky” Jack Aubrey, beginning with his first command and his …
This is a great book if you like seafaring tales. An action-packed story set during the Napoleonic Wars. I don’t usually read a boo twice, but this one I have.
patrick obrian is a master of the period. great stories and characters. famous for getting every sailing detail perfect.
The first book in the Aubrey/Maturin series introduces us to Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin. The opening scene is one of my favorite introduction to new characters from any book.
I was introduced to the Aubrey–Maturin series when a friend not given to hyperbole called it “the best genre fiction of any genre”. He wasn’t wrong.
If you are interested in fiction based on fact and interesting fictional characters portraying late 18th and early 19th century English Royal Navy engagements, then Patrick O’Brien is your go to author.