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The time is the early 1800s, and the British Navy stands as the only bulwark against the militant fanaticism of Napoleonic France. Jack Aubrey, a brilliant and experienced officer, has been struck off the list of post-captains for a crime his has not committed. His old friend, Stephen Maturin, usually acting as the ship's surgeon to cover his activities on behalf of British intelligence, has bought for Aubrey his old ship, the Surprise, to command as a privateer. Together they sail on a desperate mission against the French, which, if successful, may redeem Aubrey from the private hell of his disgrace. In this twelfth installment of the beloved Aubrey-Maturin series, Patrick O'Brian has created another tale of great narrative power.
Series: Aubrey-Maturin (Audio) (Book 12)
Audio CD
Publisher: Blackstone; Unabridged edition (March 15, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0786171847
ISBN-13: 978-0786171842
Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 1.2 x 6.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (101 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #3,802,360 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #63 in Books > Books on CD > Authors, A-Z > ( O ) > O'Brian, Patrick #4337 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Sea Stories #6843 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Historical > Military
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).
In THE LETTER OF MARQUE, Patrick O'Brian manages another exceptional entry into what is arguably the finest long series of novels in English of the twentieth century. As many have noted, these novels are simply unsurpassed for their combination of literary quality, historical veracity, dramatic tension, and narrative excellence. This particular volume also has more action than any in the series in a long while. It is also quite possibly the most upbeat in the series up to this point. My own theory is that O'Brian conceived both the previous novel, THE REVERSE OF THE MEDAL, and this one as companions. The former takes the fortunes of our heroes Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin to exceedingly low points; in fact, things never got so bad for Jack Aubrey as they did in that one. In this novel, however, a world of troubles comes to an end. Whereas at the end of THE REVERSE OF THE MEDAL Jack was publicly shamed by having been taken off the naval lists and stripped of his rank, by the end of THE LETTER OF MARQUE he knows that he will be restored with seniority to the Royal Navy within a few months. Whereas before Jack's financial affairs were in dismal shape, now he is wealthier than he has ever been, thanks to two extraordinary successes commanding the letter of marque (i.e., privateer) Surprise, lately of the King's Navy as the H.M.S. Surprise. And while his sham trial and conviction wasn't able to tarnish his reputation as completely as his father's political enemies had hoped, he nonetheless had seen better days in the public eye. Now, however, thanks to his great naval victories as a privateer, he had become something of a popular hero.
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