Rating: 
Summary: This first volume did not captivate me, but I'm no expert
Review: Colin Wilson once wrote that "the will feeds on immense vistas; without them, it collapses." And immense vistas is one of the main elements I look for in novels. Historical fiction being my favorite genre, I asked fellow fans to direct me to the work they considered to have the greatest historical and geographical scope. The *Flashman Papers* cropped up, but I was particularly seduced by the reference to Patrick O'Brian's twenty-volume Aubrey / Maturin series, which, I was told, not only covered all of the planet's seas and oceans, but touched upon an enormous variety of topics, including music, medicine and zoology. This was enough to make me purchase the first three volumes, plus the accompanying atlas and dictionary.*Master and Commander* opens in 1800 with the first meeting of the series' two protagonists: Jack Aubrey, a minor officer in the Royal Navy, and Stephen Maturin, an impoverished doctor. Their initial impression of each other is one of mutual dislike, but as Aubrey gets promoted, he becomes a much more sociable fellow and convinces Maturin to become his ship's surgeon aboard H.M.S. Sophie, "almost the only quarterdeck brig in the service". There follows a cruise on the Mediterranean in which Aubrey convoys merchant ships, makes captures, storms a fort and engages in various battles against enemy ships. As an amateur screenwriter, I love plot and drama, but I found virtually none in this first volume of the series. *Master and Commander* is episodic at best: it has no theme to speak of, and therefore feels like a loosely integrated tale (O'Brian's own term for his novels), randomly moving from one sea encounter to the next. One of the rare threads running through the book is Maturin's attempt to make Aubrey and his Papist Lieutenant James Dillon recognize each other's value, but the effort peters out, Dillon dies and the thread is not resolved. The same goes with Aubrey's affair with the wife of a superior officer, the effects of which on Aubrey's career are of no great importance. The book's lack of direction partly comes from the characters themselves. Aubrey, a tactical genius at sea, a decent musician and a complete fool in all other matters, is a naïve, awkward and often ridiculous character whose sole ambition is to take part in heroic naval actions and be promoted for it. But he doesn't have any strong motivation or value that might dynamize the novel, even though I rather enjoyed his joie de vivre, his pride in his own prowess and his refreshingly childish enthusiasms. Maturin is a well-read Englightenment physician and naturalist, but he seems happy merely to go along, spotting the occasional rare animal or plant. Even their friendship felt rather shallow to me, although of course twenty volumes should leave it ample time to develop. For the moment, though, both Aubrey and Maturin seemed to remain in their own worlds, with Aubrey not being able to see very far into Maturin, and the latter generally seeing past the former. Another feature of the book I found regrettable is that all its wisdom is incidental to the unfolding of the events, being relegated to often rambling dinner conversations and monologues. This, however, seems to be common in the type of fiction that is generally recognized as literature nowadays. Finally, O'Brian is not interested in scenery, which I found disappointing as part of my interest in the series was touristic. He does not really attempt to make you see the places he takes his characters to, like Port Mahon, Malta or, even more blatantly, Alexandria. Roughly speaking, the book can be divided into two types of scenes: naturalistic dialogues overflowing with vocabulary, foreign language and cultural references, and action scenes, described in extremely technical naval jargon. As for the style of the book, even though I deplored as always the occasional use of fragments (i.e. incomplete sentences), I was relieved to find it less modernist than O'Brian's friendship to Picasso might have presaged. To be frank, I was rather impatient to be finished with the book and move on to something else, though I do intend to give Aubrey and Maturin another chance some day. However, I doubt I will ever enjoy O'Brian as much as I do Kenneth Roberts, who tackled the genre with such novels as *Rabble in Arms*, *The Lively Lady* and *Lydia Bailey*, or A. A. Attanasio, who tried his hand at high-seas adventures with *Wyvern*. (If you intend to read this series, I strongly suggest you purchase Dean King's *A Sea of Words*, which elucidates most of the jargon and cultural references. I found the same author's atlas to the complete novels, *Harbors and High Seas*, a little less necessary but nevertheless very handy, as *Master and Commander* does not include any maps.)
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Patrick O'Brian's seafaring tales have received so much acclaim that I was prepared to be captivated by this, the first novel in his series. But, alas, it left me shrugging "Is this all there is to it?" The book is just a series of several battles, which all seem indistinguishable from each other. There is very little character development, and very little scene-setting detail which might have made me feel temporarily as if I myself were a British seaman a couple of centuries ago. It is important to note, however, that I listened to an abridged audio tape version of this novel. The abridgement seemed choppy, with many events seemingly cut off in the middle before jumping to the beginning of the next chapter. It is possible that I would have found some of the missing detail and character development in the book itself, and that I would have been more satisfied with it in that case. Since this was my first exposure to O'Brian's books, I have no idea whether the shortcomings I have mentioned were inherent in his writing, or were a product of the abridgement. All I can say was that I was disappointed, and probably won't read any more of these books.
Rating: 
Summary: O'Brian is more addictive than crack
Review: Do yourself a favor and read the entire series. I can pick up any book in the series and I still enjoy it as much as the first time I read it. Few books are this entertaining and informative at the same time.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Sea Story at the Time of Sail
Review: After reading Patrick O'Brian's "Master and Commander", I decided to read the whole pack of the Aubrey/Maturin novels. Let me explain why: The characters are not bigger than life, in fact they are so vulnerable and have their weaknesses. Secondly, the theme of the book is so logical. The meeting of Aubrey and Maturin in the beginning, Maturin's joining Aubrey and the trial Aubrey faces in the Martial Court. The time it takes for a message to get to the outer limits of the world's greatest navy of the time surely adds to the excitement. A wonderful read.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad for a buccaneer
Review: A fine first effort with high marks for historical accuracy, so far as I can tell. Master and Commander is stiff in places, but a must-read for anyone who wishes to enjoy the rest of the series. I perhaps am not the typical reader of what is essentially a war-on-sea story with a sad dearth of feminine characters, and I found it somewhat plodding. That said, I liked Jack Aubrey's bold simple character, and I found Dr. Stephen Maturin's eccentric personality quite interesting. I was captivated by their first meeting; as soon as they nearly came to blows I knew that they would establish a fast friendship - remember how D'artagnan irritatates all three of the Musketeers when first they meet, agreeing to dual each at 15-minute intervals? Of course D'artagnan and the Musketeers become life-long friends. Jack and Stephen start their friendship in much the same way. But this doesn't turn out to be a buddy-novel. It's mostly about life at sea and in battle. It's factual, not emotional, a bit dry, but very realistic. I liked this book, and if I could I would give it 3.5 stars, but I didn't love it as some do. The second book is much better but you really must read the first book first. I recommend this to anyone, even women like myself.
Rating: 
Summary: I personally give it a 5 but for a first book it's tough
Review: I love Patrick O'Brian. He is plain and simply my favorite author. But that is because of the familiarity of the language. Truthfully, you kind of have to just get so used to it that it becomes second nature to you. In other words, don't worry about how boring it seems, how complicated it is, how anachronistic the world is. My advice to all first time POB readers is, keep at it. Even if you don't like it at first, it truly will become habit. Plain and simply, his descriptive abilities (in my opinion the best of which is his dialog) are enchanting. If need be, focus on that. I love the series, I love O'Brian, but I know that's because I've been addicted. If you haven't, then I understand some of your hesitation with Master and Commander. But please, don't knock it. It's a masterpiece, truly.
Rating:
Summary: Wish I could start all over again....
Review: I remember the first time I read "Pride and Prejudice", toward the end I began to suspect who it was had actually paid off Wickham, and I simply couldn't do anything else until I had finished that book -- I read through the night. Now I read it again every few years, and it's great, but I can never again read it for the first time; that wonderful shocking suspicion and climax has lost something, simply because I know how it turns out. The O'Brian Aubrey/Maturin novels are like that. I'd give almost anything if I could go back and read these novels again for the first time. Sure, they're not for everyone, and they can be pretty rough going. But for anyone who is just beginning to make their way through the series, I envy you!
Rating:
Summary: the cronological list of titles in this series
Review: I started out reading the series when I read H.M.S. Surprise. I loved it and wanted to read more of them. Finding a list of the titles available in this series with the order of their appearance has been hard to find on Amazon. I found the list and wanted to share it in case some one else had the same delima. Here they are, I hope you find them useful. 1. Master and Commander 2. Post Captain 3. H.M.S. Surprise 4. The Mauritius Command 5. Desolation Island 6. The Fortune of War 7. The Surgeon's Mate 8. The Ionian Mission 9. Treason's Harbor 10. The Far Side of the World 11. The Reverse of the Medal 12. The Letter of the Marque 13. The Thirteen Gun Salute 14. The Nutmeg of Consolation 15. The Truelove
Rating:
Summary: Rule Britannia
Review: One reviewer here, unhappy with this book, instructs us firmly to not believe the "hype" about the Aubrey/Maturin series. But really you should give these novels a chance. I spent the better part of a year making my way through all of them - I think about 18 books in all, a couple of hours each evening - and I look upon that adventure as one of the best reading experiences of my life, akin to the sort of enraptured, transported feeling I would have reading something great like "Rascal" on a summer's day when I was 11 or 12. Certainly the Aubrey/Maturin books are not for everyone. Some people love them and get addicted; others dislike them; there doesn't seem to be any middle ground, and there doesn't seem to be any good answer as to why this is so. My recommendation to my friends is that they buy "Master and Commander," the first book in the series, and give it a couple of hours of their time. About half of them have gotten the bug, and about half couldn't get through the first 30 pages.
Rating: 
Summary: Shiver me timbers! This book bites the big one!
Review: You know those books that you read thinking, "Okay, not really exciting, but it's got some potential. Maybe the author will come around..."? And then after a while you think, "Well, I've read most of it. I might as well finish it.". And then you finally finish it and think, "Man, that book turned out okay after all." This is not that book. This book should be stored in the "Not Unless I Was Stranded on a Deserted Island" section at the local library. Yes, it has all the neat "classical" words and ship terms of the Napoleanic-era naval world. Yes, the characters have some interesting quirks and there are some insights into the naval life of that period. And, yes, people rave about this book. Don't, don't, don't believe the hype! Two types of people should read this book: History majors and "guys" trying to read more. I'm talking about those Tom Clancy reading-types who don't need a plot just things blowing up a lot. Don't read the book looking for an exciting plot; it is a set-up book (i.e. Star Wars Episode I). Entire plot is scheduled (yes, like a train-"hit this plot point, then lets rush to this one", etc) to set-up the next book. I won't ruin the ending for you, because there really isn't one. Although two hundred pages before the ending it is painfully obvious and the reader is left to sit and wait and read on as O'Brian strokes his inflated ego and pats himself on the back for being such a great writer. ("I'll just keep reading, maybe there is a surprise ending. It can't be this obvious, can it?") There is a surpise at the end of the book waiting for you: You paid money for a book and ended up just getting a really long, first chapter. For me, personallu, there is an ironic twist to this whole deal. I bought this book through Amazon. Now every time I log on I get a "recommended" list, 90% composed of, you guessed it, O'Brian books. (I've even gone in and rated the book with the worst possible score, but to no avail.) And they say God doesn't have a sense of humor.
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