Master and Commander

Rating:
Summary: High Recommendation to Other Women!
Review: I am in agreement with the reader from Sydney, Australia! While this is not usual fare for women, they should read this book! It is excellently well-written and exciting. Any woman that enjoys Regency Romance will find this book a welcome change of pace. On the other hand, men who enjoy the sea and war stories will also enjoy this as there is a good deal of action and adventure and sea-faring terminology. I am recommending it to my husband, who is retired US Navy. I believe this to be a book written for anyone that enjoys a good tale.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Nautical Storytelling
Review: I've now read them all and can't wait for "The Hundred Days" to print in paperback. A combination of Jane Austin and C.S. Forester's Hornblower Series. Simply great!!

Rating:
Summary: Great novel as always!
Review: O'Brien has written yet another masterpiece of maritime historical fiction! He can't write fast enough for the readers in our family. We have not read anything so good since Heart of Allegiance by the Thoene brothers. This is nose to nose in the running with the Portraits of Destiny Series! Keep 'em coming Patrick!

Rating:
Summary: A beautifully well crafted and lyrical tale of human nature.
Review: I found the O'Brian series in a bookshop on Oxford Street Paddington (Sydney Australia) and was in desperate need of an excellent series to get stuck into. Well I did and I read the lot, I just hope more will be written. Master and Commander did nearly lose me in the first few chapters as I felt it was all conversation and virtually no prose but I stuck with it and was so delightfully rewarded with the story telling, character development, action and suspense that I couldn't put the book down. Now there's something you should know about me, I'm a woman in my 20's and thus a rarity when it comes to being an avid fan of Patrick O'Brian. But I thoroughly enjoyed learning about men and their way of seeing the world. I also thoroughly loved how O'Brian drew the women who came to be so important in later books of the series. So women reading this, go get this book. This series is set on a British man-o-war in wartime with plenty of action and it is primarily about men ! and there are some details that it would be easier to pretend didn't happen; it is also a story that makes you laugh at the wonderful dry wit. The observations of people and friendship aren't to be found elsewhere. I lament the fact that I've now read all O'Brian's seafaring stories and only hope at least two more in the Aubrey series can be written. So if you want a good laugh, well a series of them more like, an insight into life in a different world and into men. But be prepared to read the entire series and finding yourself buying three books ahead at a time so you don't find yourself finishing one at 10pm and running all over the city in search of an open bookshop with the next one on the self! Now I am back to trying to find another excellent author, the only problem is, my requirements are tougher than ever before, but at least I can look forward to breaking my rule about re-reading novels and get stuck back into seafaring life in a couple of years!

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding book, good series -- other similar series
Review: "Master & Commander" and "Post Captain" (2nd in series) are truly outstanding examples of this genre. They not only portray the strategic and tactical aspects of the war, and the ship construction/handling challenges -- but explore the society of the time and present two phenomenal main characters. The series then declines gently into mediocrity over the next 16 books, but still good reading. Those interested in discovering other, less-hyped series should pursue: C.S. Forrester, Alexander Kent, Richard Woodman, Dewey Lambdin or James Nelson's readily findable series of Napoleonic-era Naval Fiction -- and the real addicts should try tracking down Dudley Pope, Porter Hill, Victor Suthren or Frank Eccles' series. For Naval Fiction of later eras -- try Philip McCutchan or Richard Hough. Of course, comparable Army Fiction can be had from Bernard Cornwell, Kenneth Roberts and Harold Coyle. I welcome any suggestions of other authors I should e! xplore.

Rating:
Summary: DO NOT READ THIS BOOK !!! It's just TOO contagious... :)
Review: My first encounter with "M&C" was simply not being able not to notice the shelf full with Patrick O' Brian paperbacks in one of London's book stores. And as I wanted a new adventure story to read, I thought of picking up the first in the series. Little did I know that after reading the latter I shall be doomed to read ALL of them. Sadly, they are not available in my country, so I shall have to keep importing them from London... What the book did to me was it showed me the REAL life on the ship, not that overromanticised pirate stories crap you get. And I particularly enjoy Mr. O'Brian's reluctance to have the explanations of technical terms in any sort of added appendix. That gives one the most exellent opportunity to try and find out things for yourself, thus discovering more and more interesting things to dwell upon in life. So to any of those who have heard about Aubrey/Maturin novels being a difficult read because of all the parafernalia in the langua! ! ge and terminology of the period, I want to put it this way. English is not my native language and I had the same fears of not being able to understand the best part of the book. And believe you me, my English is not the one of the professor of The National Maritime Museum, either. So FEAR NOT !!! For you WILL understand it and will strive to read on, and on, and on... It is literally worth every minute you spend on it. And it's not just spending, it's INVESTING!

Rating:
Summary: A challenging, engaging, and seductive book.
Review: One month ago, I picked up "Master and Commander" while on vacation on Cape Cod, mostly because of a vague memory of a review that had recommended O'Brien's work. In the space of a month, and despite the turmoil of a job change, I have read the first five novels in the series that starts with "Master and Commander," and my only cause of complaint is that I know that one day I shall reach the last page of the last novel, and then where will I be? Despite his characters' frequent (and obviously justifiable) use of 18th century sailing terminology, most of which I do not follow, I have fallen deeply in love with his two heroes, who are relentlessly human, despite their remarkable gifts. O'Brien also loves his heroes, but he does not spare them the ramifications of their natures, and I am able to say with a straight face that I have received instruction from his characters in how to face adversity. O'Brien has a penchant for moving very quickly from scene to scene, collapsing time with infrequent markers, and one must keep on one's toes. But, I am amazed by the depth and spread of his learning, and gratified by the consistency of his characters. After I have finished one of his books, I catch myself stopping by my desk and reaching out for it, as if it were still un-read, and being dashed by the realization that I have finished it, and cannot go back into the hold with the men. My only recourse is to drive to the bookstore and to get the next one. They are addictive. I recommend them, and I don't usually recommend books.

Rating:
Summary: Not for Men Only
Review: I would concur with the reviewer-readers who say that this book, and the whole O'Brian series, is immensely engaging (once you've adapted to the language, nautical terms and setting). A male friend of mine, keen on the series, told me that these books--full of rip-roaring and bloody battles, and presenting a decidely male world--have a reputation for being disliked by, or at least unappealing to, women. I took up the implicit challenge in that remark, and he offered to lend me Master and Commander to put it to the test. That was books ago, I'm still at, and enjoying the series a great deal. I can't speak for all women, of course, but if you like historical novels in general, good writing which makes you think, detailed description, adventure, and fascinating characterizations, you may very well become as hooked as O'Brian's male readers are (though perhaps in a different way and, when it comes to characterization, for some different reasons). You might definitely quibble with O'Brian's drawing of his major female characters, and you'll most certainly encounter attitudes which will irritate you and events which may even repulse you. But that's an inevitable part of time travel. And this is time travel par excellence.

Rating:
Summary: The best historical adventure series I've read
Review: I'm still looking for a book or series of historical adventures that offers even half the entertainment value of this series. O'brien is a contemporary writer who seems to have lived in the 18th century, and he makes his knowledge entertainingly accessable to the reader. The sailing and combat scenes move fast and are gripping. The Aubrey-Maturin relationship is one of the most convincing friendships in literature. The male-female subplots can be boring. If you don't like Master and Commander you probably wouldn't like any other book in the series. Master and Commander is slow starting -- give it 50 pages and see....

Rating:
Summary: Hardy Boys for middle age men.
Review: The larger than life Aubrey and the "subfusc" Maturin are the ultimate odd couple.Aubrey's heroic, personal, physical courage is matched by Maturin's particular intellectual and moral courage. I have read all 17 books in the series (a couple of times) and was left hanging with the last. If Mr. O'brien cannot produce another, let's hope that someone can write a worthy apocraphyl. The humor and drama of these books is not at all indicated by his short stories and more factual novels. His collection included in "The Rendezvous" is worth reading however. Another worthy book by O'brien is "The Unknown Shore". It presents, in different and more youthful characters, the prototypes of the heroes. I would also recommend the companion book, "A Sea of Words". It will clarify the techincal jargon. After I finish writing this and make sure that my wife is asleep, I will reopen the "Surgeon's Mate" and, with pistol in belt and sword in hand, board an American frigate and earn the respect of the heroic Aubrey and intellectual Maturin.