Rating: 
Summary: A good adventure on land and sea
Review: This novel is set roughly in the years 1802-1804, and is a sequel to "Master and Commander." With most of the Royal Navy laid up during a temporary peace with France, Aubrey tries setting himself up as a country gentleman. Both Aubrey and Maturin have time to develop romantic interests, but a reversal of fortune leads them into some interesting and unusual (and sometimes humorous) situations as they dodge creditors. A renewal of war with France sends them back to sea as they attempt to restore Aubrey's fortunes. The action is fast paced and holds the reader's interest. Although part of a series, the book can be read as a stand-alone novel. The story is well researched and fits into the historic period. In addition to naval action, it provides an interesting look at some of the social and legal aspects of life in England during the early 19th century.
Rating:
Summary: Ahoy, Mate!
Review: Jack Aubrey, and his sidekick doctor Maturin return for the sequel (book 2), in the delightful Aubrey and Maturin series. In this episode, Aubrey is on the run from debt collection agents and Doctor Maturin receives an interesting commission of his own from the government. Also, jealousy rears its ugly head, as the two comrades fight for the attentions of Sophia, (a cruel hearted vixen who has entranced both Maturin and Aubrey).I really enjoyed this second novel in this exciting nautical series. The book was extremely well narrated, and I found myself staying up late, just to listen to more of it!! I particularly like Jack Aubrey's character he seems so guileless. I like Maturin, but at times he can be rather cold and self-indulgent. I eagerly await listening to more of this exciting series.
Rating:
Summary: Abaft the beam
Review: Master and Commander is a very good book, no question. But it is here -- the second book of the Aubrey/Maturin series -- that the epic adventures really catch hold of a fair wind -- one that runs for another 18 books.
Jack Aubrey is fresh off his sucess in the Med. The Peace of Amiens has grounded him for a while, but he is loving life -- spending his time in a country estate splurging the promised money for the prizes he took in the war. But the peace is not to last and very soon he and Maturin will be swept up in a resumed war against the tyrant Napoleon, but this time with just as much to worry about on land as at sea.
Post Captain is an entertaining adventure in its own right. Jack's adventures aboard the Polychrest make for riveting adventure. But what is great about this book is how it broadens the story and sprawls out. Almost everything that follows in the series is set up here. The world is fleshed out in much more detail -- the petty politics in the Admiralty; Jack and Stephen's romantic entanglements; the beginnings of Jack's financial difficulties. Their characters come into sharper focus so that by the end of the novel, the careful reader can almost think with them and know how they will react to their situations. These two men will become two of your favorite literary characters despite -- perhaps because of -- their all too human foibles. The only two characters I can think of that work so well together are Sam and Frodo.
For those of you who -- like me -- enjoyed the first novel but wondered if something was missing, you will devour this volume. I tentatively bought the first two volumes. After this one, I went out and gathered up the entire series in hardback (expensive but worth it).
Rating: 
Summary: schizophrenic
Review: This is one of the worse novels I have ever read - The writing is so broken apart it seems that pages must have been pulled out of the book. The author jumps forward and backward and into different scenes and times without any appropriate lead. This writing would have received a failing grade in most college level courses.
Rating:
Summary: The Essence of the Aubrey/Maturin Series
Review: I'm very sparing about 5 Star Reviews, but this book is worth every single one of them.
Quite simply, this book captures the essence of the entire series, going beyond the first book in so many ways, and setting the tone and themes that the rest of the series explores in further depth. As other reviewers have noted, the character of Stephen Maturin is made the equal of Jack Aubrey in this book, but you are also introduced to: - Jack's ongoing troubles with Money
- The Grapes Inn in the Savoy
- Jack's relationships with Sophie and Diana
- Stephen's relationships with the two ladies as well
- Mrs. Williams and her petty prejudices and closed mind
- Internal scheming at the admiralty for ships & stations
- Spying abroad on the French and Spanish
- Duelling, honor and friendship
- Daring escapes, near misses, close calls
- The nature of Sailing, Gunnery and Seamanship
- The natures of Indiamen, Privateers, and Warships
- Humor, both subtle and broad
- Reflections on the nature of soul, heart and mind
- The requirments, priveleges and duties of command
- Love sought, found, lost and rekindled Folks, it's truly a wonderful book, and wonderfully dense, able to bear many a re-reading. Read it quickly for an adventure story. Read it slowly for literature. Read it at moderate pace for the humor. There are so many shifts in tone, so many little vignettes, so many sparkling moments of dialogue that you just ~have~ to own it to appreciate it. I recommend you buy this and READ it. If you have trouble getting through Master & Commander, don't worry. Put it down if you wish, and pick this one up immediately - I assure you, it's a great book.
Rating: 
Summary: The second book of the Aubrey/Maturin partnership. Pacy,
Review: I read Master and Commander recently - prompted by the Movie - and loved it. This, second, book in the series continues the adventures of Jack Aubrey - a bluff, impetuous Naval commander, and the reserved, cerebral Dr. Maturin.
This book opens with Aubrey anxiously waiting for promotion to post-Captain and courting young ladies, when he is made bankrupt overnight. Various adventures ensue, which the usual derring-do. This book marks the first time that Maturin is explicitly identified as a spy. His work aids Aubrey in securing commands, promotion and therefore an understanding with the young lady of his dreams. Maturin's world view and prospects are more sombre and morose.
The book itself contains a huge amount of naval jargon, mainsails, topsails, etc. etc., curiously however it doesn't lose the narrative for me, despite the facts that I have no idea what the terminology means, the pace of the narrative doesn't lessen, and I am quite happy to ` go with the flow'. Overall a good read.
Rating:
Summary: Darker than the first, but just as riveting
Review: I can easily imagine some readers not enjoying this novel. If one's idea of a great book is one battle scene after another, then this will not be their cup of tea. O'Brian spends much of the novel dealing with affairs of the heart, and his characters discuss a vast number of subjects that have nothing whatsoever to do with warfare. But like in the first novel, the attentive reader will learn a great deal of social history by reading the book. It is hard to imagine a historical recreation much more attentive to historical detail and accuracy than this one. The nautical detail can sometimes be overwhelming, and some of the sailing maneuvers can leave land lubbers like myself a bit confused about what is happening, but all in all his amazing descriptions provide a "you are there" specificity lacking in many similar books. Although this is only my second book in the series, I have quickly come to appreciate the character of Stephen Maturin. The first novel hinted at hidden depths, and this one revealed some of his situation. We learn that he is a man of some property if not comparable wealth. We find that he is far more involved in espionage than we might have suspected in the first novel. And we find him to be a man not content to be a mere sidekick to Aubrey, but a companion only if it suits his own needs and other duties do not call. This novel definitely has a great deal more in the way of plot than the first book. But by and large, it remains true of POST CAPTAIN as it did of MASTER AND COMMANDER that one does not read it for plot so much as one does to get to know and enjoy the very fine central characters, and to learn some history.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible sea going adventure!
Review: This historical novel set in the early 19th century has the rake Lucky Jack Aubrey down on his luck - in debt and without a ship. The story is a masterfully told. It is of how Jack avoids debtor's prison, gains command, and regains his Lucky Jack moniker by the end of the story. I highly recommend this novel. Although there are times where some greater knowledge of sailing these warships would be of use to more fully understand the tale and the inherent drama. O'Brien does an excellent job of providing enough details that you fully understand the historical backdrop.
Rating:
Summary: Joint Review of All Aubrey-Maturin Books
Review: 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). This is true as well for the early 19th century depicted by O'Brien. The casual and invariable presence of violence, brutality, and death is a theme running through all the books. The constant threats to life are the product not only of natural forces beyond human control, particularly the weather and disease, but also of relative human indifference to suffering. There is nothing particularly romantic about the world O'Brien describes but it also a certain grim grandeur. O'Brien also shows the somewhat transitional nature of the early 19th century. The British Navy and its vessals were the apogee of what could be achieved by pre-industrial technology. This is true both of the technology itself and the social organization needed to produce and use the massive sailing vessals. Aubrey's navy is an organization reflecting its society; an order based on deference, rigid hierarchy, primitive notions of honor, favoritism, and very, very corrupt. At the same time, it was one of the largest and most effective bureaucracies in human history to that time. The nature of service exacted great penalities for failure in a particularly environment, and great success was rewarded greatly. In some ways, it was a ruthless meritocracy whose structure and success anticipates the great expansion of government power and capacity seen in the rest of the 19th century.
O'Brian is also the great writer about male friendship. There are important female characters in these books but since most of the action takes place at sea, male characters predominate. The friendship between Aubrey and Maturin is the central armature of the books and is a brilliant creation. The position of women in these books is ambiguous. There are sympathetic characters, notably Aubrey's long suffering wife. Other women figures, notably Maturin's wife, leave a less positive impression. On board ship, women tend to have a disruptive, even malign influence.
How did O'Brian manage to sustain his achievement over 20 books? Beyond his technical abilities as a writer and the instrinsic interest of the subject, O'Brien made a series of very intelligent choices. He has not one but two major protagonists. The contrasting but equally interesting figures of Aubrey and Maturin allowed O'Brien to a particularly rich opportunity to expose different facets of character development and to vary plots carefully. This is quite difficult and I'm not aware of any other writer who has been able to accomplish such sustained development of two major protagonists for such a prolonged period. O'Brian's use of his historical setting is very creative. The scenes and events in the books literally span the whole globe as Aubrey and Maturin encounter numerous cultures and societies. The naval setting allowed him also to introduce numerous new and interesting characters. O'Brian was able to make his stories attractive to many audiences. Several of these stories can be enjoyed as psychological novels, as adventure stories, as suspense novels, and even one as a legal thriller. O'Brian was also a very funny writer, successful at both broad, low humor, and sophisticated wit. Finally, O'Brian made efforts to link some of the books together. While a number are complete in themselves, others form components of extended, multi-book narratives. Desolation Island, Fortune of War, and The Surgeon's Mate are one such grouping. Treason's Harbor, The Far Side of the World, and The Reverse of the Medal are another. The Letter of Marque and the ensuing 4 books, centered around a circumnavigation, are another.
Though the average quality of the books is remarkably high, some are better than others. I suspect that different readers will have different favorites. I personally prefer some of the books with greater psychological elements. The first book, Master and Commander, is one of my favorites. The last 2 or 3, while good, are not as strong as earlier books. I suspect O'Brian's stream of invention was beginning to diminish. All can be read profitably as stand alone works though there is definitely something to be gained by reading in consecutive order.
|
