Rating: 
Summary: Not to be read unless you've read all the others
Review: I am a confirmed Forrester/Hornblower fan, and received this book for Christmas. I'd read the reviews about wonderful characterization and historical accuracy, and expected a treat. Not so. Although I had read Master and Commander years ago, this was my first O'Brian in recent memory. I did not find his characters especially detailed, nor the narrative very well done. It was a good adventure story, but much of the time I was lost as to why such and such a thing was done, or who this or that person was. I'm sure having read the books in order would help greatly, and I imagine some day I will do that. At the moment, though, this book doesn't come close to Forrester for characterization, detail, and true nautical enjoyment. There is too much skipping of key points, few sensible transitions, and a giant question left unanswered at the end of the book. If you haven't read Forrester's Hornblower books, I recommend them instead. At the very least, don't start with this one, but with Master and Commander, and continue in order from there!
Rating: 
Summary: A solid continuation of a great historical fiction series
Review: I don't know whether I would recommend "Blue at the Mizzen" to someone unfamiliar with Patrick O'Brian's excellent series of nautical novels about Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin because, I believe, much of the pleasure to be derived in reading the book comes from our acquaintance with the main characters from previous novels. But I would have no hesititation at all at recommending it to any Aubrey-Maturin fan. A significant number of readers (not including me) of the previous book in the series, "The Hundred Days", were disappointed in the somber tone of that novel -- an atmosphere fully justified, in my opinion, by the central subject matter. Those readers need not fear a repetition in "Blue at the Mizzen." Stephen Maturin has recovered his interest in the natural world and is once again a fully engaged participant in the events around him. It has been said that this novel might be the final volume in the series (I hope not) but if it is, then the series will end on a high note. The book is full of typical O'Brian touches of elegantly described scenes and subtle characterizations. If it is not quite the equal of "Post Captain" or "Desolation Island" (but what is?) there is still much in "Blue at the Mizzen" to make longtime fans of the series smile with satisfaction. And if it is not the final volume, then I shall look forward with great pleasure to the next book.
Rating:
Summary: So disappointed after waiting so eagerly.
Review: I have read (and re-read) as well as listened to Patrick Tull's narrations of all the previous 19 volumes in the series and still find excitement, drama, and humor that makes me laugh out loud or say Huzzay! However this book was a great disppointment. It lacked the full involvement of many characters, the humor and the light-hearted exchanges between Aubrey and Maturin. Too much was conveyed through Stephen's over long letters to Christine. Without the war, the battle scenes were boring. I'm sorry to say that after skipping through page after page I finally put the book down and can't bring myself to finish it. But I still gave it 3 stars - O'Brian is the best writer of historical fiction to date and the first 19 novels will always be my favorites. I would love to see PBS do these stories in a television series.
Rating:
Summary: What happened?
Review: I listened to the tape version. This was mistake number one, as another reviewer noted on this site. Mistake number two, also mentioned several times by other reviewers, was making this my virginal experience with this author. Frankly, I was totally lost. Maybe that freeway driving had something to do with it also (I listen in my car).I can tell from the other reviews that this is a series for special interest people only, and that the whole series should be digested, from the beginning, not from the end. Steven's love affair, such as it was, I couldn't understand. I did gather that he had a daughter and was a widower. And whatever happened to that young fellow, the lord's adopted son, who came on as the helmsman? Well, as I say, it was all just a little abstruse. But unlike one other reviewer, I thought the book was well read on the audio version. The reader didn't have a great diversity of voices, as some other readers do, but he did have passable accents for his Spanish and English characters. Also, I did learn something about the war between Peru and Chile. I was able, occasionally, to imagine being aboard the Surprise.
Rating:
Summary: On a much stronger tack than The Hundred Days
Review: I wasn't a great fan of the predecessor to this book (The Hundred Days) as it seemed that a lot of life had been sucked out of the series. I then re-read the set from Master and Commander to Blue at The Mizzen. While the books have changed somewhat, in that they have become less descriptive of the interrelationships between the characters, this is understandable. As Aubrey gets more senior (here for much of the time he is an acting Commodore with a small squadron) the books have to describe a much bigger naval and political picture. O'Brian excels at this. Unfortunately this means we lose some of the "small ship" feeling, and many of the best characters from earlier in the series are left out. Isn't this a function of life - not only Aubrey and Maturin's but also most readers? As we move on in the world relationships change and we interact with different people. In addition O'Brian would have difficulty in weaving in many old characters and maintaining the sense of historical accuracy that is important to his books (this is however not a justification for Aubrey's lack of response to Bonden's death in the previous book). Read the whole series from book one and then enjoy this and its predecessor (The Hundred Days). Both books then fall into much better context. Keep it up Mr O'Brian - you are doing an excellent job. I fervently hope that the unanswered questions surrounding Stephen and Christine Wood (as well as where Aubrey goes from here) mean that we can hope for one more (and preferably more than one) book and a couple of large fleet actions!
Rating:
Summary: Historical fiction doesn't get much better than this series.
Review: I'm reviewing, here, the entirety of O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series, because I consider it to be essentially one novel. The first, and most astonishing, strength of this series is in its characterization. Not only are the contrasting, yet inseparable, friends Jack and Stephen believable, appealing, vividly human characters, but they change realistically through time. To the reader, they appear as "real" people with "real" lives, perhaps more so than some of the the flesh and blood ephemera around us. The secondary characters, too, shine -- Killick is priceless. Research, of course, is O'Brian's other great strength. It's not only the ships, about which he seems to know everything. There's no aspect of the period -- food, dialect, religion, music -- in which he does not seem to be well versed. And he conveys this information to the reader in interesting ways, rather than encumbering the text with massive info-dumps. One often overlooked bright spot in this series is its humor. Too often historical fiction has a self-consciously grim quality. O'Brian can be grim -- crushingly depressing, in fact --but... "Swiving Monachorum". Action and battles are not, strangely, this series' strongest point. When we get them, they're great, but too often they are skipped over or told in a distant third-person viewpoint. But the worst here is still very good indeed. I would recommend reading all of these, in order, starting with the first one, right away, as soon as you possibly can. It's true that The Hundred Days marks a low point -- I agree with the reviewers who cite O'Brian's loss of his wife as the reason -- but Blue at the Mizzen, under which I've posted this review, marks a triumphant return of the author's powers.
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.
Rating:
Summary: Farewell Admiral Aubrey and Dr. Maturin
Review: Thanks to the late Patrick O'Brian for wrapping up the series on an up note. I grew as a mariner with each book in this series from a landlubber to...maybe a ships boy. Patrick O'Brian brought this incredible era of honor, corruption and raw bravery to life for me with this historically accurate series. Now that I'm reading the memoirs of the Admiral that Jack Aubrey is based on, I'm finding that much of the action in these books really happened as Mr. O'Brian tells it.
Rating:
Summary: End of the Adventure
Review: The end of a great book always produces a letdown for me so it was a double whammy to realize as I turned the last page of Blue at the Mizzen that it was book-series-match. Reflecting back on the 20 Aubrey-Maturin books that I had read and the timeless quality of the characters, plots and historical background that brought these books to life only deepened my depression. And when I considered the tracks that O'Brian artfully laid down in this book to carry him into yet additional Aubrey-Maturin books--I decided that I needed a brandy. Patrick O'Brian is undoubtedly one of the few true masters of historical fiction and a polymath with incredible literary talent.
Rating:
Summary: End of an Era
Review: The final installment in O'Brian's smashing 20-volume nautical series has an unfinished feel. In the final pages we finally learn about Jack's career move --though the answer is given away by the book's title-- and this is something he has fretted over for several books now. But many other plot threads remain hanging, most notably that of Stephen's marital status. The previous book involved the sudden, unexpected and unmourned deaths of several key characters, and this one leaves a dozen or two other secondary characters wholly unfinished. It feels as though the elderly O'Brian had meant to write another book or two to bring Aubrey and Maturin back to England for the final denouement, but perhaps his energy failed him.
In any case, this is another excellent story. With Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo, the "Surprise" must refit after suffering damage in a collision before making her way on her long-delayed voyage to Chile. The action and intrigue in Portugal and Chile are wonderful. As always, Stephen Maturin's wry humor, brought out by the author's sublime prose, leaves the reader smiling. Another wonderful story, but it just doesn't feel like it was meant to be the last one.
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