Rating: 
Summary: Aubrey attempts to steer men as well as their ships.
Review: Jack Aubrey's dreams of success in the British Navy get a boost when he is assigned as the Commodore of a fleet near Mauritius. But, along with the glory of the management post, comes the hellish torture of responsibility for the actions of several captains less capable than Jack. Aubrey and Maturin finally fully join their mental forces in the attempt to understand just what makes each captain in the fleet tick. Each at their own level (Maturin's rather deeper), they form a concept of the other personalities they must work with. And Aubrey ultimately finds that even the best planning can be brought to nought by one committee or another... This book also gives us a gently amusing glimpse of Aubrey's life on land as a married man. As with all the Aubrey/Maturin books, this is by turns amusing and thoughtful, as well as realistic and picturesque.
Rating: 
Summary: Very, very good but...
Review: not quite as good as the first three in this series, in my opinion. The quality of O'Brian's writing is as good as ever, with wonderful dialogue and descriptions. O'Brian does move the development of his main characters Aubrey and Maturin forward; Aubrey has mellowed and aged a little and now has the joys and burdens of having a wife and kids. It seems to me from this book that O'Brian did not intend for this series to continue on for nearly as many volumes as it did. For example, the Mauritius Campaign took place in 1810, only a few years before the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The previous book, HMS Suprise, seems to have taken place approximately five years before; a lot of prime war years were wasted. This book develops some interesting characters, particularly Captain Clonfert. The problem with this book is that a lot of time is taken up with our heros sailing here and there without much exciting happening. The ending is somewhat suspenseful, but not as much so as the previous three books. All in all, it is still a very good book but the series loses just a little of its freshness and originality.
Rating:
Summary: Politics and broadsides in the Indian Ocean
Review: O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series seems to get better with every book. I found the first, Master and Commander, hard slugging and gave the series a second try based on recommendations and the publicity following the author's passing. It has been well worth the second try. Unfortunately, The Mauritius Command reveals the second strategic error that the author made in writing the series. The first error was starting it in 1800 leading to some historical crowding later on. Similarly, the author has let several years slide since HMS Surprise contributing further to the crowding. I have read that the author regretted his timing of the series although in fairness too him it wasn't obvious that Aubrey/Maturin would catch on and that he would ultimately complete 20 novels covering an 18-year period. The novel itself has few flaws and is well paced. Jack Aubrey has spent the intervening years in wedded bliss although his circumstances and life away from the sea have not been kind to him. Not only is Jack Aubrey married but he also has twins. The opening pages make me wonder what married life would have been like for Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth had Jane Austen written a sequel to Pride and Prejudice. The allusions are there and the writing is good enough for O'Brian to pull it off. The Mauritius Command really picks up when the duo return to the sea bound for Capetown and a campaign against the French held islands of La Reunion and Mauritius. Aubrey is to fly a Commodore's pennant and administer a hiding to the French. However, he has to deal with an untrustworthy admiral, captains with varying abilities and fighting spirit and personality conflicts. The tension builds steadily and there is more action than in earlier novels. The conclusion is anti-climactic although it is very neatly tied together. The Mauritius Command was published at roughly the same time as Kent's Passage to Mutiny. Both are examples of the authors at their peaks. O'Brian is clearly the better writer of the two but he doesn't deliver the action the way Kent does. Still if events didn't happen as O'Brian relates, he did a superb job of catching the flavour of the times. He was a great author and The Mauritius Command demonstrates this thoroughly.
Rating:
Summary: Richness of characters makes Aubrey/Maturin novels stand out
Review: Of course there is historical and nautical detail and accuracy galore, but the real richness in this novel, like all of the Aubrey/Maturin series lies in the characters, with all their depth and eccentricity, and how they react to this relatively obscure amphibious campaign. No one beats O'Brian for richness of character. All the history and detail is icing on a very tasty cake.
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: 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: A Psychological Study
Review: The fourth in Patrick O'Brian's wonderful seagoing series. O'Brian does not disappoint as Captain Aubrey and Stephen Maturin do battle against the French in the Indian Ocean. Here the plot turns on psychological profiles. Aubrey commands a squadron of ships, and each captain is a different study: Pym steady but unimaginative; Clonfert vainglorious, insecure, and unpredictable; Corbett daring but brutal; and Colonel Keating steady and brave. And there are Aubrey and Maturin, separately and together, musing upon the different elements in each of the captain's characters. As the action progresses, each captain is led into crisis, and each benefits and suffers by his particular choices. In some respects "The Mauritius Command", at 348 pages in the Norton edition, may be too short. Clonfert is the captain we come to know best, the others are not as fully drawn because we spend no time aboard their ships. Also, the final assault on Mauritius is reduced to a few throw-away lines on the last page, as though O'Brian turned away from the book, unfinished, and simply chose not to write the last two chapters. The book is a good one, O'Brian's intentions are clear. The captains' stark choices are grounded more in their personalities than the circumstances of the struggle. Their fates are sealed long before they join Aubrey in the Indian Ocean. "The Mauritius Command" is a thrilling psychological study.
Rating:
Summary: A Psychological Study
Review: The fourth in Patrick O'Brian's wonderful seagoing series. O'Brian does not disappoint as Captain Aubrey and Stephen Maturin do battle against the French in the Indian Ocean. Here the plot turns on psychological profiles. Aubrey commands a squadron of ships, and each captain is a different study: Pym steady but unimaginative; Clonfert vainglorious, insecure, and unpredictable; Corbett daring but brutal; and Colonel Keating steady and brave. And there are Aubrey and Maturin, separately and together, musing upon the different elements in each of the captain's characters. As the action progresses, each captain is led into crisis, and each benefits and suffers by his particular choices. In some respects "The Mauritius Command", at 348 pages in the Norton edition, may be too short. Clonfert is the captain we come to know best, the others are not as fully drawn because we spend no time aboard their ships. Also, the final assault on Mauritius is reduced to a few throw-away lines on the last page, as though O'Brian turned away from the book, unfinished, and simply chose not to write the last two chapters. The book is a good one, O'Brian's intentions are clear. The captains' stark choices are grounded more in their personalities than the circumstances of the struggle. Their fates are sealed long before they join Aubrey in the Indian Ocean. "The Mauritius Command" is a thrilling psychological study.
Rating:
Summary: Superb nautical tale.
Review: The Mauritius Command is a first rate piece of historical fiction. Patrick O'Brian deftly weaves this swashbuckling nautical tale into the historical account of the British retaking the Mauritius Islands. Lucky Jack Aubrey, with a little help from Stephen Maturin, becomes a Commodore and leads his squadron of ships into battle with the French. A new father, Jack Aubrey leaves behind his wife to venture out to the Indian Ocean. His wife, Sophie, lost her dowry and story begins with Jack hurting for money. So the opportunity to have command and be back on full pay is most welcome. Commodore Aubrey's command is complicated by the personalities of his subordinate commanders. Maturin comes out of the closet and works his espionage in the open. With victory just within his grasp, Admiral Bertie arrives to take command and the credit away from Jack. Despite that setback, Lucky Jack stills finishes on top. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Superb nautical tale.
Review: The Mauritius Command is a first rate piece of historical fiction. Patrick O'Brian deftly weaves this swashbuckling nautical tale into the historical account of the British retaking the Mauritius Islands. Lucky Jack Aubrey, with a little help from Stephen Maturin, becomes a Commodore and leads his squadron of ships into battle with the French. A new father, Jack Aubrey leaves behind his wife to venture out to the Indian Ocean. His wife, Sophie, lost her dowry and story begins with Jack hurting for money. So the opportunity to have command and be back on full pay is most welcome. Commodore Aubrey's command is complicated by the personalities of his subordinate commanders. Maturin comes out of the closet and works his espionage in the open. With victory just within his grasp, Admiral Bertie arrives to take command and the credit away from Jack. Despite that setback, Lucky Jack stills finishes on top. I highly recommend this book.
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