Please see my comments on Vol. 1, Master and Commander. ( )

Impressive weaving of professional and private lives in breathing historical context: O'Brian manages to keep to his high standard, although with my expectations so high I'm not as able to relish the joy of first discovering Aubrey and Maturin.

There really is so much going on historically it's amazing that the detail doesn't swamp the story. The personal and professional lives of our two heroes really establish them as three dimensional people, but men so clearly of their time. Upon reflection, it's impressive that we've got a sense of progression in the series, but are also carried along by episodes that could stand alone: the midnight rescue of a spy; sea battles in exotic places; the gripping duel to mention just a few.

I would still advise that the books be taken in occasional doses rather than a steady stream - I intend to enjoy O'Brian's company in annual visits for many years to come. I just have to try to trick my mind into comparing him to others rather than himself to appreciate what I'm getting.

Probably my favorite of the Aubrey-Maturin books. Aubrey is reunited with his favorite and iconic ship, the HMS Surprise. ( )

Patrick O'Brian's third Aubrey-Maturin volume is H.M.S. Surprise. As I read more of these I come to enjoy them more; this was my favorite of the series so far, as Aubrey and Maturin make their way to Kampong (by way of South America and India) carrying a royal governor, grappling with French squadrons, fickle females, and bureaucrats along the way. Maturin gets the best scenes, from his reaction to finding his pet sloth drunk on ship's grog ("Jack, you have debauched my sloth"), to his casual ordering up of an elephant in India, to his gruesome self-surgery following a battle wound.

O'Brian manages to keep his examinations of ship life and naval maneuvering from becoming overpowering, breathing life into his ships and their occupants without drowning the reader in details.

http://philobiblos.blogspot.com/2009/... ( )

One of my favourite of the O'Brian novels. Perhaps because it takes a tragic air. ( )