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

Patrick O'Brian Fan...: This is the second book a series which is most entertaining to me. There are people who may not like all the information about life on ships and sailing them but the action and the relationships between the characters is totally riviting. I even had to buy the companion books, one of which is "A Sea Of Words" to understand what I was reading and laughing at. I don't know if I would sugest reading these books out of order since they are so much fun going from the first to the last.

I’ll offer a single review of the late Patrick O’Brian’s twenty Aubrey/Maturin novels. I’ve never read another series of novels so consistently excellent. These sweeping yet personally engaging stories of the British Royal Navy of the early 19th Century are about war, espionage, exploration, politics, treason, science, medicine, great and ordinary men and women, friendship, morality . . . the grand themes of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I’ve read the entire series four times. My Christmas present to myself this year was to replace the few remaining paperbacks in my collection with hardbacks, and once they arrive I’ll start reading the series again, in order. Every time I re-read these books I discover they’re not only as good as I remembered, they’re better. ( )

When I read Master and Commander (review), I wasn't sure how long I would go before I picked up Post Captain, the second of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin books. Needing some fiction to read for the holiday travels, though, I snagged a copy, and will say that O'Brian's got me fully hooked now. Adding some dramatic flesh to Maturin's character helped, as did the more three-dimensional treatment of Aubrey in this book than the last. Even the battle scenes seemed much improved.

Since I don't go in for plot synopses in my reviews I'll quit there and just say that I suspect I'll be back for more O'Brian before very much time passes.

http://philobiblos.blogspot.com/2008/... ( )

Depending on how one likes one's books, it was either superior to the first or somewhat lacking. It was less of an action-adventure tale and more of a "proper novel" with character development and the examination of relationships and what-not. I tend to the second camp. It was, however, still a superb book and I am quite looking forward to the next in the series. ( )