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The Wine-Dark Sea (1994)

by Patrick O'Brian

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: Aubrey-Maturin (16)

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2,483225,947 (4.13)55
1st American ed.
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» See also 55 mentions

English (18)  Spanish (2)  Swedish (2)  All languages (22)
Showing 1-5 of 18 (next | show all)
Another good one in the series. This time the Dr. is in Peru among the Incas for a while. A French prisoner escapes and ruins the Dr.'s intelligence mission. Jack is getting old and more injured. The Surprise ends up in bad shape. Great story! ( )
  kslade | Dec 8, 2022 |
Lacked a certain something. Usual evocative prose, rich characterisation, but somehow a little less focused than other Aubrey/Maturins.

Would really like to have given it a 3.75. ( )
  malcrf | May 27, 2022 |
In which the Surprise's chase of Franklin ventures into waters strange to both captain and seasoned crew; nevertheless, eventually prizes lie in the offing, a rich haul should even half be brought to bear. Amidst all this activity, Maturin's South American mission finally gets underway, with rebels, subversives, and a trek across the Andes variously involved. Mother Nature influences the various sea ventures more than typical even for the Royal Navy, but also the Surprises reunite with an old acquaintance, possibly putting them back on track.

//

Jack saves another Surprise overboard: Reade, but also in boarding action himself suffers yet another headwound, yet another body wound (this time from a pike).

Pullings commands another prize crew.

Stephen engages in a prodigious amount of naturalism this voyage, including his observation of the peculiar musculature of the frigate-bird. In his intelligence work, Stephen discovers Sam to be a valuable asset and able defender among Peruvian activists. A descent in a snowstorm leaves Stephen frostbitten in the leg, serious enough he is carried in a Peruvian Chair, and eventually forced to amputate a "few unimportant toes".

Events pick up immediately after Clarissa Oakes and close a number of months later, in the South Atlantic. Per Seltzer's chronology, events take place in the repeating year of 1813. See also the online Patrick O'Brien Mapping Project for conjectured plot of the journey this volume. ( )
  elenchus | Apr 25, 2021 |
As I stagger past the 3/4 mark of this enormous series of books I am struck by the observation that I am more interested in Maturin than Aubrey. Really though, it's being more interested in what's going on on land than on ship - which is the complete opposite of what I would have said in the first quarter of the series.

THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN CURTAILED IN PROTEST AT GOODREADS' CENSORSHIP POLICY

See the complete review here:

http://arbieroo.booklikes.com/post/897361/the-wine-dark-sea-patrick-o-brian ( )
1 vote Arbieroo | Jul 17, 2020 |
The Wine-Dark Sea, Patrick O’Brian’s sixteenth book in his Aubrey-Maturin series, picks up immediately where the previous novel, Clarissa Oakes, left off with Captain Jack Aubrey, Stephen Maturin, and Thomas Pullings aboard the Surprise chasing the American privateer Franklin, under command of French privateersmen, from Moahu where they recently thwarted French ambitions on the strategic island. Turbulent seas from an underwater volcanic eruption enable the Surprise to overtake and capture the Franklin, gaining the crew another prize.

Aboard the Franklin, Aubrey finds her owner, Jean Dutourd, who had sought to finance a utopia on Moahu by enticing one group to overthrow the monarch. Doutard sails without papers for himself, putting Aubrey in the awkward position of how to classify him – either a privateer or a pirate. An encounter with a whaler brings news of the Alastor, a French vessel flying the black flag of piracy, and Aubrey determines to find and take her. Once the crew of the Surprise accomplishes that, they send the Surprise and the Alastor into Callao, the port for Lima, along with Maturin who can finally begin the mission upon which he embarked in The Thirteen Gun Salute. While Stephen begins making contact with locals who might support Peruvian independence, Jack looks for further prizes in the Franklin. Unfortunately for Stephen, Doutard manages to stowaway on one of the prizes and reaches Peru, intending to send up an alarm. Though neither the French nor Spanish authorities trust Doutard – he showing an alarming lack of tact and his views on religion putting him at odds with the Spanish – his words do pose a threat to any English attempt to support Peruvian independence and Stephen must flee overland. The breeze being against them, Aubrey attempts to reach Callao by cutter, though the winds delay and batter them. Fortunately, Captain Pullings finds them struggling to enter the harbor and brings them aboard Surprise, where word of Stephen’s overland trek meets them. The Surprise sails down the coast and rendezvous with Stephen before heading to the Cape to try and take three American China ships. There they encounter further misfortune when an unexpected U.S. frigate appears, giving the Surprise a brief chase in which she suffers ice damage. The Surprise escapes, but a lightning strike further damages her mast. The novel closes with the HMS Berenice under Captain Heneage Dundas finding them and transferring provisions to repair Surprise in order that they may return home.

Like the previous nine novels, The Wine-Dark Sea exists outside the normal flow of time – this novel being the tenth of eleven to exist in what O’Brian described as an extended 1812, with these books taking place between the beginning of June 1813 and November 1813. Further, this continues the circumnavigation of the globe that began in The Thirteen Gun Salute and will end in The Commodore. The title quotes Homer’s Odyssey: “And if some god should strike me, out on the wine-dark sea, I will endure it.” O’Brian uses this novel to examine the nature of fortune, with Captain Dundas commenting on it when he finds Surprise damaged while Aubrey remarks that the failure in the mission is balanced by the joy of being alive and homeward bound. While the events of the previous nine novels would normally take several years, those looking for a perfect chronology are advised to simply enjoy the story and the way in which O’Brian perfectly recreates the world of the Napoleonic Wars, using Aubrey and Stephen’s activities to comment on the rapid changes occurring in this era and the passage of time in the series’ internal chronology. This Folio Society edition reprints the original text with insets containing historical portraits and sketches to illustrate some of the scenes. ( )
1 vote DarthDeverell | Feb 29, 2020 |
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» Add other authors (10 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Patrick O'Brianprimary authorall editionscalculated
Brown, RichardNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Griffin, GordonNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hunt, GeoffCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kann, AndreaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lama Montes de Oca, AleidaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Merla, PaolaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Tull, PatrickNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Vance, SimonNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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For Richard Simon and Vivien Green
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A purple ocean, vast under the sky and devoid of all visible life apart from two minute ships racing across its immensity.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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W.W. Norton

2 editions of this book were published by W.W. Norton.

Editions: 0393312445, 0393035581

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An edition of this book was published by Recorded Books.

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