- Audio CD
- Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks; Unabridged edition (Oct 1 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1433204355
- ISBN-13: 978-1433204357
- Product Dimensions: 15.5 x 13.7 x 2.7 cm
- Shipping Weight: 281 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#749,310 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #14 in Books > Audiobooks > Audio CDs > Authors, A-Z > ( O ) > O'Brian, Patrick
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
After several installments of gallivanting around the South Seas, Aubrey and Maturin return home to England, where the surgeon-cum-intelligence-agent discovers that his wife has disappeared. As if such a domestic crisis weren't enough, the intrepid pair are also dispatched to the Gulf of Guinea (to suppress the slave trade) and to Ireland (to rebuff an impending French invasion.) O'Brian's stunning range, coupled with his mind-bending command of minutiae, explain why James Hamilton-Paterson has called him "the Homer of the Napoleonic Wars."
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
From Publishers Weekly
This 17th installment in O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series of historical naval tales spent two weeks on PW's bestseller list.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Insight Into Male Friendship,
By
This review is from: The Commodore (Vol. Book 17) (Aubrey/Maturin Novels) (Paperback)
Heads up: I'm a devoted fan of the series. It has been a particular delight to read about a lifelong friendship between two men with fully developed characters. Do NOT read this book if you have not read the preceding entries into the series (that's why the publishers put numbers on the spines!) -- you will be confused and irritated by the numerous references to previous events. If you HAVE read the series up to this point, you will enjoy the more lengthy glimpse into homeward cares and events. As is usual, the actual combat descriptions are curiously shortened but do not detract from the essence of the story itself.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Commodore Aubrey takes on the slave trade,
By
This review is from: The Commodore (Vol. Book 17) (Aubrey/Maturin Novels) (Paperback)
After returning from years at sea, in the East Indies, Botany Bay, the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands, the Peruvian coast and Cape Horn--during which Aubrey freed an old servant of Dr. Maturin from imprisonment and unwittingly took on a stowaway from Botany Bay, frustrated an attempt by a prototypical communist to set up an "ideal" government which would have been inimical to British interests in the Sandwich Islands, and a failed attempt by Dr. Maturin (a British intelligence agent) to free Peru from the Spanish influence--as well as encountering terminal storms, volcanic eruptions, encounters with icebergs, pirates and other enemy ships, in the last book (The Wine Dark Sea); our heroes, Dr, Stephen Maturin and Captain Jack Aubrey finally arrive back in England in this, the 17th book of the 20 book Aubrey/Maturin series.However, all is not well. Aubrey's wife, Sophie, suspects him of having an affair with the stowaway, Mrs. Oakes, although he is innocent. He, in turn, suspects her of having an affair with the local parson, who pursued her before their marriage. Stephen finds his wife, Diana, gone to parts unknown, and his girl child whom he has never seen, is suspected of being an idiot. Jack is given a new command, promoted to Commodore, and embarks on an effort to stop the slave trade out of Africa, as well as to frustrate a French squadron from interfering in Ireland. No one knows square-rigged ships as well as the late Patrick O'Brian, the author. His 19th century sea battles are often taken directly from British Admiralty records, but more than that his dialogues are replete with period expressions and turns of phrase that add greatly to his stories. What magnificent stories! The newcomer to the series should start with the first book, Master and Commander, and take them in order. I envy you the hours of pleasure that await you. Joseph H. Pierre
5.0 out of 5 stars
Aubrey and Maturin in Late Middle Age: Still Great!,
By James Paris "Tarnmoor" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Commodore (Vol. Book 17) (Aubrey/Maturin Novels) (Paperback)
"Come grow old with me / The best is yet to be..." Browning's lines from "Rabbi Ben Ezra" apply nicely to O'Brian's great Aubrey/Maturin series (although I understand that the last couple of volumes in the series are not quite up to the standard). Partly because so few writers can create vital and interesting characters any more, O'Brian stands out with his correct Tory Naval captain (Jack Aubrey) and his British intelligence agent/scientist friend (Stephen Maturin), who show here that they can age gracefully. But don't begin here. You have to have read the series in order to understand their tangled love and financial relationships and how the situation in THE COMMODORE came to be. If you have read the others through THE WINE DARK SEA, you are in for a real treat. Aubrey and Maturin combat pro-Napoleonic forces at home and abroad. In the process, they deliver crippling blows to the West African slave trade and prevent a French landing in support of Irish independence. Now that he has risen in the ranks, Aubrey must deal with issues raised by an incompetent spit-and-polish commander like Captain Thomas and by an otherwise talented sodomite in the person of Captain Duff whose officers rebel against favoritism shown to his catamites. Throughout the book, our heroes are uncertain of the welcome they will receive from their wives and families -- yet they are driven onward for King and Country.
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