In 1992 I borrowed a book from the old library in New Lynn. It was "Treason's Harbour" by Patrick O'Brian. I was immediately struck by the vibrancy and eloquence of the writing. Over the next year I sought out the fourteen other O'Brian books in Aubrey - Maturin series and in 1993 placed my first ever order with an oversees bookseller in order to get my hands on "The Wine Dark Sea" as soon as it was released. And so began an eight year period where I was reading O'Brian almost continuously. Each year I would start the series again and time my reading such that I would finish just as the next book was released. Sadly, Patrick O'Brian was not getting any younger during that time and so it was no surprise to hear (while I was competing at the World Masters Orienteering Championships, no less) that he had passed away in January 2000 at the age of 85. There was one last unfinished book to be published (and one more trip through the canon) in 2004 but it came as a shock to pick up Master and Commander once more and realise I hadn't read it for seven years.
The brilliance of the writing has not diminished in that time. From the moment I sat down with Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin in the music room in the Governor's House at Port Mahon, Minorca until the moment we got up from the court martial table on board HMS Pompee in Gibraltar I was as enthralled as I ever was despite this being at least the seventh time I had read it. The blurb at the top of the book cover shown here is a quote from The Times calling O'Brian "the greatest historical novelist of all time". Ignore for the moment the fact that the source of this quote is a bit ambiguous (try googling it and see if you can get back to the original review), the sentiment is spot on.
It should be obvious, although I haven't mentioned it yet, but this is Nautical Fiction. Nautical Histroical Fiction set in the Napoleonic Wars. The plot in Master and Commander is taken, to various degrees, from the real life exploits of Lord Cochrane at the same time (1800ish). The main characters Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are introduced and their personalities start to develop. Although they will both change somewhat over the next 20 books, the elements of Jack and Stephen are fully developed. If you are looking for somewhere to start reading in this genre, look no further. There may be books later in the series with a better plot - there are assuredly some with much worse, or even no plot at all - there may be some where characterisation is more developed - I'm thinking of the first few chapters of The Commodore in particular - but this is where it all began and this is where your reading pleasure should start. If you haven't read it yet, stop what you are doing, get a copy and start now.
The brilliance of the writing has not diminished in that time. From the moment I sat down with Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin in the music room in the Governor's House at Port Mahon, Minorca until the moment we got up from the court martial table on board HMS Pompee in Gibraltar I was as enthralled as I ever was despite this being at least the seventh time I had read it. The blurb at the top of the book cover shown here is a quote from The Times calling O'Brian "the greatest historical novelist of all time". Ignore for the moment the fact that the source of this quote is a bit ambiguous (try googling it and see if you can get back to the original review), the sentiment is spot on.
It should be obvious, although I haven't mentioned it yet, but this is Nautical Fiction. Nautical Histroical Fiction set in the Napoleonic Wars. The plot in Master and Commander is taken, to various degrees, from the real life exploits of Lord Cochrane at the same time (1800ish). The main characters Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are introduced and their personalities start to develop. Although they will both change somewhat over the next 20 books, the elements of Jack and Stephen are fully developed. If you are looking for somewhere to start reading in this genre, look no further. There may be books later in the series with a better plot - there are assuredly some with much worse, or even no plot at all - there may be some where characterisation is more developed - I'm thinking of the first few chapters of The Commodore in particular - but this is where it all began and this is where your reading pleasure should start. If you haven't read it yet, stop what you are doing, get a copy and start now.
The Book Depository has a number of different editions of this book available. You can get them delivered for as little as $16 (or $11 if you are prepared to read it in German).
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