H.M.S. Surprise

May 20, 1991
This long-out-of-print naval adventure in the series that started with Master and Commander (see The Mauritius Command below) finds Captain Jack Aubrey in charge of the H.M.S. Surprise. His ship's surgeon and friend, Stephen Maturin, sidelines in espionage and natural science. Through Maturin's eyes we see the environment in great detail--down to the species of beetle that inhabits an area. The Surprise is commissioned to deliver an English envoy to India. It is the early 19th century, when England fought for supremacy over France and Napoleon's navy, and Aubrey itches for an engagement with the crafty old French admiralpk Linois. He hopes to capture the French ship and earn the prize money that would clear his debt and allow him to marry Sophie, his true love. O'Brian knows his history and sailing, as is evident in the rich particulars--sometimes overwhelming. Those who don't know their foretopsail from their maintopsail will at times be as lost as landlubbers on a stormy sea. Stretching its genre but never escaping it, the novel will impress those who enjoy swashbucklers.

There's a pivotal sea battle against a French captain in the third Aubrey-Maturin adventure, which finds Jack Aubrey's H.M.S. SURPRISE on a course for India to take on the French fleet, but romance is the steam that keeps this novel moving. Jack Aubrey's financial difficulties hamper his pursuit of the lovely Sophie, while Stephen Maturin finds conflict after his marriage proposal to Diana. John Lee reads with a fine ear for dialogue, making the verbal sparring between the two friends delectable and savoring every morsel of period and geographic detail. This series' most devoted fans know the outcome already, but Lee's reading and Patrick O'Brian's well-researched portrait of sea life make listening worthwhile. J.A.S. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine