The Mauritius Command

May 20, 1991
This initiates the reissue (see H.M.S. Surprise above) of O'Brian's long-out-of-print novels, set in Napoleonic-era England, about the unlikely pair, Captain Jack Aubrey and Dr. Stephen Maturin. Aubrey is a strapping blond man of action; Maturin, his ship's surgeon and occasional intelligence agent to the king, is diminutive and somber. Aubrey is without a ship, uncomfortably surrounded by wife, babies and mother-in-law, when Maturin comes to visit. The good doctor has engineered a new mission for his friend, and they set off to take two small islands off the coast of Madagascar, thereby making the Indian Ocean safe for English commerce. O'Brian is a graceful writer, and the book is full of wonderful period details, such as the use of a sail to create a wading pool for non-swimmers in Aubrey's crew. Unfortunately, with Aubrey as commodore, too much of the action is seen from afar, as when batteries are taken on one of the islands. The book's peculiar narrative structure builds repeatedly towards anticipated climaxes that never happen. However, aficionados of C. S. Forester and Alexander Kent will delight in the almost excessive period nautical jargon.

The fourth in the Aubrey/Maturin series that begins with MASTER AND COMMANDER is as exciting and delightful as the first three titles. Captain Jack Aubrey is (not happily) ensconced in a small cottage with his wife and newborn twin girls, gloomily awaiting orders to return to sea. Stephen Maturin arrives with those orders, and both set sail on a frigate to the French-held Mauritius Islands for the purpose of engaging in various naval maneuvers and battles. Surely John Lee has no peer when it comes to narrating O'Brian's works. His enunciation is impeccable. The characters spring to life, and the action of naval battles is dramatic and filled with tension. But what makes Lee's performance memorable is his matchless ability to capture the humorous dialogues among the characters. S.S.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine