Patrick O'Brian

O'Brian is the author of the delightful Jack Aubrey/Stephen Maturin series. Jack Aubrey is a captain in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic wars and the War of 1812; Stephen Maturin is a naturalist, a physician, a spy, and Jack's particular friend. The books take place all over the world, and offer an interesting picture of the British Empire shortly after 1800. The characters are memorable and finely drawn, the writing is excellent, the history accurate, and each book is better than the last. There are presently 17 or 18 books in the series, which should under no circumstances be read out of order: each book follows directly upon the last. The first three books are Master and Commander, Post Captain, and H.M.S. Surprise.

There are two companion volumes to the series. A Sea of Words contains background material on the Royal Navy and on medical practice of that era, along with a glossary of unusual terms from the books. Harbors and High Seas contains plot summaries of the first 16 or so books, along with detailed maps of the action for the geographically challenged. The former is by Dean King, with John B. Hattendorf and J. Worth Estes; the latter is by King and Hattendorf alone.

In addition to the Aubrey/Maturin novels, O'Brian has written excellent two novels about Commodore Anson's ill-fated voyage to the Pacific in the mid-18th century, The Golden Ocean and The Unknown Shore, a mainstream novel called Testimonies, and a book of short stories called The Rendezvous, as well as biographies of Pablo Picasso and Sir Joseph Banks, the English naturalist who accompanied Captain Cook on his voyages.

Susan Wenger has written a parody of the Aubrey/Maturin novels entitled The Port-Wine Sea; it's published by Erica House and is currently available.

Alas, Jack Aubrey will sail no more; O'Brian passed away on January 2nd, 2000. The new century was too much for him.

The Aubrey/Maturin Series

• Master and Commander

Reviews: 1 June 1997, 1 April 1999, 1 April 2001, 1 February 2002

• Post-Captain

Reviews: 1 July 1997, 1 November 1997, 1 April 1999, 1 May 2001

• HMS Surprise

Reviews: 1 November 1997, 1 April 1999, 1 June 2001, 1 January 2004

• The Mauritius Command

Reviews: 1 November 1997, 1 April 1999, 1 July 2001, 1 January 2004

• Desolation Island

Reviews: 1 December 1997, 1 April 1999, 1 August 2001, 1 January 2004

• The Fortune of War

Reviews: 1 December 1997, 1 April 1999, 1 September 2001

• The Surgeon's Mate

Reviews: 1 December 1997, 1 April 1999, 1 October 2001

• The Ionian Mission

Reviews: 1 January 1998, 1 April 1999, 1 November 2001

• Treason's Harbour

Reviews: 1 January 1998, 1 May 1999

• The Far Side of the World

Reviews: 1 January 1998, 1 May 1999, 1 January 2002

• The Reverse of the Medal

Reviews: 1 January 1998, 1 May 1999, 1 February 2002

• The Letter of Marque

Reviews: 1 February 1998, 1 May 1999, 1 March 2002

• The Thirteen Gun Salute

Reviews: 1 February 1998, 1 July 1999, 1 April 2002

• The Nutmeg of Consolation

Reviews: 1 February 1998, 1 July 1999, 1 May 2002

• The Truelove

Published as Clarissa Oakes in the UK. Reviews: 1 March 1998, 1 July 1999, 1 June 2002

• The Wine-Dark Sea

Reviews: 1 April 1998, 1 July 1999, 1 July 2002

• The Commodore

Reviews: 1 April 1998, 1 December 1999, 1 August 2002

• The Yellow Admiral

Reviews: 1 April 1998, 1 December 1999, 1 September 2002, 1 October 2002

• The Hundred Days

Reviews: 1 December 1999, 1 December 2002

• Blue at the Mizzen

Reviews: 1 January 2003

Other Books by Patrick O'Brian

• The Unknown Shore

Reviews: 1 February 1997

• The Golden Ocean

Reviews: 1 February 1997

• The Rendezvous

Reviews: 23 August 1997

• Testimonies

Reviews: 1 December 1997

• Joseph Banks: A Life

Reviews: 1 December 1997

Related Works

• The Port-Wine Sea

A parody of the Aubrey/Maturin novels, written by Susan Wenger. Reviews: 1 May 2000