read the entire patrick o'brian series

I read these books mostly when I’m on a ship. I was home for about 5 months earlier this year, so Nutmeg of Consolation (#14) took me a while to get through. Also didn’t find it that compelling. #15, The Truelove, however, was very compelling, and now that I’m on a ship I ripped through it in about a week and a half. On to the Wine Dark Sea…

I haven’t been keeping up on making entries about the Patrick O’Brian novels, but I have been reading them. Over the last six months or so I’ve sailed through The Far Side of the World, The Reverse of the Medal, The Letter of Marque, and The Thirteen-Gun Salute. I especially enjoy the plot twists and turns, tacks and wears, that have occurred through these last four books. The Reverse of the Medal was somewhat devoid of sea action, but it was an important setup for The Letter of Marque, which was a very fun book to read.

I recently finished the audio version of Post Captain, the second book in the series. 19 to go! I’m going to shoot for reading 4 this year:

HMS Surprise
The Mauritius Command
Desolation Island
Fortune of War

I’m so glad I did this. I especially loved The Wine Dark Sea, Thirteen Gun Salute, The Hundred Days, and The Far Side of the World. I’m already looking forward to waiting a few years and starting all over again.

As you get deeper into the series, you begin to forget what happened in earlier books, and as I mentioned in my last entry, Patrick O’Brian frequently makes reference to events that happened in previous books. Harbors and High Seas is a great reference with quick synopses, as well as useful maps and descriptions of the places mentioned in O’Brian’s books. For those of you who are mariners, it is akin to having a Coast Pilot for the early 19th century. I now read the O’Brian novels with this book and Dean King’s other reference, A Sea of Words close at hand. One of the great things about O’Brian is that he inspires curiosity into the history, culture, and methods of 19th century naval life, and these books help.

Awesome book, great action and intrigue. It was a coincidence of timing that I was reading this book that takes place in the Middle East, while I was in the Middle East. For those engaged in this series, one to look forward to!
I’m becoming more and more impressed with O’Brian. I enjoy observing his growth through each successive book, not only as a writer, but as an expert of nautical, historical, and anthropological knowledge. I watched a DVD on Geoff Hunt, the artist for all the covers of O’Brian’s books, and it showed the thoroughness with which he researched the scenes he was depicting. I would like to see something of that nature on Patrick O’Brian. It would be fascinating to see how he mapped out his storylines and kept track of his characters’ histories, because so much happens in his books, and he frequently refers to events both major and minor that happened in earlier books. It must have been an amazing process.

Once again, the first half was lots of build-up, and the second half was lots of great action.

Work got in the way of recreational reading, but in the last month or so I started reading more and got through this one. Again, the second half was very fun and exciting.

Whew! Finally finished! This one took me a while. I stopped reading it about half way through to pursue some other books that caught my interest. When I got aboard ship again, I came back to it and ripped through the second half, which was very exciting. It’s fun to read about the War of 1812 (a subject with which I have some familiarity from reading Six Frigates)from the British perspective. It’s also fun to see how O’Brian drops his characters into historical events, and constructs his adventures within them. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the mail for the next book in the series: The Surgeon’s Mate.

I was beginning to become concerned that the books were heading in a very formulaic direction. Books 1-4 followed similar patterns as far as plot construction. They all pretty much started in England, Jack and Stephen get a ship assignment, go out to sea, yadda-yadda-yadda, they come home to money, fame, and promotions. That’s not to say that they’re not interesting, because they are (though primarily only to sailors). However, they do follow that pattern.
I was happy to see Desolation Island break from that pattern. It focused more on Stephen’s intrigue as an intelligence operative, and introduces the complication of him potentially having to undermine Captain Aubrey to carry out an act of espionage.
I took a break from the O’Brian novels between books 2 and 3 to read a book called Six Frigates: The Epic story of the beginning of the U.S. Navy, and it focused a great deal on the war of 1812 (a great read, highly recommended, and greatly enhanced my understanding of the era). It is very interesting to me to see the O’Brian novels working their way towards that conflict, which was primarily a maritime conflict, and to read about it now from the British point of view, with references to the American frigates and places with which I am now familiar.