The Aubrey/Maturin Series, by Patrick O'Brian

There are two major series of in genre of nautical historical fiction set in the late 18th to early 19th century that are a must read. There is the original, C. S. Forester's excellent and very entertaining Horatio Hornblower Saga. However, Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series, written much later and clearly influenced by it, is in some ways it's superior.

The Aubrey-Maturin series, by Patrick O'Brian

  • Master and Commander
  • Post Captain
  • HMS Surprise
  • The Mauritius Command
  • Desolation Island
  • The Fortune of War
  • The Surgeon's Mate
  • The Ionian Mission
  • Treason's Harbour
  • The Far Side of the World
  • The Reverse of the Medal
  • The Letter of Marque
  • The Thirteen-Gun Salute
  • The Nutmeg of Consolation
  • The Truelove
  • The Wine-Dark Sea
  • The Commodore
  • The Yellow Admiral
  • The Hundred Days
  • Blue at the Mizzen
  • The Final Unfinished Voyage of Jack Aubrey
    • Read more about Patrick O'Brian and about the biography about him, and other books by Patrick O'Brian. See also our review of Master and Commander - DVD.
    "A good many other writers have followed in Forester's wake. There is Alexander Kent, with his robust hero, Captain Bolitho, and Dudley Pope with Captain Ramage, and a dozen others -- all of them producing burly, straightforward action stories, full of deadly peril, high courage and warmhearted Cockney understatement. And then there's Patrick O'Brian." -- Richard Snow, New York Times

    Both C. S. Forester and Patrick O'Brian apparently modeled their main characters on the English naval hero Lord Thomas Cochrane - who was, by all accounts, a most daring naval officer and politically radical.

    However, even though Aubrey is loosely based on Lord Cochrane and a large number of the events are based on real events, the series is not entirely historically accurate. In some cases actions are invented or borrowed from the exploits of other historical characters. But as this is historical fiction, and not history, that is perfectly fine, and actually serves to make the books more interesing.

    In focus throughout the series is the relationship between the sailor Jack Aubrey and the surgeon Steven Maturin. This is one of the more interesting relationships in literature - an ever evolving, very dynamic relationship between two opposites which are both constantly developing individually as characters as well. Jack Aubrey is a brilliant naval commander. He lives in a world that revolves around duty, ships and the sea, and has little understanding or patience for anything else. Stephen Maturin on the other hand, is a naturalist, a surgeon, sometime a spy, and highly educated and philosophically inclined. He is a man perfectly at home in the world of politics and intrigue, yet totally lost when it comes to naval matters.

    The enormous contrast between these two characters creates opportunity for O'Brian: He uses it, among other things, to let one or the other explain things to the reader without having to step out of character. As well, it offers opportunities for humor and contrast by allowing O'Brian to let things be viewed or discussed from widely differing angles.

    Patrick O'Brian, who was given an honorary doctorate in nautical history, is very knowledgeable both about naval history and about the Royal Navy, life on the ships, and sailing. His books are characterized by a fine balance between action and technical details. Nobody describes the Royal Navy in the Age of Sails better than O'Brian.

    (The movie of the same name is actually based on events from several of the books in the series: Master and Commander, HMS Surprise, The Letter of Marque and The Far Side of the World.)

    See also the wonderful article “An Author I'd Walk the Plank For,” by Richard Snow in the New York Times from 1991. This article contributed tremendously to the interest in Patrick O'Brian's books in the United States.

    Links to order The Complete Aubrey/Maturin Novels (amazon US), Complete Aubrey/Maturin from Amazon UK and Complete from Barnes & Noble and Patrick O'Brians samelde fra Bokkilden.no.

    Master and Commander, by Patrick O’Brian

    Master and Commander is the first book in this marvelous series about Lucky Jack Aubrey and his particular friend Steven Maturin, Master and Commander, by Patrick O'Brian naval surgeon and spy. Overall this is probably the best series of nautical fiction books about the Royal Navy in the Age of Sails ever written. Even though I enjoyed the Horatio Hornblower saga by C.S. Forester immensely, and have liked other series too, this to me is the best series of them all.

    The novel begins in Port Mahon in 1800. The opening is wonderful – the two main characters meeting one another during a chamber-music recital, where the surgeon Maturin introduces himself to Jack Aubrey by driving an elbow into his ribs during a chamber-music recital. Fortunately for all of us, the two quickly make freiends.

    Jack Aubrey, who is a young lieutenant commander in the Royal Navy, is granted his long-awaited promotion to the rank of Master and Commander, and given command of HMS Sophie, a very modest little vessel. And short after, over breakfast, Jack offers the penniless Maturin a post as ship's surgeon. Then they commence one of the greatest literary voyages of our century, set against an immaculately detailed backdrop of the Napoleonic wars.

    Most of the action in Master and Commander takes place on the open ocean, with naval missions to carry out, fights with the French naval forces, the taking of prices, destruction of French and Spanish military installations, and so on and so forth. The sea battles are extremely well described, and also the description of the sailors’ everyday life is extremely good. As well, there is rich historical detail, with much technical jargon regarding the operating of the ship.

    But squarely at the center of this and every book in the series is the intriguing, interesting and dynamic friendship between Aubrey and Maturin. They share a passion for music, and they both mutually respect each others’ skills, but apart from that they are radically different. Jack Aubrey is in some ways a simple man with a great passion for the sea and the Navy, and an excellent seaman. Maturin is a very interesting and multidimensional character - a brilliant surgeon, a naturalist, and extremely capable spy for England, and with a complicated background. Their conversations are delicious, enlightening, and entertaining to the extreme and sometimes just pure delight to follow.

    As Master and Commander unfolds, Patrick O'Brian shows us that both men have hidden depths. They are both great characters, and more than anything this is what makes this book so wonderful.

    This first novel has it all: Naval action, excitement, excellent descriptions, and great attention to detail, enlightening and funny conversations, characters that are truly alive, and a wonderful plot. All that sets Patrick O’Brian apart from the other writers of naval fiction is here. You should be warned though: Once you start reading this series, you are not likely to stop. You will probably be hooked. It doesn’t get much better than this!

    Praise:

    "...the best historical novels ever written."
    New York Times Book Review.

    " .. a gritty, realistic, and scrupulously-researched historical adventure that smashes C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower novels like a broadside from a seventy-gun frigate"

    Links to books by Patrick O'Brian at amazon US, amazon UK, amazon CAN, Barnes & Noble, Bokkilden.no and Haugenbok.

    Next Aubrey/Maturin pageTo the top