The Letter of Marque (Aubrey/Maturin Novels, 12) (Book 12)

For over 16 novels, Patrick O'Brian has been carrying readers away to the wave-tossed-seas with Nelson's navy. Steeped in exquisite period detail, breathtaking prose, and bold adventure, The Letter of Marque continues the saga of Jack Aubrey, brilliant yet disgraced officer, and Stephan Maturin, ship's surgeon and British intelligence operator. Together they sail on a desperate mission against the French, which, if successful, may redeem Aubrey from the private hell of his disgrace. From Publishers Weekly If Jane Austen wrote Royal Navy yarns, they might read like this sequel to Master and Commander and Post Captain (which Norton issues in paperback in August). In the early 1800s, Captain Jack Aubrey, unjustly drummed out of service, is now master of the "letter of marque" (privateer) frigate Surprise , secretly owned by Stephen Maturin, ship's doctor/naturalist/abandoned husband/opium-eater and intelligence agent. The major events here are two great sea victories that make Jack a rich folk-hero, and Stephen's winning back of his wife and breaking his laudanum habit. Jack's seamanship and heroism are complemented by Stephen's absent-minded brilliance, their friendship cemented by their shared music-making (violin and cello, respectively). The early-19th-century locutions are fascinating, as are the evocation of period shipboard life (including ship-provisioning and naval lingo), Whitehall politics (rotten boroughs, etc.) and drug addiction (coca leaf-chewing as well as opium-eating). Seafarers and landlubbers alike will enjoy this swift, witty tale of money and love. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal Originally published in England in 1988, this U.S. publication is the long-awaited sequel to Master and Commander (LJ 12/15/69) and Post Captain (LJ 8/72). It continues the adventures of Captain Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, ship's doctor. Jack, who has been unfairly dismissed from the British Navy, continues his sea career under a "Letter of Marque," a polite term for a privateer. Stephen struggles to balance his scientific interests, his own inclination toward addiction to laudanum, and his concern for his friend. The author has created two wonderfully contrasting characters in bluff, hearty Aubrey and reedy, intellectual Maturin. Readers will be glad to see these unlikely friends in action again. The historical background of the Napoleonic era, as well as the details of early 19th-century naval warfare, are authentically depicted. An exciting sea story with good character development. Recommended for public libraries. - C. Robert Nixon, M.L.S., Lafayette, Ind. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. "I haven’t read novels [in the past ten years] except for all of the Patrick O’Brian series. It was, unfortunately, like tripping on heroin. I started on those books and couldn’t stop." ― E. O. Wilson, Boston Globe " The Letter of Marque is both serious and light-hearted, true and sentimental, as comic opera can be." ― Peter Campbell, London Review of Books "[Patrick O'Brian has] the power of bringing near to the reader...savagery and tenderness, beauty and mystery and boldness and dignity." ― Eudora Welty One of our greatest contemporary novelists, Patrick O’Brian is the author of the twenty volumes of the best-selling Aubrey/Maturin series, as well as many other books, including Testimonies , The Golden Ocean , The Unknown Shore , and biographies of Joseph Banks and Picasso. Read more