Listen free for 30 days

  • Master and Commander

  • Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 1
  • Written by: Patrick O'Brian
  • Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
  • Length: 15 hrs and 49 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (194 ratings)

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Master and Commander cover art

Master and Commander

Written by: Patrick O'Brian
Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $28.83

Buy Now for $28.83

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

Master and Commander is the first of Patrick O’Brian’s now famous Aubrey-Maturin novels, regarded by many as the greatest series of historical novels ever written. It establishes the friendship between Captain Jack Aubrey RN and Stephen Maturin, who becomes his secretive ship’s surgeon and an intelligence agent. It displays the qualities which have put O’Brian far ahead of any of his competitors: his depiction of the detail of life aboard an early 19th century man-of-war, of weapons, food, conversation and ambience, of the landscape and of the sea. O’Brian’s portrayal of each of these is faultless and the sense of period throughout is acute. His power of characterisation is above all masterly. Ric Jerrom reads this classic sea story from Patrick O’Brien.

©2014 Audible, Inc.; 1970 The Estate of the late Patrick O’Brien CBE

What listeners say about Master and Commander

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    134
  • 4 Stars
    40
  • 3 Stars
    11
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    4
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    131
  • 4 Stars
    22
  • 3 Stars
    11
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    4
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    114
  • 4 Stars
    37
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    4

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Very Good Establishment Novel

This book is very little like the film treatment (the Russell Crowe vehicle is fairly loosely based on this entire series). This one could be considered a "Prequel". It is quite slow to get going and spends the majority of time introducing and developing characters integral to the series. It relates how many in the crew came together, describes their first sloop (HM Sophie) in intimate detail, and provides very little else. There are a couple of naval battles - and they are harrowing, pulse-pounding, and loaded with clever strategies - but they feel somehow tacked-on. The book also introduces a bewildering variety of nautical terms and on-ship procedures. Unless you are very familiar with sailing in the 18th century (I am not), it could get awfully confusing. Fortunately, Patrick O'Brian is good at this (though he could have done better). He introduces Doctor Stephen Maturin as a brilliant but struggling landlubber - convinced to join the crew of the Sophie - who asks question after question from Captain Jack Aubrey and other crew members - allowing the reader to be educated at the same time as the good doctor.
This novel is worth the investment of time, but is pretty confusing if you don’t already know the characters.

Ric Jerrom is an adequate reader at best - but a very good choice for this series. He reads clearly with a very judicious use of accents.. that makes characters instantly recognizable. His reading timbre is spot-on and nautical terms are pronounced accurately. Unfortunately, on occasion Jerrom chooses to use very strong accents for some characters - sometimes making the dialogue hard to follow.

If you start here, stick with it. Later books warrant 5 stars and this one enriches them considerably. Unfortunately, this one falls victim - as a standalone - to having little in the way of a coherent plot. It's rather a series of battles and encounters designed to introduce characters and setting. It may be better to start reading with book 2 ('Post Captain'). Altogether, this first novel in the Aubrey/Maturin chronicle is worthy of 7 stars out of 10.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Great Sea-Faring Yarn

I loved the Audible version of this tale. I had read the novel years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.
The narrator of the spoken book does an excellent job of rendering different personalities and their voices. You get a vivid sense of the personalities of Aubrey and Maturin, and also of all the secondary characters, which brings their whole world to life.
And if you’re a history buff, you learn a lot about the social history of the time, politics, as well as the importance of the navies, naval etiquette, warfare and how their bureaucracies functioned. (Unsurprisingly, bureaucrats have not changed much from then until now.)
Patrick O’Brian was a gifted writer, and gives us well developed characters, adventure and a glimpse into a eventful time in history when there were great upheavals and changes politically, socially and scientifically.
I read this excellent series many years ago, and will probably go through round two via Audible books. I find that Captain Jack Aubrey, Maturin and friends are great company while cooking, painting, etc.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

One of my all time facorite stories

The reader nails the performabce of this beautifully written book. I was so worried in starting as I have read the entire series twice and hoped I wouldn't be dissappointed. I am anything but! It's well read and I must continually fight not to grin like an idiot on the bus during my commute while I listen - or avast cheering when a chase is captured!

110% wort it!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Fun story, good narration

I don't go in for this sort of story much at my age but found it immediately engrossing. Good fun, great detail, and extremely talented narrator. Probably the best fit of any voice actor to any book I've listened to. Altogether, well worth it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very enjoyable !

This was a very entertaining balance of action, historical detail and interesting characters. It reminds me of C.S. Forester's Hornblower novels, but with a slightly more human protagonist

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Great battles, a lot of introduction

The author was clearly intending a series and spends a lot of time building up the characters and setting. That's ok, even advisable, but it takes away from the story a bit. Great action scenes.

Good narrator, audio quality was less than perfect.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Long and hard to follow

This book was OK, but the chapter breaks in the mid chapter breaks, left me, wondering who is white and what was where but the jest of the book was quite exciting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it

Ric Jerrom's Narration was excellent! Fantastic story. I read this book a very long time ago and it was amazing to hear it through again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

a slow start but now the adventure begins

there was a lot of character and world building in the first few chapters before things could really get going but after they did it was spectacular

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

I tried. I really really tried

My father loved this series but he was more of a navy fan than I. I have read C.S. Forrester and his Hornblower series and thought this would be fantastic. I mean the movie was brilliant. Now, if you are craving action and adventure right away this isnt for you. If you want fleshed out characters and a lot of writing with brilliant voice work than pay your credit and hop aboard. As for myself, it was listening to a naval version of Tolkiens walk through Mordor. Dont need 4 chapters in detail on something trivial.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!