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Master and Commander
- Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 1
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 15 hrs and 49 mins
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Post Captain
- Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 2
- Written by: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 18 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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This tale begins with Jack Aubrey arriving home from his exploits in the Mediterranean to find England at peace following the Treaty of Amiens. He and his friend Stephen Maturin, surgeon and secret agent, begin to live the lives of country gentlemen, hunting, entertaining, and enjoying amorous adventures. Their comfortable existence, however, is cut short when Jack is overnight reduced to a pauper with enough debts to keep him in prison for life. He flees to the continent to seek refuge.
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To marks
- By Kevin on 2020-10-30
Written by: Patrick O'Brian
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H.M.S. Surprise
- Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 3
- Written by: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 15 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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H.M.S. Surprise, the third in O'Brian's acclaimed Aubrey-Maturin series, follows the variable fortunes of Captain Jack Aubrey's career in Nelson's navy, as he attempts to hold his ground against admirals, colleagues, and the enemy, and accepts a commission to convey a British ambassador to the East Indies. The voyage leads him and his friend Stephen Maturin to the strange sights and smells of the Indian subcontinent, and through the archipelago of Spice Islands where the French have a near-overwhelming local superiority.
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Narration brings it to life! Amazing.
- By Sloane on 2021-08-05
Written by: Patrick O'Brian
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Desolation Island
- Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 5
- Written by: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Commissioned to rescue Governor Bligh of Bounty fame, Captain Jack Aubrey and his friend and surgeon Stephen Maturin sail the Leopard to Australia with a hold full of convicts. Among them is a beautiful and dangerous spy - and a dangerous disease which decimates the crew.
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Fantastic adventure.
- By Gary Stewart on 2020-02-06
Written by: Patrick O'Brian
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The Mauritius Command
- Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 4
- Written by: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 12 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Mauritius Command, Captain Jack Aubrey is ashore on half-pay without a command until his friend, occasional intelligence agent Stephen Maturin, arrives with secret orders for Aubrey to take a frigate to the Cape of Good Hope under a Commodore's pennant. But the difficulties of carrying out his orders are compounded by two of his own captains: one a pleasure-seeking dilettante, the other liable to provoke the crew to mutiny.
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Excellent performance
- By Brad on 2019-03-27
Written by: Patrick O'Brian
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The Fortune of War
- Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 6
- Written by: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Captain Jack Aubrey, RN, arrives in the Dutch East Indies to find himself appointed to the command of the fastest and best-armed frigate in the Navy. He and his friend Stephen Maturin take passage for England in a despatch vessel. But the War of 1812 breaks out while they are en route. Bloody actions precipitate them both into new and unexpected scenes where Stephen's past activities as a secret agent return on him with a vengeance.
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Fortune of War Review
- By James McCutchon on 2022-07-10
Written by: Patrick O'Brian
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The Surgeon's Mate
- Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 7
- Written by: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are ordered home by despatch vessel to bring the news of their latest victory to the government. But Maturin is a marked man for the havoc he has wrought in the French intelligence network in the New World, and the attentions of two privateers soon become menacing. The chase that follows through the fogs and shallows of the Grand Banks is as thrilling, as tense and as unexpected in its culmination as anything Patrick O'Brian has written.
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Good not great
- By PDubya on 2020-05-09
Written by: Patrick O'Brian
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Post Captain
- Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 2
- Written by: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 18 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
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Performance
-
Story
This tale begins with Jack Aubrey arriving home from his exploits in the Mediterranean to find England at peace following the Treaty of Amiens. He and his friend Stephen Maturin, surgeon and secret agent, begin to live the lives of country gentlemen, hunting, entertaining, and enjoying amorous adventures. Their comfortable existence, however, is cut short when Jack is overnight reduced to a pauper with enough debts to keep him in prison for life. He flees to the continent to seek refuge.
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To marks
- By Kevin on 2020-10-30
Written by: Patrick O'Brian
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H.M.S. Surprise
- Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 3
- Written by: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 15 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
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Performance
-
Story
H.M.S. Surprise, the third in O'Brian's acclaimed Aubrey-Maturin series, follows the variable fortunes of Captain Jack Aubrey's career in Nelson's navy, as he attempts to hold his ground against admirals, colleagues, and the enemy, and accepts a commission to convey a British ambassador to the East Indies. The voyage leads him and his friend Stephen Maturin to the strange sights and smells of the Indian subcontinent, and through the archipelago of Spice Islands where the French have a near-overwhelming local superiority.
-
-
Narration brings it to life! Amazing.
- By Sloane on 2021-08-05
Written by: Patrick O'Brian
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Desolation Island
- Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 5
- Written by: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
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Performance
-
Story
Commissioned to rescue Governor Bligh of Bounty fame, Captain Jack Aubrey and his friend and surgeon Stephen Maturin sail the Leopard to Australia with a hold full of convicts. Among them is a beautiful and dangerous spy - and a dangerous disease which decimates the crew.
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Fantastic adventure.
- By Gary Stewart on 2020-02-06
Written by: Patrick O'Brian
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The Mauritius Command
- Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 4
- Written by: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 12 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
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Performance
-
Story
In The Mauritius Command, Captain Jack Aubrey is ashore on half-pay without a command until his friend, occasional intelligence agent Stephen Maturin, arrives with secret orders for Aubrey to take a frigate to the Cape of Good Hope under a Commodore's pennant. But the difficulties of carrying out his orders are compounded by two of his own captains: one a pleasure-seeking dilettante, the other liable to provoke the crew to mutiny.
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Excellent performance
- By Brad on 2019-03-27
Written by: Patrick O'Brian
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The Fortune of War
- Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 6
- Written by: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Captain Jack Aubrey, RN, arrives in the Dutch East Indies to find himself appointed to the command of the fastest and best-armed frigate in the Navy. He and his friend Stephen Maturin take passage for England in a despatch vessel. But the War of 1812 breaks out while they are en route. Bloody actions precipitate them both into new and unexpected scenes where Stephen's past activities as a secret agent return on him with a vengeance.
-
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Fortune of War Review
- By James McCutchon on 2022-07-10
Written by: Patrick O'Brian
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The Surgeon's Mate
- Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 7
- Written by: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
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Performance
-
Story
Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are ordered home by despatch vessel to bring the news of their latest victory to the government. But Maturin is a marked man for the havoc he has wrought in the French intelligence network in the New World, and the attentions of two privateers soon become menacing. The chase that follows through the fogs and shallows of the Grand Banks is as thrilling, as tense and as unexpected in its culmination as anything Patrick O'Brian has written.
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Good not great
- By PDubya on 2020-05-09
Written by: Patrick O'Brian
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The Ionian Mission
- Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 8
- Written by: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 13 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, veterans of many battles, return in this novel to the seas where they first sailed as shipmates. But Jack is now a senior captain, commanding a line-of-battle ship sent out to reinforce the squadron blockading Toulon, and this is a longer, harder, colder war than the dashing frigate action of his early days.... A sudden turn of events takes him and Stephen off on a hazardous mission to the Greek islands. All his old skills of seamanship - and luck when fighting against odds - come triumphantly into their own as the story concludes with some fierce and thrilling action.
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As good as the rest
- By PDubya on 2020-05-30
Written by: Patrick O'Brian
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Treason's Harbour
- Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 9
- Written by: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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While Captain Aubrey worries about repairs to his ship, Stephen Maturin assumes the centre stage; for the dockyards and salons of Malta are alive with Napoleon's agents, and the admiralty's intelligence network is compromised. Maturin's cunning is the sole bulwark against sabotage of Aubrey's daring mission. All of Patrick O'Brian's strengths are on parade in this novel of action and intrigue, set partly in Malta, partly in the treacherous, pirate-infested waters of the Red Sea.
Written by: Patrick O'Brian
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The Far Side of the World
- Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 10
- Written by: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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It is still the War of 1812 and Jack Aubrey - with his tetchy, sardonic friend Stephen Maturin - has set course across the South Atlantic to intercept a powerful American frigate outward bound to play havoc with the British whaling trade. If they do not come up with her before she rounds the Horn, they must follow her into the Great South Sea and as far across the Pacific as she may lead them.
Written by: Patrick O'Brian
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The Thirteen-Gun Salute
- Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 13
- Written by: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Jack Aubrey and his old friend Dr Maturin are sailing on a secret mission with a hand-picked crew, most of them shipmates from the adventures and lucrative voyages of earlier years.
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Another exciting adventure
- By PDubya on 2020-11-04
Written by: Patrick O'Brian
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The Nutmeg of Consolation
- Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 14
- Written by: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Shipwrecked on a remote island in the Dutch East Indies, Captain Aubrey, surgeon and secret intelligence agent Stephen Maturin, and the crew of the Diane fashion a schooner from the wreck. A vicious attack by Malay pirates is repulsed, but the makeshift vessel burns, and they are truly marooned. Their escape from this predicament is one that only the whimsy and ingenuity of Patrick O Brian or Stephen Maturin could devise.
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Never Disappointed.
- By PDubya on 2020-11-15
Written by: Patrick O'Brian
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The Reverse of the Medal
- Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 11
- Written by: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Jack Aubrey returns from his duties protecting whalers off South America and is persuaded by a casual acquaintance to make investments in the City on the strength of supposedly certain information. This innocent decision ensnares him in the London criminal underground and in government espionage - the province of his friend Stephen Maturin. Is Aubrey's humiliation and the threatened ruin of his career a deliberate plot?
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Ric Jerrom
- By Boroboy on 2021-09-01
Written by: Patrick O'Brian
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The Letter of Marque
- Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 12
- Written by: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Captain Jack Aubrey, a brilliant and experienced officer, has been struck off the list of post-captains for a crime he did not commit. His old friend Stephen Maturin, usually cast as a ship's surgeon to mask his discreet activities on behalf of British intelligence, has bought for Aubrey his former ship the Surprise to command as a privateer, more politely termed a letter of marque. Together they sail on a desperate mission against the French, which, if successful, may redeem Aubrey from the private hell of his disgrace.
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Best one in a while
- By PDubya on 2020-10-20
Written by: Patrick O'Brian
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Blue at the Mizzen
- Aubrey/Maturin Series, Book 20
- Written by: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Napoleon has been defeated at Waterloo, and the ensuing peace brings with it both the desertion of nearly half of Captain Aubrey's crew and the sudden dimming of Aubrey's career prospects in a peacetime navy. When the Surprise is nearly sunk on her way to South America - where Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are to help Chile assert her independence from Spain - the delay occasioned by repairs reaps a harvest of strange consequences.
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A triumphant conclusion to the series
- By Jeff Allan on 2018-05-13
Written by: Patrick O'Brian
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The Wine-Dark Sea
- Written by: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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At the opening of a voyage filled with disaster and delight, Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are in pursuit of a privateer sailing under American colours through the Great South Sea. Stephen's objective is to set the revolutionary tinder of South America ablaze to relieve the pressure on the British government which has blundered into war with the young and uncomfortably vigorous United States. The shock and barbarity of hand-to-hand fighting are sharpened by O'Brian's exact sense of period, his eye for landscape and his feel for a ship under sail.
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Not his best
- By PDubya on 2021-01-10
Written by: Patrick O'Brian
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The Yellow Admiral
- The Aubrey/Maturin Series, Book 18
- Written by: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Life ashore may once again be the undoing of Jack Aubrey in The Yellow Admiral, Patrick O'Brian's best-selling novel and eighteenth volume in the Aubrey/Maturin series. Aubrey, now a considerable though impoverished landowner, has dimmed his prospects at the admiralty by his erratic voting as a member of Parliament; he is feuding with his neighbor, a man with strong navy connections who wants to enclose the common land between their estates.
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Simply The Best
- By Amazon Customer on 2023-01-20
Written by: Patrick O'Brian
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Clarissa Oakes
- Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 15 (Unabridged)
- Written by: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Captain Jack Aubrey sails away from the hated Australian prison colonies in his favourite vessel the Surprise, pondering on middle age and sexual frustration. He soon becomes aware that he is out of touch with the mood of his ship: to his astonishment he finds that in spite of a lifetime's experience he does not know what the foremost hands or even his own officers are thinking.
Written by: Patrick O'Brian
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The Hundred Days
- (Vol. Book 19)
- Written by: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Napoleon, escaped from Elba, pursues his enemies across Europe like a vengeful phoenix. If he can corner the British and Prussians before their Russian and Austrian allies arrive, his genius will lead the French armies to triumph at Waterloo. In the Balkans, preparing a thrust northwards into Central Europe to block the Russians and Austrians, a horde of Muslim mercenaries is gathering.
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Love it!
- By Amazon Customer on 2020-10-11
Written by: Patrick O'Brian
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.
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What listeners say about Master and Commander
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Langer
- 2021-03-02
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.
5 people found this helpful
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- BScott
- 2020-11-15
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.
3 people found this helpful
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- Scott Wayne Baker
- 2018-02-23
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!
3 people found this helpful
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- philip moss
- 2021-03-04
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.
2 people found this helpful
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- martink
- 2018-03-27
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
1 person found this helpful
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- Paul
- 2022-07-08
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.
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- charles
- 2022-05-14
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
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- Amazon Customer
- 2022-01-11
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.
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- mike mckenna
- 2021-12-22
Excellent
Enjoyed every minute, narration and character accents were spot on. Looking forward to Post Captain.
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- Gerald Lefebvre
- 2021-04-07
Excellent story and Narration
If your a fan of the time period, late 1700s and early 1800s. This a great novel, some parts were abit hard to follow written in old English. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
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- Jefferson
- 2013-04-11
Looking at the Sea with Loving Relish
The first meeting between Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin is humorously inauspicious. At a performance by an Italian quartetto in the music-room of the Governor’s House at Port Mahon on the island of Minorca near Spain, Jack is so enthusiastically enjoying the music, beating the time with his hand and humming “pum-pum-pum,” that Stephen elbows him sharply in the ribs, so that Jack must master his desire to pick up a chair and dash it over the villain's head. Yet after receiving the wonderful news that he’s been promoted to Master and Commander of the Sophie, a small sloop, Jack is in such high spirits that when he runs into Stephen around town he invites him to a sumptuous meal, during which he invites him to become the surgeon of the Sophie. (Whereas other naval historical fiction, like the Horatio Hornblower and Alan Lewrie series, begin at the beginning of their heroes’ naval careers as midshipmen, O’Brien opens his with the promotion of Jack, who has nominally been at sea since nine and factually since twelve, to master and commander, a proto-captain.)
Jack and Stephen differ in so many ways! Jack, an officer in His Majesty’s navy, is tall, robust, tanned, good-natured, and blond-maned, while Stephen, an out-of-work civilian physician-biologist is small, slender, pale, melancholic, and be-wigged (with a weird hair-piece made of wire). Furthermore, Jack tends to speak his mind, often unintentionally offending his interlocutors, is bad at languages (as when he comically confuses “putain” with “patois”), is hot-tempered (which gets him into trouble with authority figures), while the highly educated and intelligent Stephen is more careful in his speech, more philosophical, and is fluent in Catalan and speaks Spanish and French as well. Nevertheless, the two men are roughly the same age (between twenty and thirty), share a love of music (Jack playing the violin, Stephen the cello), and are naturally drawn to one another as boon companions. One of the great pleasures of the novel is beholding their friendship unfold.
Other pleasures involve the exciting scenes of naval action that suddenly pop up, from inconclusive minor skirmishes between pairs of ships to major battles involving multiple ships and shore batteries (for in the year 1800 when the novel takes place England is at war with Spain and France), as well as the occasional brief, vivid, and lyrical descriptions of the world viewed with relish from a ship at sea:
“At almost the same time the sun popped up from behind St. Phillip’s fort; it did, in fact, pop up, flattened like a sideways lemon in the morning haze and drawing its bottom free of the land with a distinct jerk.”
Or
“The sea itself already had a nacreous light that belonged more to the day than the darkness, and this light was reflected in the great convexities of the topsails, giving them the lustre of grey pearls.”
O’Brien also writes many spicy and funny lines, as when some of the Sophie’s men comment on the middle-aged Master’s obvious feeling for Jack: “Old Sodom and Gomorrah is sweet on Goldilocks.” Or as when Stephen looks forward to working on a patient: “It has been a long time since I felt the grind of bone under my saw.” Or as when Jack tells Stephen about the poor food he’ll have to endure till the Sophie can get better supplies: “Salt horse and Old Weevil’s wedding cake for most of the voyage, with four-water grog to wet it.”
There are also poignant lines about the difficulties we face in life, as when the conflicted Lieutenant James Dillon says to his fellow-Irishman Stephen, “We understood one another better before ever I opened my mouth.” Stephen himself has a philosophical turn of mind, and is often observing and then commenting on human and animal nature, as when he tries to explain to the straightforward Jack how a man might be torn between conflicting loyalties, or as when he intently observes the macabre copulation of a praying mantis couple, during which the male mounts the female and grasps her body with his legs, only to have her bite off his head and eat it, leaving his body still copulating, which leads Stephen to tell Jack that at times a woman doesn’t need a man’s head and heart. (The depiction of women in the novel is definitely done from a male point of view!)
And of course there are plenty of nautical details in the novel, about the different ships in the age of sail, and of the different sails, masts, guns, crews, officers, punishments, techniques, procedures, protocols, strategies, food and drink, toilets, sleeping arrangements, and so on involved. Some of them remain opaque to land-lubber me, but many of them become more or less clear thanks to O’Brien’s device of inserting Stephen, a man with “no experience in naval matters,” into Jack’s world, so that he may ask questions and make comments on our behalf, so to speak, as when early in the novel he’s given a tour of the Sophie by a midshipman. Anyway, the nautical details never get in the way of the story, which is full of psychological and physical excitement, humor, relish, and suspense.
Ric Jerrom reads the novel with clarity, feeling, and wit, modifying his voice effectively for the different seamen, whether common or elite, English or foreign, old or young, drunk or sober, pleasant or nasty, and so on. He brings the book vividly to life.
Fans of the Hornblower or Lewrie books should enjoy Master and Commander, as should anyone who likes historical novels featuring compelling characters and authentic settings and exciting action.
7 people found this helpful
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- Alexandra Berndsen
- 2012-06-13
Ripping yarn, wonderful characters
The Aubrey-Maturin series is one of my favourite series of historical fiction. The historical backgrounds are well-researched and accurate, the plots intriguing, the writing superb. What's more, the stories are told with some humour, and with real love for the main characters which are thouroughly human and likeable despite (or because of) their faults. And there's plenty of naval warfare action, plus some science thrown in too.
The narrator of this first book in the series is excellent, he strikes exactly the right tone of voice.
I can't wait for the whole series to become available (*unabridged*!).
5 people found this helpful
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- Michael
- 2016-02-25
Now I know what I've been missing.
Good dramatization of historical events and age of sail procedures and customs. I thought the narrator did a credible job of imparting the style of the speech and manner of the people, without straying into parody, at least to my uneducated ears. I quickly got to caring about the characters and what happened to them. I would recommend it to anyone who likes good stories with detail which is part of the story, rather than the story merely being there as an excuse for the recitation of the details. I'll get around to the next volume before too long, I'm sure.
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- Richard
- 2013-08-07
Excellent piece of work
What did you love best about Master and Commander?
I enjoyed being immersed in a history work with a detailed focus on tall ship sailing and naval tactics
What other book might you compare Master and Commander to and why?
The Hornblower series because it is the same genre however this work emphasises the social relationships and norms of the time.
Would you listen to another book narrated by Ric Jerrom?
Yes excellent reading and acting
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Not really
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- Mermaid Hunter
- 2012-08-03
A wonderful Age of Sail Story
Would you consider the audio edition of Master and Commander to be better than the print version?
Definitely different, but I am not about to compare apples and oranges
Who was your favorite character and why?
Stephen Maturin, he is the man of the enlightenment. He has stood behind ideals and became disillusioned, but he is still able to feel childlike joy.
Who was the most memorable character of Master and Commander and why?
It was the duo of Aubrey/Maturin (big surprise there) as the chemistry is simply right.
Any additional comments?
This book is heavy in nautical terms/slang.
If you don't like Age of Sail stories, consider to decrease the story rating by one or two stars.
If you want to read your first Age of Sail story, this can get you hooked, the print book did it for me.
2 people found this helpful
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- Ian
- 2012-07-22
Balm for the nautical soul
What made the experience of listening to Master and Commander the most enjoyable?
Getting into the nautical life in the 1800's. There was much I haven't understood, but that's OK, I caught as much as I missed. The slow pace of much life under sail surprised me, but it makes sense when they were so reliant upon the wind.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Stephen - sensible, observant, reflective. A foil for the exuberant, shallow and somewhat oblivious Captain.
What does Ric Jerrom bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Accents, emphasis
If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
Under sail in the Mediterranean - a doctor's story
Any additional comments?
Good book. From listening to previews, I am not sure the narrators of later books of the series have done as a good a job as this one.
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- Griddiho
- 2017-11-13
The Beginning of an Incredible Series...
I made a mistaking buying this audiobook. I wanted the version narrated by Simon Vance. So I was shocked when Ric Jerrom started reading the story to me. Initially, I was disappointed at my error but now I consider it a real stroke of luck. Simon Vance is a brilliant voice artist for sure, but Ric Jerrom give this tale (of sharp historical insight and high seas adventure) a more theatrical performance and it is a very nice contrast to Vance's reading (while is also brilliant). The story itself is in turn funny, insightful, vivid, and utterly gripping in its description of the (two) culminating conflicts. It is also the beginning of one of the greatest series every written. I had no particular interest in the great battle ships of the 1700s and 1800s, but after being exposed to Mr O'Brian's story I consider myself completely fascinated. (AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY.)
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- Ryan
- 2016-10-01
Masterful!
All encompassing!
You truly get the gauge of naval life and the detail of the nautical battles are breath taking!
1 person found this helpful
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- Peter
- 2012-08-01
Good narration of sea story makes it enjoyable
Where does Master and Commander rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Of the books i have listened to this version rates highly
What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?
The use by the narrator of character voices provides greater enjoyment to the listerning experience
What aspect of Ric Jerrom’s performance would you have changed?
N/A
If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
Aubrey is great fun
Any additional comments?
N/a
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- peter
- 2022-10-24
Such a wonderful story
Yes I agree Patrick Hulls narration is perfect. I still hear it. But the brilliance of this novel delivered by Ric Jerrom shines thru. The last minutes brought tears to my eyes although I know this story well. O Brian is certainly one of the greatest novelists of all time- but if you are reading this you must know that already. This is true literature. So satisfying and so engaging.