Scan barcode
teperehmi's review against another edition
4.0
I was going to give this book three stars...until the last ten pages...wow...
bowienerd_82's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kackjennedy's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
rpmiller's review against another edition
3.0
A new story, but the plot is not much different than the old stories, or even of the newer stories, I suppose. Geography changes, people get older. There is a bit of a Surprise towards the end.
menintrees's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
daniel_wood's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
5.0
edgeworth's review against another edition
4.0
For a book called The Ionian Mission, the Ionian mission itself doesn’t come into play until about the last quarter – but who cares? By this point in the series it’s clear that this is one very long story which is split into separate volumes merely for the sake of tradition and the necessities of the publishing industry. The Ionian Mission is merely the latest chapter in a setting I’ve grown very comfortable with, among characters who seem like old friends and real people – which is why I picked it as reading material for a hellish 26-hour flight I had to endure, and why I polished off nearly all of it on the Hong Kong to Helsinki leg alone.
The book is largely about Aubrey and Maturin both being assigned to the Mediterranean squadron – Aubrey due to one of O’Brian’s plot devices to prevent character of his experience and rank being given more prestigious but less literarily-exciting duties, and Maturin because he has a cloak and dagger rendezvous scheduled on the French coast. The Ionian mission itself fits rather oddly with the rest of the book, sending the characters off to the Ottoman Empire where it soon became clear to me that this was another of O’Brian’s attempts to insert his characters into Real History – there’s a little too much back and forth politicking with various Turkish power brokers, in a section which felt like it should take up an entire book rather than the final 60 or 70 pages of this one. But never mind – not one of O’Brian’s strongest efforts, but I still greatly enjoyed it, as I imagine I will every book for the rest of the series.
The book is largely about Aubrey and Maturin both being assigned to the Mediterranean squadron – Aubrey due to one of O’Brian’s plot devices to prevent character of his experience and rank being given more prestigious but less literarily-exciting duties, and Maturin because he has a cloak and dagger rendezvous scheduled on the French coast. The Ionian mission itself fits rather oddly with the rest of the book, sending the characters off to the Ottoman Empire where it soon became clear to me that this was another of O’Brian’s attempts to insert his characters into Real History – there’s a little too much back and forth politicking with various Turkish power brokers, in a section which felt like it should take up an entire book rather than the final 60 or 70 pages of this one. But never mind – not one of O’Brian’s strongest efforts, but I still greatly enjoyed it, as I imagine I will every book for the rest of the series.
plantbirdwoman's review against another edition
2.0
I love reading series, returning again and again to visit with characters that I've come to know and value. There are few series that I enjoy more than Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin British Royal Navy seafaring adventures set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic War.
Captain Jack Aubrey and Dr. Stephen Maturin are by now old friends of mine, even as they are old friends of each other. They are veterans of many battles and have come far since the early days of their association when they served in the Mediterranean. In the number eight entry in the series, they return to the Mediterranean, but their circumstances are much altered.
Aubrey is a senior captain commanding a line-of-battle ship in the Navy's blockade of Toulon. There are no dashing frigate actions here, no prizes to be won. Instead, a great line of ships maintains a long, cold, hard line, trapping the enemy French ships.
It is a boring and tedious exercise, and, throughout much of the book, the reader gets a sense of what such an enterprise must have been like.
Long, maddening hours of inaction, waiting for something to happen do not boost the morale of the ship's crew and Jack has his hands full in maintaining discipline, keeping the communal spirit high (done, perhaps surprisingly, through music and literature!), and keeping his men ready and sharply prepared to fight when and if the occasion arises.
Meanwhile, his ship's doctor, Stephen Maturin continues his undercover job as a British intelligence agent, gathering information at every port to try to hasten the fall of the hated Napoleon. Stephen, too, is much changed from his early days, having, at one time in an earlier book, been caught behind lines and tortured before eventually being rescued by Aubrey and his men. He still bears the scars of that torture.
Maturin's personal situation, too, has changed since he has now married the love of his life and has left her ensconced in a fine house in England while he once again takes to the seas.
Throughout perhaps two-thirds of this book, the blockade and the inaction continue and the reader begins to wonder if anything is ever going to happen! But then a sudden turn of events reunites Stephen and Jack with their old frigate, the Surprise, and aboard that vessel, they are sent off on a hazardous mission to the Greek Islands to try to make allies of the Turks against Napoleon.
And, finally, we do get some action and we get to see Aubrey use his skills of seamanship as he must fight against heavy odds. Will "Lucky Jack's" luck hold once more?
This book is even more fraught than others in the series with technical naval language. The descriptions of equipment and of naval maneuvers run to pages at a time until the eyes of the uninitiated truly begin to glaze over. Moreover, as noted previously, there is less action in The Ionian Mission than in most of the earlier books. All of this makes for somewhat dull reading for long periods, and yet O'Brian's sly humor breaks through from time to time to liven things up.
Reading along, I was surprised at one point to come across a non-nautical term that I had not heard in many years - Solomon Gundy. It was something that my grandfather used to refer to and I had never heard it from anyone else. I couldn't remember what he had meant by it - I was a child at the time I heard it - but a bit of research turned up the answer. It's a type of food. It can mean, variously, a kind of fish pate` especially popular in Jamaican cuisine or a kind of mixed salad with a little bit of this and a little bit of that thrown in. My grandfather had no Jamaican connections so I suspect he was referring to the salad.
What interesting things one can learn from a Patrick O'Brian book and what forgotten memories it can sometimes dredge up.
Captain Jack Aubrey and Dr. Stephen Maturin are by now old friends of mine, even as they are old friends of each other. They are veterans of many battles and have come far since the early days of their association when they served in the Mediterranean. In the number eight entry in the series, they return to the Mediterranean, but their circumstances are much altered.
Aubrey is a senior captain commanding a line-of-battle ship in the Navy's blockade of Toulon. There are no dashing frigate actions here, no prizes to be won. Instead, a great line of ships maintains a long, cold, hard line, trapping the enemy French ships.
It is a boring and tedious exercise, and, throughout much of the book, the reader gets a sense of what such an enterprise must have been like.
Long, maddening hours of inaction, waiting for something to happen do not boost the morale of the ship's crew and Jack has his hands full in maintaining discipline, keeping the communal spirit high (done, perhaps surprisingly, through music and literature!), and keeping his men ready and sharply prepared to fight when and if the occasion arises.
Meanwhile, his ship's doctor, Stephen Maturin continues his undercover job as a British intelligence agent, gathering information at every port to try to hasten the fall of the hated Napoleon. Stephen, too, is much changed from his early days, having, at one time in an earlier book, been caught behind lines and tortured before eventually being rescued by Aubrey and his men. He still bears the scars of that torture.
Maturin's personal situation, too, has changed since he has now married the love of his life and has left her ensconced in a fine house in England while he once again takes to the seas.
Throughout perhaps two-thirds of this book, the blockade and the inaction continue and the reader begins to wonder if anything is ever going to happen! But then a sudden turn of events reunites Stephen and Jack with their old frigate, the Surprise, and aboard that vessel, they are sent off on a hazardous mission to the Greek Islands to try to make allies of the Turks against Napoleon.
And, finally, we do get some action and we get to see Aubrey use his skills of seamanship as he must fight against heavy odds. Will "Lucky Jack's" luck hold once more?
This book is even more fraught than others in the series with technical naval language. The descriptions of equipment and of naval maneuvers run to pages at a time until the eyes of the uninitiated truly begin to glaze over. Moreover, as noted previously, there is less action in The Ionian Mission than in most of the earlier books. All of this makes for somewhat dull reading for long periods, and yet O'Brian's sly humor breaks through from time to time to liven things up.
Reading along, I was surprised at one point to come across a non-nautical term that I had not heard in many years - Solomon Gundy. It was something that my grandfather used to refer to and I had never heard it from anyone else. I couldn't remember what he had meant by it - I was a child at the time I heard it - but a bit of research turned up the answer. It's a type of food. It can mean, variously, a kind of fish pate` especially popular in Jamaican cuisine or a kind of mixed salad with a little bit of this and a little bit of that thrown in. My grandfather had no Jamaican connections so I suspect he was referring to the salad.
What interesting things one can learn from a Patrick O'Brian book and what forgotten memories it can sometimes dredge up.