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siria's review against another edition
4.0
Despite all my best efforts at procrastination and dragging things out as much as possible, I finished the series this evening at about five thirty, before flopping back in my seat with a sigh. Well. Now what am I going to do? I don't think I'll ever find another series which could win my heart as thoroughly as the Aubrey-Maturin one did. Prose, dialogue, characterisation, period detail—all calculated to make me wish that O'Brian had had a chance to finish the twenty-first book, and to keep going for many more. Still, at least the last complete work which we have was a beautiful, flowing indulgence which ends on a supremely optimistic note—Jack hoisting his flag at last, Stephen with the chance of great happiness in his future—and it's a lovely place to leave our pair.
bookcraft's review against another edition
3.0
Maybe it's just me, but this one made less sense (in terms of strategy and character actions) than the previous books did. I also find O'Brian's idea of romance and the way he writes Maturin's interaction with women he's interested in a little odd.
cutecoil's review against another edition
5.0
I'm so glad Jack was able to get his flag! What a great way to end the series. 20 books, and Jack's story got wrapped up nicely. I wish Stephen could have had a bit more closure, but over all, it was a wonderful ending. I'll read the final unfinished novel, but this ending was so comfortable I hate to add to it!
mwx1010's review against another edition
4.0
So that's that then.
The last of the series (not counting the unfinished notes which were published to mixed reaction). There's a curious change which happens about halfway through the series. The quality of the plotting drops away a little but by that point the reader has become so familiar with the world O'Brian has built and the characters it contains that the enjoyment of the series switches to taking it as a character study.
This was clearly not intended as a final chapter in the saga, but contains enough closure to allow it to act as one. Probably a series I'll reread in time, but for now - Goodbye.
The last of the series (not counting the unfinished notes which were published to mixed reaction). There's a curious change which happens about halfway through the series. The quality of the plotting drops away a little but by that point the reader has become so familiar with the world O'Brian has built and the characters it contains that the enjoyment of the series switches to taking it as a character study.
This was clearly not intended as a final chapter in the saga, but contains enough closure to allow it to act as one. Probably a series I'll reread in time, but for now - Goodbye.
kentcryptid's review against another edition
5.0
Five stars for the whole series!
I first read most of the Aubreyad in about 2007, but never quite made it to the end. Then, two years ago, I bought the whole series from a friend who was moving and have spent the intervening period reading all twenty of them. It's been one of the most enjoyable reading experiences of my life. I'm honestly sad to let them go after twenty books, but I'm positive that I will happily read them all again a decade or so from now.
I first read most of the Aubreyad in about 2007, but never quite made it to the end. Then, two years ago, I bought the whole series from a friend who was moving and have spent the intervening period reading all twenty of them. It's been one of the most enjoyable reading experiences of my life. I'm honestly sad to let them go after twenty books, but I'm positive that I will happily read them all again a decade or so from now.
shinybooks's review against another edition
5.0
Always a little sad to get to the end of the series, especially when it wasn’t able to be finished the way POB would have wanted, but still a great, fun read all the way through.
plantbirdwoman's review against another edition
4.0
This was my final voyage with Captain (now Admiral) "Lucky Jack" Aubrey and Dr. (naturalist/spy) Stephen Maturin. Patrick O'Brian was working on a 21st entry to the series at the time of his death and it was, in fact, later published, incomplete, with an afterword by someone else. But I don't think I will be reading it. It just seems wrong somehow. I am content to leave Aubrey and Maturin, savoring their latest "famous victory" and Jack's imminent promotion to admiral, with Stephen happy in the knowledge that his daughter and his new lady love (a fellow naturalist) have become friends and are looking forward to his return.
This last complete volume in the series is different from those that came before in some ways. There isn't as much naval action as many of O'Brian's fans have come to anticipate, although its absence is no cause for regret for me since I never read the books for their naval battles. In fact, the battles that do occur are told in an offhand way, often in letters written by Maturin, who, even after all his years on the sea, is no seaman.
Much of the story is told through Stephen's letters to the lady who he has asked to marry him and who is considering the offer and to Sir Joseph Blaine, his spymaster in London. And so we see the action through his eyes.
The meandering plot of Blue at the Mizzen takes up at the end of the previous book, The Hundred Days which saw the final defeat of Napoleon and the standing down of the British Navy. That standing down has led to the desertion of some of the crew of the Surprise and so it is with an incomplete ship's complement that Aubrey prepares to take on his new mission.
That incomplete status doesn't last for long, of course, as former shipmates learn that he needs crew. They come to volunteer and soon the frigate is fully staffed once again and on its way to Chile where a revolution is brewing. The mission is to deliver Stephen and his friend and fellow intelligence agent Dr. Jacob to Concepcion, where they are to aid and encourage the junta which England sees as the more congenial group.
After the usual ups and downs, their mission is successful, including a final naval battle against a Peruvian faction which had planned an invasion of Chile. Reports of that battle are sent home and soon the word comes back. Jack is authorized to fly "blue at the mizzen," the signal that he is a rear admiral, and they are to proceed to South Africa on their new mission.
Sadly, we'll never know what O'Brian intended as the outcome of that mission, but we can guess that, whatever the hardships that came their way, it all ended in greater glory for Aubrey and, for Maturin, ultimate happiness with a woman equal to him in intellect as they raise his uniquely talented daughter together.
As always, the real story of these voyages has been the ongoing and ever-deepening friendship between the naval captain, Jack Aubrey, and the ship's surgeon, British intelligence agent, wealthy Catalonian aristocrat, staunch Irish patriot, and avid naturalist, Stephen Maturin.
Aubrey is the bold man of the sea, fearless in battle, innovative yet cautious, but compassionate, even tender-hearted, with his crew. On land, he was utterly hopeless. All of his native intelligence and intuition which served him so well at sea evaporated once his feet touched land and he became a bumbling booby. As Maturin was often rescued by Aubrey when he got into perilous situations, so Aubrey was frequently rescued - often without his knowledge - by Maturin's actions and scheming on his behalf. That pattern continues to the end when Maturin saves Aubrey from an egregious political error after their action in Chile.
This novel is not plot driven; it meanders along, propelled by mostly gentle breezes, and O'Brian takes his time in telling the story. The voyage, after all, has always been the point - not the destination.
This last complete volume in the series is different from those that came before in some ways. There isn't as much naval action as many of O'Brian's fans have come to anticipate, although its absence is no cause for regret for me since I never read the books for their naval battles. In fact, the battles that do occur are told in an offhand way, often in letters written by Maturin, who, even after all his years on the sea, is no seaman.
Much of the story is told through Stephen's letters to the lady who he has asked to marry him and who is considering the offer and to Sir Joseph Blaine, his spymaster in London. And so we see the action through his eyes.
The meandering plot of Blue at the Mizzen takes up at the end of the previous book, The Hundred Days which saw the final defeat of Napoleon and the standing down of the British Navy. That standing down has led to the desertion of some of the crew of the Surprise and so it is with an incomplete ship's complement that Aubrey prepares to take on his new mission.
That incomplete status doesn't last for long, of course, as former shipmates learn that he needs crew. They come to volunteer and soon the frigate is fully staffed once again and on its way to Chile where a revolution is brewing. The mission is to deliver Stephen and his friend and fellow intelligence agent Dr. Jacob to Concepcion, where they are to aid and encourage the junta which England sees as the more congenial group.
After the usual ups and downs, their mission is successful, including a final naval battle against a Peruvian faction which had planned an invasion of Chile. Reports of that battle are sent home and soon the word comes back. Jack is authorized to fly "blue at the mizzen," the signal that he is a rear admiral, and they are to proceed to South Africa on their new mission.
Sadly, we'll never know what O'Brian intended as the outcome of that mission, but we can guess that, whatever the hardships that came their way, it all ended in greater glory for Aubrey and, for Maturin, ultimate happiness with a woman equal to him in intellect as they raise his uniquely talented daughter together.
As always, the real story of these voyages has been the ongoing and ever-deepening friendship between the naval captain, Jack Aubrey, and the ship's surgeon, British intelligence agent, wealthy Catalonian aristocrat, staunch Irish patriot, and avid naturalist, Stephen Maturin.
Aubrey is the bold man of the sea, fearless in battle, innovative yet cautious, but compassionate, even tender-hearted, with his crew. On land, he was utterly hopeless. All of his native intelligence and intuition which served him so well at sea evaporated once his feet touched land and he became a bumbling booby. As Maturin was often rescued by Aubrey when he got into perilous situations, so Aubrey was frequently rescued - often without his knowledge - by Maturin's actions and scheming on his behalf. That pattern continues to the end when Maturin saves Aubrey from an egregious political error after their action in Chile.
This novel is not plot driven; it meanders along, propelled by mostly gentle breezes, and O'Brian takes his time in telling the story. The voyage, after all, has always been the point - not the destination.
uisge_beatha's review against another edition
5.0
I've been dreading this read, knowing it's the last, complete novel in the series. I can only say that the ending is quietly satisfying, and probably the best possible send off for our two, endearing protagonists.