Scan barcode
A review by readingpanda
The Mauritius Command by Patrick O'Brian
3.0
When the fourth book of the Aubrey-Maturin series begins, Jack Aubrey is land-bound at his cottage in England. Married life is agreeing with him, overall, and yet ... he misses the ocean, the cottage is overcrowded, and he's living on half wages. Stephen shows up and soon, they have a mission which will send them halfway around the world to Mauritius to fight the French again.
The strengths:
As always, the friendship between Jack and Stephen
O'Brian's wonderful descriptions of everything; I could feel the bustling claustrophobia of Jack's cottage
Stephen's often-thwarted attempts to collect wildlife specimens in the exotic places he visits
The weaknesses:
With Jack often being at a distance from the action, it wasn't as exciting
Somehow, the book's pacing felt odd - both rushed and with long periods of not much happening
It was a good book, not stellar. But it's a long series, and HMS Surprise was absolutely wonderful, so this one suffers in comparison.
Recommended for: anyone already embarked on the series, fans of buddy road-movies
Quote: "'The coffee has a damned odd taste.'
'This I attribute to the excrement of rats. Rats have eaten our entire stock; and I take the present brew to be a mixture of the scrapings at the bottom of the sack.'
'I thought it had a familiar tang,' said Jack."
The strengths:
As always, the friendship between Jack and Stephen
O'Brian's wonderful descriptions of everything; I could feel the bustling claustrophobia of Jack's cottage
Stephen's often-thwarted attempts to collect wildlife specimens in the exotic places he visits
The weaknesses:
With Jack often being at a distance from the action, it wasn't as exciting
Somehow, the book's pacing felt odd - both rushed and with long periods of not much happening
It was a good book, not stellar. But it's a long series, and HMS Surprise was absolutely wonderful, so this one suffers in comparison.
Recommended for: anyone already embarked on the series, fans of buddy road-movies
Quote: "'The coffee has a damned odd taste.'
'This I attribute to the excrement of rats. Rats have eaten our entire stock; and I take the present brew to be a mixture of the scrapings at the bottom of the sack.'
'I thought it had a familiar tang,' said Jack."