I've read several of O'Brian's Aubrey and Maturin series, featuring Royal Navy captain Jack Aubrey and his surgeon, Stephen Maturin. They're always good stories, accurate in their details about seafaring life in the early 1800's, and full of action and intrigue. This book is no exception. It starts with our intrepid sailors having to leave a ship which is being decommissioned due to damage sustained in O'Brian's last book. A series of adventures eventually puts them on the third, or is it the fourth, or fifth, ship as they are still homeward bound from the Indies.
This is probably the last of the Patrick O'Brian books I'm going to go out of my way to read. Though I like them, they are becoming a little bit predictable and repetitive. The characters are endearing and well developed, but I'm ready for a change of plot.
Just a caution. I think in general O'Brian is not good reading for teens. He is quite frank about some very adult themes. Though he doesn't flaunt them, they are right there for everyone to see. Enjoy the books, but use discretion, as always.
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