The Aubrey/Maturin Novels by Patrick O'Brian

About the series

These novels follow the careers of Jack Aubrey, an Officer in the Royal Navy, and his friend Stephen Maturin, a renowned physician and naturalist. The characters are more richly drawn than in other series in this genre. These men have their strengths, but we are also well aware (sometimes painfully so) that they also have shortcomings. There are no 'can-do-no-wrong' heroes here. We follow their adventures (and misadventures) through periods of war and peace, at sea, and on land. There is a good balance of epic naval battles, tactics, sailing, politics, intrigue, espionage, natural-science and relationships throughout the series. The consistent and rich continuity of the Aubrey novels provides a satisfactory conclusion of the major plots in the story, but it leaves enough threads unresolved that you are driven to dive directly into the next book as soon as possible.

Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin Series

I've linked these books to Amazon.com [Earth's biggest bookstore] in case you want to buy/try one for yourself. Local Bookstores often only have the latest book in the series. I strongly recommend starting at the very beginning, and reading them in order. Clicking on the title will take you to directly to the appropriate (paperback) book description in Amazon's amazing 1,000,000 title catalog.

The books are listed in chronological order.

Master and Commander
Post Captain
H.M.S. Surprise
The Mauritius Command
Desolation Island
The Fortune of War
The Surgeon's Mate
The Ionian Mission
Treason's Harbour
The Far Side of the World
The Reverse of the Medal
The Letter of Marque
The Thirteen Gun Salute
The Nutmeg of Consolation
The Truelove
The Wine Dark Sea
The Commodore
The Yellow Admiral

To help get through all of the sailing jargon and provide a historical underpinning, the following books are helpful:

Men-Of-War : Life in Nelson's Navy, Patrick O'Brian

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Questions or comments? Email me at nospam4d@adelpha.com.
Copyright © 1996 David Cornfield. All rights reserved.
Revised: April 06, 2001.