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Title details for The Mauritius Command by Patrick O'Brian - Available

The Mauritius Command

#4 in series

by Patrick O'Brian
Simon Vance
Audiobook
1 of 2 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 2 copies available

Captain Jack Aubrey is ashore on half pay without a command, until Stephen Maturin arrives with secret orders for Aubrey to take a frigate to the Cape of Good Hope under a commodore's pennant. Once there he is to mount an expedition against the French-held islands of Mauritius and La Réunion. But the difficulties of carrying out his orders are compounded by two of his own captains—Lord Clonfert, a pleasure-seeking dilettante, and Captain Corbett, whose severity pushes his crew to the verge of mutiny.

This fourth action-packed installment in the Aubrey-Maturin series, as with the rest, demonstrates historical fiction at its best.

  • Creators

  • Series

    Aubrey & Maturin

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    November 9, 2004

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781481580113
      • File size: 306151 KB
      • Duration: 10:37:48

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • Text Difficulty: 8-12

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 20, 1991
      This initiates the reissue (see H.M.S. Surprise above) of O'Brian's long-out-of-print novels, set in Napoleonic-era England, about the unlikely pair, Captain Jack Aubrey and Dr. Stephen Maturin. Aubrey is a strapping blond man of action; Maturin, his ship's surgeon and occasional intelligence agent to the king, is diminutive and somber. Aubrey is without a ship, uncomfortably surrounded by wife, babies and mother-in-law, when Maturin comes to visit. The good doctor has engineered a new mission for his friend, and they set off to take two small islands off the coast of Madagascar, thereby making the Indian Ocean safe for English commerce. O'Brian is a graceful writer, and the book is full of wonderful period details, such as the use of a sail to create a wading pool for non-swimmers in Aubrey's crew. Unfortunately, with Aubrey as commodore, too much of the action is seen from afar, as when batteries are taken on one of the islands. The book's peculiar narrative structure builds repeatedly towards anticipated climaxes that never happen. However, aficionados of C. S. Forester and Alexander Kent will delight in the almost excessive period nautical jargon.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      The fourth in the Aubrey/Maturin series that begins with MASTER AND COMMANDER is as exciting and delightful as the first three titles. Captain Jack Aubrey is (not happily) ensconced in a small cottage with his wife and newborn twin girls, gloomily awaiting orders to return to sea. Stephen Maturin arrives with those orders, and both set sail on a frigate to the French-held Mauritius Islands for the purpose of engaging in various naval maneuvers and battles. Surely John Lee has no peer when it comes to narrating O'Brian's works. His enunciation is impeccable. The characters spring to life, and the action of naval battles is dramatic and filled with tension. But what makes Lee's performance memorable is his matchless ability to capture the humorous dialogues among the characters. S.S.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      No matter what other reviewers say it is like Hornblower: same era, same Admiralty, same intro-spection, but less action. Richard Brown reads rather than dramatizes--the characters' voices are barely distinguishable; his methodical approach sounds more like an Admiralty Court than story-telling. The British accent fits, of course, but Brown could have done a lot more with this inherently exciting tale. By the time Brown approaches the denouement, the listener hardly cares whether or not England conquers the island of Mauritius. D.W. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Text Difficulty:8-12

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