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The Fortune of War (Aubrey & Maturin #6)

4.34 of 5 stars 4.34 · rating details · 4,431 ratings · 136 reviews

An essential of the truly gripping book for the narrative addict is the creation of a whole, solidly living world for the imagination to inhabit, and O'Brian does this with prodigal specificity and generosity." —A.S. Byatt

Captain Jack Aubrey, R. N., arrives in the Dutch East Indies to find himself appointed to the command of the fastest and best-armed frigate in the Navy....more

Paperback, 368 pages

Published August 17th 1991 by W. W. Norton & Company (first published 1978)

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Jan 16, 2012 manyhighways rated it 4 of 5 stars

"The Fortune of War" is the sixth book in Patrick O'Brian's amazing Aubrey/Maturin series of historical novels about the British Navy (for further explanation, and a review of the first book in the series, see my review of "Master & Commander"). In this installment, much of the action actually takes place in America. It's the War of 1812 and the British have suffered a number of setbacks in the Atlantic. "Lucky" Jack Aubrey's vessel is defeated and captured which sets up the action on shore...more

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Dec 22, 2008 Angela rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I think I got a little bit too eager about this one--not that it was bad, not in the slightest, but more that I was slightly disappointed that it wasn't quite as fantabulous as I was hoping.

There was some great Stephen mileage, to be sure, but not nearly enough Jack. Part of this of course has to be attributed to the fact that Jack spends most of the book wounded and ill, and O'Brian seems to shunt a lot of that kind of thing off-camera. Even when we get some good Jack mileage, it's only passing...more

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Dec 27, 2012 Kenny rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-historical

This entry in the series takes place mostly on land, but that is no criticism for the land is the United States (our protagonists' first visit) and occurs just as the War of 1812 breaks out between U.S. and Britain.

It's a strange feeling to find myself cheering for the British against my own country, but that is the power of O'Brian's characters and setting. The nobility and honor of the captains of the opposing vessels, who visit each other in the hospital and treat each other with honor and re...more

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Aug 15, 2012 brian dean rated it 4 of 5 stars

I gave it four stars but I am torn on what an accurate rating would be. O'brian seems to have written the series as one long book; of the few installments I have read, each ends in a vicious, successful sea-battle but otherwise the pace is slow. I definitely want to read more.

"The Fortunes of Sea-farers" might be a better title. Aubrey and Maturin barely manage to make harbour in a rotten, worn out ship in a South Pacific island and are sent aboard a wonderfully fast ship back to England only to...more

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Nov 06, 2011 Anne L. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Do you like battles, intrigue, world travel, exotic locales and foods, humor, and all things nautical? Then the Aubrey/Maturin novels by Patrick O’Brian are for you. But I must warn you, work your way through the series sequentially for your first read, else you’ll be lost. But once you’ve met the cast of fantastic characters and can make your way around a British man-of-war or frigate, feel free to dip into any book for a vacation from the mundane world. The books revolve around the friendship...more Do you like battles, intrigue, world travel, exotic locales and foods, humor, and all things nautical? Then the Aubrey/Maturin novels by Patrick O’Brian are for you. But I must warn you, work your way through the series sequentially for your first read, else you’ll be lost. But once you’ve met the cast of fantastic characters and can make your way around a British man-of-war or frigate, feel free to dip into any book for a vacation from the mundane world. The books revolve around the friendship of Jack Aubrey, a staunch mariner working his way up the ranks in the British navy, and Stephen Maturin, nominally Jack’s ship’s surgeon, but also a true physician (no, ship’s surgeons weren’t necessarily degreed medical men), naturalist, and spy. The stories take place during the early 19th century, when the British empire spanned the world, and the British navy ruled the oceans. When The Fortune of War starts out, Jack and Stephen happy to finally be in the West Indies after a harrowing trip in the Southern Ocean, and happier to be assigned to the next ship bound for England. This being a time when ships were subject to the vagaries of wind, they expect a few months of peaceful sailing. What happens instead is a ship-board fire, several weeks in an open life boat waiting for rescue while contemplating whether to starve or eat a dead shipmate, capture by Americans and detainment in colonial Boston, and more. O’Brian bases his battle on those actually fought and recorded (in a log, of course), so the nautical action is spot on. Jack and Stephen are delightful, and the supporting characters are detailed and individual; I especially love Jack’s crochety steward, Killick. If you think you’ve never heard of Patrick O’Brian’s work, have you heard of the movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World with Russell Crowe? That movie was based on a compilation of plots from the books, and gives a good overview of O’Brian’s style. I highly recommend that you try this excellent series; you won’t be disappointed.(less)

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Jul 20, 2011 Randy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jack and Stephen's fortunes turn bad after their rescue from Desolation Island. They catch a ride home in a packet with important dispatches of their success in the cold south sea but end up captured by Americans and witnessing t a couple of important sea battles in the war of 1812. They are captured and end up in Boston where Louisa Wogan is friends with Diana who has become disenchanted with the American plantation owner Mr. Johnson. Johnson is a volunteer intelligence agent for the US and wor...more

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May 25, 2009 Roger W. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The sixth book in the Aubrey-Maturin series is another wide-ranging affair, carrying the protagonists to new scenes and new perils halfway around the world.

The book first wraps up the story of the horrible old Leopard which Aubrey brings limping in to the Dutch East Indies station after leaving Desolation Island. He and Maturin are sent home and after a number of vicissitudes, during which the War of 1812 breaks out, they end up as prisoners in America where Maturin again meets his old love, Di...more

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Jul 28, 2011 Nelson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Another four star winner. The damn things are so consistent, yet varied as well. For the money, this one has more suspense than the previous five by far, and Aubrey isn't even in command of a vessel in this novel. It's another book given over more to Maturin and his spycraft. And yet the final third of the novel features some deft maneuvering by Aubrey, both on land and at sea. The pages really fly by in this one. O'Brian's solution to the problem of tying his protagonists in to real world event...more

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Oct 22, 2011 John E. Branch Jr. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-historical, warfare-history, fiction-modern-british, fiction-contemporary

Comments, not a review:

It was only by mistake that I read this twice. Though the other volumes of the Aubrey-Maturin series that I've read are on my shelf, this one wasn't. Not until I had bought and read part of it did I have the feeling of having been here before. I didn't mind at all and kept going, glad to be back in the Age of Sail, when life and war were much different, though also much the same.

Every time I finish one, and especially this one, which leaves off somewhat in the middle of th...more

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Oct 20, 2009 Michael Palmer rated it 4 of 5 stars

I know no one wants to believe it, but these books are really incredible. I like history okay and the level of research and knowledge in this series is impressive enough; however the real point is the characters. Dr. Maturin and Captain Aubrey are imperfect men who complement one another perfectly. Complement one another not according to the tried and relatively untrue binaries of head/heart, reason/emotion, action/thought (though there is a bit of that) but in the myriad personal ways that grea...more

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Jun 21, 2011 Ensiform rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical

Picking up right where the previous book, Desolation Island, left off, this chapter in the ongoing “Aubreyad” finds Stephen and Jack sailing into the Spice Islands, where they hitch a ride home on a boat that burns; nearly dying of thirst, they sail to another ship, only to be taken prisoner by an American vessel, as the war of 1812 has just broken out. Prisoners in Boston, Stephen finds himself the interest of an American intelligence officer who is rather chummy with the French, and his identi...more

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Aug 08, 2009 Chris "Stu" rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009

There's not as much seafaring in this volume as the previous ones; it mostly focuses on the complications of being a prisoner of war on foreign soil in a gentleman's war, complicated even further by Maturin being a spy. This is the first book, however, that really focuses on how Maturin, out of his element on the sea all the time, really is a badass when it comes to being an intelligence agent. Aubrey spends much of the book landlocked and injured, and it's up to Maturin to evade French agents w...more

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Apr 27, 2010 Scarlet rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I think I have just a little bit of a crush on Simon Vance. I would listen to him read anything.

This is one of my favorite Aubrey/Maturin books. When I first read it, I was amazed to find myself desolate at the victory of the USS Constitution over HMS Java. And me, a New Englander born and bred!

This book has political intrigue, naval battles, and hilarity. I catch so much more of the humor listening to the audiobooks than when I read the print version. Like this passage:

‘Why, sure,’ said Evans...more

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Feb 08, 2009 Dumbledore11214 rated it 5 of 5 stars

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Aug 10, 2012 Serge Boivin rated it 5 of 5 stars

The deeper I get into this series, the more I love and admire it, and I can't wait to keep going with the next novels.
Although each novel has the required naval battles, and this one is no exception, what is so engrossing is that there is so much more to to the story than just the battles. The intrigue and suspense in this novel is fresh and exciting, the humour is sprinkled throughout and comes at just the right moments, and the character development makes you want to read on and on.
With some...more

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Mar 26, 2011 Clara rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Clara by: Jacob Harmon

This, the sixth installment of the Aubrey & Maturin series, is my favorite of the 21 books. It has everything I love in a novel: incredible accurate historical detail, adventure, espionage, a little bit of romance, and of course fabulous characters. Unlike most of the other books in the series, this one seems to focus more of the plot on land, in Boston 1812, rather than out at sea. Every time I read an O'Brian book, I can't get over his grasp of historical people, places, and politics. This...more

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Jun 09, 2012 Matthew rated it 4 of 5 stars

So, as usual, a note first about the narrator(s) of this series. Patrick O'Brian wrote 20 (and a half) Aubrey/Matchurin books before his death, and only 2 men have narrated all 20, Patrick Tull, and Simon Vance. I listened to Tull narrating the first 5 books of the series, because those were the versions my library had. For Desolation Island, I could only get a hold of the Simon Vance version. He is a highly capable narrator, but has no concept of the characters in this particular series (and hi...more So, as usual, a note first about the narrator(s) of this series. Patrick O'Brian wrote 20 (and a half) Aubrey/Matchurin books before his death, and only 2 men have narrated all 20, Patrick Tull, and Simon Vance. I listened to Tull narrating the first 5 books of the series, because those were the versions my library had. For Desolation Island, I could only get a hold of the Simon Vance version. He is a highly capable narrator, but has no concept of the characters in this particular series (and his women's voices were shrill and painful). For example, One of the 2 main characters, Dr. Stephen Matchurin, is a highly respected, highly intelligent Physician and Naturalist, as well as a British Spy, and grew up predominantly in Ireland. As such, Tull narrates his as being thoughtful, humorous, and with a decided Irish accent. Vance narrates him as a thuggish Peter Lorre on quaaludes. It goes on from there. Not my style. So, as much as humanly possible, I plan to stick with the AMAZING narration of Patrick Tull for the rest of the series.

As for the books themselves, I am really liking them a LOT! I never had any interest in the Royal Navy and the Age of Sail in the past, but after reading some of these books, I am hooked on it! I am so sad that I squandered opportunities to really closely look at the USS Constitution in Boston Harbor in the past. It really meant nothing to me back then. But now, I really want to wander it's decks, take in the feel of the ship, and smell it, just to get closer to this world. It's not one I ever want to have lived in, but I want to experience it vicariously again and again.

O'Brian is masterful at wry humor, and his characters are amazing and vivid. The first few books in the series were more or less stand-alone adventures, but now we're getting into books that very much immediately follow the previous books in terms of consequences and plots. It's amazing how well he is weaving his fictional narrative in with the actual Napoleonic Wars. Very Highly Recommended, but Read them in Order!(less)

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Jul 21, 2011 Wealhtheow rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical

In which Maturin and Aubrey become prisoners of war of the newly formed United States, both are suspected of being spies, and Diana Villers is back. Daring escapes! Love affairs! Cold blooded murders! And of course, exciting ship battles!

It's a bit odd to see the early US from a British POV, especially since so many of the American characters seem to think they're British. Aubrey and Maturin are in fine form once more--their banter is top notch, and I love the little moments where the reader can...more In which Maturin and Aubrey become prisoners of war of the newly formed United States, both are suspected of being spies, and Diana Villers is back. Daring escapes! Love affairs! Cold blooded murders! And of course, exciting ship battles!

It's a bit odd to see the early US from a British POV, especially since so many of the American characters seem to think they're British. Aubrey and Maturin are in fine form once more--their banter is top notch, and I love the little moments where the reader can see how one sees the other. We also get reintroduced to Haropath (the ancient Chinese scholar) and his unrequited love, Mrs. Wogan (espionage badass, neglectful mother, and delightful conversationalist). And while we get deep in Maturin's head while he ruminates on his need for his diary andd an enduring love to combat his crippling depression, the reader also gets more insight into Aubrey. Aubrey isn't in command for this book, being mostly a guest or a prisoner of war throughout, and he's physically weaker than ever before as well.

We're also reminded of how awesome Diana Villers can be. Possibly she gets badass scenes because O'Brian wanted her to seem worthy of Maturin, possibly O'Brian just likes her as much as I do. She's the kind of character who walks past the bloody corpses of former friends to get her jewels; who refuses to translate documents for her protector because she has too much loyalty toward the country of her former citizenship; who shoots rats in the dark hold of a ship while waiting to see if she'll be hanged. For all that this series is purportedly about Napoleonic naval battles, the characterization in it is top-notch.

And the battles! O'Brian whips the tension up until I was so stressed whilst listening to the last battle that I actually had to stop the recording and catch my breath. Tull does a fantastic job reading this, btw--I've complained about his reading style before, but he's much better in this. The long pauses between sentences and even words, the artificially drawled last syllables, the long sighs in the midst of words--none are here! Frabjous day.

One of the best Maturin&Aubrey books yet.(less)

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Apr 27, 2012 Seth Jacquay rated it 4 of 5 stars

Jolly good show! Love the Aubrey-Maturin books and The Fortune of Ware does not disappoint. Delving deeper into Stephen's spy game with French is a lot of fun even if it involves him "knocking a few of Frenchies on the head" in a pretty gruesome way. The ship battles with US were an interesting side note which had me running to Wikipedia to look up more about the War of 1812, USS Constitution, USS Chesapeake, Lawrence, Broke, and HMS Shannon as the book is based of historical events.

I find one o...more

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Apr 29, 2012 Richard rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is no doubt among the top of my favorites of the Patrick O'Brian series of novels concerning the heroic and colorful exploits of a Royal Navy ship commander and his ship's surgeon. The time frame of the novels covers the British War of 1812 with America as well as the continental wars with Revolutionary and Naponeonic France. The late O'Brian's web site contains an account of his very friendly reception in Boston on an American trip, and his enjoyment in visiting the "USS Constitution," a l...more This is no doubt among the top of my favorites of the Patrick O'Brian series of novels concerning the heroic and colorful exploits of a Royal Navy ship commander and his ship's surgeon. The time frame of the novels covers the British War of 1812 with America as well as the continental wars with Revolutionary and Naponeonic France. The late O'Brian's web site contains an account of his very friendly reception in Boston on an American trip, and his enjoyment in visiting the "USS Constitution," a living, tangible link to the events of 1812.

The previous novel in the series, "Desolation Island" ends with Captain Jack Aubrey's successful efforts to lead his crew in the repairs of their ship, "HMS Leopard", which had been beached on a remote island in the Indian Ocean. At the beginning of this novel, the heavily damaged ship is able to limp into the Dutch East Indies, where Jack and crew are able to obtain passage back to England with the "HMS La Flèche". They learn that war has broken out with the United States from Captain Yorke, but the ship suddenly catches fire one night while in the South Atlantic. The old wooden ships of that era were all catastrophes waiting to happen, especially war ships like "La Flèche" which also had stores of gunpowder to service their cannons.

Jack and his old 'Leopard" crew spend several weeks adrift, until they are rescued by a passing British frigate, "HMS Java." The real-life battle between the American frigate, "USS Constitution" and "Java" on December 29, 1812 is an important event in the mythology of the founding of the United States Navy. O'Brian, in his effortless way, manages to place his fictional characters on board the "Java" during this event, with several old "Leopard" crew and their officers manning a couple of the "Java's" guns in the famous fight. O'Brian gives a beautiful account of this action from the perspective of the British struggle.

"Java", of course, was forced to strike its colors and surrender after receiving a severe battering. Jack, seriously wounded, is among the British prisoners who are transported to Boston when the "Constitution" returns to home port to refit after the battle. From this point, the focus of the story turns to intrigue as Jack and Stephen Maturin, surgeon and British spy, mark time as captives. Maturin becomes reacquainted with the American agents of the previous story, Louisa Wogan and Michael Herapath. Wogan's old friend, and Maturin's unrequited love interest, Diana Villiers is also in Boston, living as a mistress to an American spy, Harry Johnson.

Jack and Stephen both find themselves in serious peril. Normally, a captured naval officer could expect to be repatriated to his country in a prisoner exchange between the warring countries. However, Jack is known to be the most recent commander of the infamous "Leopard", which became notorious prior to the war when the British ship, under a different commander, fired on an American frigate, the "U.S.S. Chesapeake" in peace time, and killed some Americans. It's payback time for the Americans who now have a high-ranking Leopard officer in their possession.

Stephen's position is complicated by the appearance of two French spies, last seen at Mauritius, who would like to murder him since he is a British spy. Diana Villiers is becoming warm to Stephen, but Johnson finds out about their rekindled romance; it is a matter of timing whether the team of Pontet-Canet and Dubreiul, or Johnson, will get first crack at Stephen.

Meanwhile, a new sea battle is brewing, as the captain of the British frigate "HMS Shannon", Jack's cousin Philip Broke, is waiting outside Boston harbor for an answer from the captain of the afore-mentioned "USS Chesapeake" regarding a challenge to come out and fight, one-on-one. If only Jack and Stephen can find a way to escape Boston and get into the harbor before this fight happens, they can arrange passage on the Shannon to return to England. Without giving away any more of the story, it must be mentioned that Patrick O'Brian provides another excellent account of an epic War of 1812 battle, involving the struggle between the "Shannon" and the "Chesapeake", which occurred outside Boston harbor on June 1, 1813.
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Mar 12, 2013 Dorothy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

The Fortune of War, sixth entry in Patrick O'Brian's historical tales of the seafaring adventures of Captain Jack Aubrey and Dr. Stephen Maturin, was first published in 1978, but the writing seems so fresh that it might have been published yesterday.

The two have just survived their adventure among the ice floes of the Antarctic and their stop on Desolation Island. Now, they arrive in the Dutch East Indies to find that Jack has been appointed to command the fastest and best-armed frigate in the R...more

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May 17, 2012 Ibis3 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-favourites, 2012, audiobooks, british, free, historical, nautical, siy20, twentieth-century, united-states, voyage, war

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Nov 05, 2011 Karla (Mossy Love Grotto) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, ebook, nautical, audiobook, have-paper-copy-too, war-of-1812, 5-stars, eras-early-19th-century, aubreyad

(Listened to the unabridged audiobook, narrated by Patrick Tull.)

Huzzah, I finally liked Diana in this one. Don't get me wrong - she's sassy and tough and has great one-liners, but in this one she really had me LOLing with her comments on her American lover, the "parish bull" Johnson. I actually felt sorry for the poor woman. Overall she seemed less the callous and bitchy femmy fataly than in previous books. My only regret is that a stupid American ship prevented her and Stephen from tying the k...more

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Apr 14, 2010 Christopher H. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: adventure, historical-fiction, patrick-obrian, british-literature, favorites, nautical-seafaring, napoleonic-wars, read-in-2010, favorite-rereads

I know that some might be tempted to label this, the sixth installment in the 'Aubreyiad,' to be "slow." In actuality, this novel is one of the most brilliantly crafted and erudite novels written in the English language. Like pealing an onion, the reader discovers in the layers that Patrick O'Brian has not only provided some incredible naval action with the great guns and all; but has also taken the opportunity to provide a significant amount of backstory and extensive character development asso...more

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Christopher H. Here's just a wonderful sample of what I love about POB's Aubrey-Maturin series:

"The Leopard glided on, the wind singing gently in her rigging, the wa...more
Apr 13, 2010 08:25am

Jun 06, 2009 EJD rated it 5 of 5 stars

Repeated from review of Book 1

That Patrick O'Brian chose to place his characters on the sea in the not so distant past just raised the hurdle I had to leap to get to know this wonderful author.

I had never been enamored with sea stories, didn't much care for European history, and yet was wonderfully taken with this series. The sea is a major character, but history is not greatly illuminated, almost a backdrop to the specific circumstance the characters find themselves in. Which perhaps reflects t...more

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Nov 19, 2008 Ken-ichi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: escape, historical-fiction

Honestly, they're like candy. Even episodes like this one which take place predominantly on shore, as Jack and Stephen are "held" as prisoners of war in Boston. Naval warfare in this age just seems so preposterous in these books that I have difficulty believing it, but by all reports O'Brian was a fastidious scholar, so I guess I have to. Treating your defeated opponent to the highest civilities in the name of honor while simultaneously crystalizing the shame of defeat in the same act just seems...more

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Jan 13, 2009 Eric_W rated it 5 of 5 stars

The sixth Aubry/Maturin — and they keep getting better and better, Brian finds the two friends prisoners of the Americans, the War of 1812 having begun. And not auspiciously for the British. The Americans with a completely volunteer navy (no press gangs for them) have been more than competently trained by their British cousins and have become more than a match for the British, who have become used to sweeping the seas of all opposition. The British have been blockading Boston and, to their humil...more The sixth Aubry/Maturin — and they keep getting better and better, Brian finds the two friends prisoners of the Americans, the War of 1812 having begun. And not auspiciously for the British. The Americans with a completely volunteer navy (no press gangs for them) have been more than competently trained by their British cousins and have become more than a match for the British, who have become used to sweeping the seas of all opposition. The British have been blockading Boston and, to their humiliation, have had three excellent frigates sunk or captured.

The French and an American intelligence officer, Johnson, who in the meantime has become the consort of the lovely Diana Villiers — Stephen’s heartthrob — who has been known to pass on intelligence herself, suspect Jack of intelligence gathering. Stephen, the professional spy and amateur ornithologist, is acutely aware of the damage his spying has done to the French and he narrowly evades their clutches. The pair and Diana escape with the assistance of a friendly American and sail out to the Shannon, Captain Broke. Broke is a cousin of Jack’s and a magnificent seaman. Soon the Chesapeake sails out of Boston to give chase and battle. Knowing they will be hung if caught, the trio have an avid interest in the outcome of the battle. Diana is armed with some small pistols to shoot rats and boarders if necessary. She has been moved from the master’s quarters to the forepeak, away from the action and below the waterline, as the officers cabins are broken down to clear the decks for battle. Stephen visits her before the action to fortify her spirits (she suffers dreadfully from seasickness). “ ‘Oh,’ she said, and absently took three spoonfuls of the soup. ‘Lord above, what is this?’ “ ‘Soup. Portable soup. Pray take a little more; it will rectify the humours.’ “ ‘I thought it was like-warm glue. But it goes down quite well if you don’t breathe.’ She ate on until a cockroach fell into the can from a beam above, when Stephen took the can and put it down among the other cockroaches on the deck.”

The scene becomes vivid as they shoot the bolder rats. How could one not enjoy this kind of writing? But you will have to read Fortune of War to learn the outcome of the battle.

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May 29, 2009 Gilly McGillicuddy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: naval-fiction, read-in-2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. What I wrote in my LJ while I was reading it. Yes, I'm a fangirl. Yes, I'm a slasher. Shush.

______

Alright, all you POB lovers. I've got an actual question that someone raised over on the groupread and I need opinions (preferably American, though EVERYBODY can join in! Whoo!!).

In Fortune of War, when Java was fighting the Constitution (or later when it was Shannon vs. Chesapeake), who were you rooting for?

Because on one hand you've got Jack/Stephen and then on the other hand you've got your own c...more

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Dec 14, 2007 Malcolm David Logan rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of great sea-faring literature

While not quite the gripping adventure of Desolation Island, with the Fortune of War, Patrick O'Brian adds a new thread to the saga by bringing in the War of 1812 and exploring the British attitude toward the United States during the conflict. The nearly two centuries of British respect for their American cousins can be traced to the opening days of the conflict when to the utter shock and dismay of Britannia the vaunted British Navy took a sound drubbing at the hands of the upstart Americans, s...more

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Mar 03, 2012 Boots rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 19th-century-nautical

this was the weakest in the series so far, i think. started out well enough with some taut naval action that leaves our heroes in an open boat and at the mercy of the fates, but once they are rescued and subsequently captured and end up in America things get dull for more than 100 pages; just a lot of endless nattering about Stephen's dull spy intrigues and a stupid love intrigue between Diana, Louisa, Herapath, and Johnson.

it probably says more about me than the books that i can't stand Diana...more

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About Patrick O'Brian

Patrick O'Brian, CBE (born as Richard Patrick Russ) was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and centered on the friendship of English Naval Captain Jack Aubrey and the Irish–Catalan physician Stephen Maturin. The 20-novel series is known for its well-researched and highly detailed portrayal of early...more

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Books by Patrick O'Brian

Master and Commander (Aubrey/Maturin, #1)

The Mauritius Command (Aubrey/Maturin, #4)

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Quotes from The Fortune of War

“...looking angrily at the wombat: and a moment later, 'Come now, Stephen, this is coming it pretty high: your brute is eating my hat.'
'So he is, too,' said Dr. Maturin. 'But do not be perturbed, Jack; it will do him no harm, at all. His digestive processes--” — 13 people liked it

“Wallis,' said Maturin, 'I am happy to see you. How is your penis?” — 10 people liked it

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title link	preview: The Fortune of War
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77426.The_Fortune_of_War?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348797224l/77426.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77426.The_Fortune_of_War?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Fortune of War by Patrick O'Brian[/url]

The Fortune of War (Aubrey & Maturin #6)

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