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H.M.S. Surprise (Aubrey & Maturin #3)

4.39 of 5 stars 4.39 · rating details · 6,100 ratings · 272 reviews

"I devoured Patrick O'Brian's 20-volume masterpiece as if it had been so many tots of Jamaica grog." —Christopher Hitchens, Slate

Third in the series of Aubrey/Maturin adventures, this book is set among the strange sights and smells of the Indian subcontinent, and in the distant waters ploughed by the ships of the East India Company. Aubrey is on the defensive, pitting wits...more

Paperback, 405 pages

Published May 17th 1991 by W. W. Norton & Company (first published 1973)

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Historical Naval Fiction

4th out of 105 books — 77 voters

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Mr. Midshipman Hornblower by C.S. Forester

Napoleonic War fiction

8th out of 61 books — 37 voters

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Community Reviews

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Apr 30, 2013 Jason Koivu rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, favorites

My favorite of the first three novels and perhaps of the entire series! HMS Surprise deftly combines the best aspects of the first two books. Love, friendship and war. Frankly, there's so much going on it's hard to believe O'Brian fits it all in comfortably!

The amazing thing about this book is how it takes you on a ride around the world, touching base in England, the Mediterranean, Africa, South America, India and the South Pacific islands. All of this lush scenery is a joy to behold in O'Brian'...more

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Dec 09, 2010 Brad rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: aubrey-maturin, historical, napoleonic-era, north-atlantic

It's my second time through H.M.S. 'Surprise', and I am surprised to discover that I am ever so slightly disappointed. The narrative of H.M.S. 'Surprise' felt a little uneven this time through, and despite a breathless second act and an emotional denouement, I put it back on my shelf a little disappointed.

This disappointment feels strange, though, because there is so much that I love in the story. The opening debate over the Spanish gold -- prize money won at the end of Post Captain -- is a fasc...more It's my second time through H.M.S. 'Surprise', and I am surprised to discover that I am ever so slightly disappointed. The narrative of H.M.S. 'Surprise' felt a little uneven this time through, and despite a breathless second act and an emotional denouement, I put it back on my shelf a little disappointed.

This disappointment feels strange, though, because there is so much that I love in the story. The opening debate over the Spanish gold -- prize money won at the end of Post Captain -- is a fascinating peripheral episode, and an important expansion of Sir Joseph Blaine. Stephen's reunion with Diana in Bombay is as it should be, and Patrick O'Brian's evocation of India is impressive and rather sad when it touches on the death of Stephen's guide, Dil (a death Stephen is inadvertently responsible for, having given her the silver bangles that led to her murder). One of my favourite fictional naval actions, Captain Jack Aubrey's defense of the East India Company's China Fleet through subterfuge and ballsiness, runs for nearly the entirety of the story's second act, and it stands out as one of the best battles in a series that spans twenty-one books. And the story ends with Maturin dueling with Canning at twenty paces. Stephen takes a ball in the chest, then kills Canning with a ball in the heart, but best of all, Maturin removes the ball from under his ribs in a steely surgical scene with help from Mr. M'Alister (his assistant) and Jack (which remains one of the best scenes pillaged by Peter Weir for his adaptation of Master and Commander). Yet for all that, I still feel disappointed.

The reason must be the doldrums of the first act. While I usually enjoy the pseudo-Regency romance of Aubrey-Maturin, while I usually love the day to day relationships of the Surprises, I found my attention drifting this time through. I dunno. Maybe it's just my mood. Maybe it's that I am reading Ulysses at the same time. I can't be sure what it is really.

But me being disappointed with H.M.S. 'Surprise' and giving it three stars isn't a clear reflection of how I feel about the book. For me the entire series -- all twenty and a half books -- are worthy of five stars. So H.M.S. 'Surprise' stands in judgment only alongside its kin, not literature at large. It's three stars, but any O'Brian book, even H.M.S. 'Surprise' still comes before most books on my to-read shelf when I need something late in the night. (less)

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Nov 15, 2008 Roger W. rated it 5 of 5 stars

This, the third of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series, gave me great pleasure in reading. This came surely in part by again meeting the old, well-loved figures of the previous two books. It's true too that this is my third reading of the series as a whole, so a kind of nostalgia was partly in play. However that was certainly not all there was to it.

This book includes some extremely harrowing as well as uplifting sections, as well as O'Brian's usual streak of humor. We have more of Maturin t...more

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Sep 11, 2011 Karla (Mossy Love Grotto) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, ebook, nautical, eras-napoleonic, audiobook, aubreyad, 4-stars

I enjoyed it, but there didn't seem to be as much exciting stuff as in the previous two books. But for all that, The first part was very strong in the Aubrey/Maturin friendship as Jack braves an enemy port to rescue Stephen from a torture chamber, and Stephen's slow recovery back somewhat to his old self. Of course not all goes well, as Diana Villiers appears on the scene once again to take Stephen's heart and dash it onto the floor a few times and stomp on it for good measure. (I really do not...more

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Jan 28, 2013 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm mystified as to why this series is considered by many to be the greatest historical fiction ever written, and particularly for the Age of Sail fiction, O'Brian is often considered better than the master of the genre C.S. Forester. The books are generally entertaining but hardly the nail-biting, page-turning adventures of the Horatio Hornblower series. Nevertheless O'Brian must be given due credit for capturing the era beautifully, particularly the dialogue, but even the details of daily life...more I'm mystified as to why this series is considered by many to be the greatest historical fiction ever written, and particularly for the Age of Sail fiction, O'Brian is often considered better than the master of the genre C.S. Forester. The books are generally entertaining but hardly the nail-biting, page-turning adventures of the Horatio Hornblower series. Nevertheless O'Brian must be given due credit for capturing the era beautifully, particularly the dialogue, but even the details of daily life during the Napoleonic Wars.

The scenes in which Jack Aubrey is the narrator are always the best, especially the naval battles, both with other ships and with the deadliness of the sea itself. Unfortunately the books are generally written from the point of view of his friend Stephen Maturin, who is not nearly as interesting. He really ought to be, for Maturin is not only a ship's physician but also a secret agent, naturalist, expert duellist with both pistol and sword, fluent in many languages, and owner of a castle in Spain. On paper he sounds a lot more interesting than Jack, who has been at sea since the age of 12 and doesn't have the education or wordliness of Stephen. Yet somehow O'Brian manages to make Stephen's passages somewhat dull. Many exciting events happen to him - he is rescued from a torture chamber, stranded aboard a small rocky island, fights a duel that nearly kills him, operates on himself to remove the bullet, and his heart is thoroughly broken by the gold-digging adventuress Diana Villiers. For all that, he just does not come to life the way the cheerful, guileless Jack Aubrey does. They do have some amusing exchanges, as when Stephen contemplates the plumage of the male bird of paradise and asks Jack, "Have you ever considered sex, my dear?" to which the embarrassed Jack replies, "Never. Sex has never entered my mind, at any time." Of course Stephen is only referring the the male and female birds and how their plumage differs. Their friendship is captured well, and perhaps one of the more immortal friendships in English literature. And as previously mentioned, O'Brian has almost no peer for his vivid descriptions of naval battles. The scenes in which Jack grooms a fleet of merchant ships to impersonate men-o'-war to fight a French squandron are some of the most exciting in the entire book. I don't know why this excitement doesn't come through during Stephen's scenes.

I am continuing with the series nevertheless, as O'Brian is a pretty good writer, even if I don't think he deserves the accolades heaped upon him. He's no C. S. Forester but he's probably a shade better than similar writers of naval fiction such as Alexander Kent or Richard Woodman. But perhaps I am expecting naval fiction akin to Forester, whereas O'Brian is following more closely in the footsteps of Jane Austen and the naval battles are not the focus of his tales. (less)

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Dec 09, 2012 Kenny rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-historical

Though not as plot-heavy as #1, nor as personally revelatory as #2, this third installment in the series is certainly more exotic and far-ranging than its predecessors. It takes our heroes from England to a daring night rescue of Dr. Maturin at Port Mahon in the Mediterranean, outfits Aubrey with the ship of his youth, the H.M.S. Surprise (his initials carved in the foretop mast as a boy), and sends her wheeling around the Cape to India to deliver an ill-fated ambassador to Calcutta. Aubrey is e...more

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Jun 02, 2012 Rich rated it 5 of 5 stars

In praising Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin books I am on well-trodden ground. In a sense, it is superfluous to do so: so many people, of such varied and excellent taste, have praised these books to the skies that further lauds from the modest likes of me are hardly necessary. Still, I'm glad to add my words. These stories concern Jack Aubrey, a ship captain in the English Navy at the time of the Napoleonic Wars, and his great friend Stephen Maturin, an Irish-Catalan doctor and spy who in the f...more In praising Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin books I am on well-trodden ground. In a sense, it is superfluous to do so: so many people, of such varied and excellent taste, have praised these books to the skies that further lauds from the modest likes of me are hardly necessary. Still, I'm glad to add my words. These stories concern Jack Aubrey, a ship captain in the English Navy at the time of the Napoleonic Wars, and his great friend Stephen Maturin, an Irish-Catalan doctor and spy who in the first book joins Jack's crew as ship doctor.

As H. M. S. Surpries opens, political machinations cost Jack his prize money (earned in the previous book0, and Stephen's cover in Spain is blown. As a result, and also because Stephen is scheming to see his lover Diana again (who has been taken by her keeper Richard Canning to India), Jack takes command of the aged frigate H.M.S. Surprise, and is sent to Cambodia (stopping in India) to deliver the new British envoy to the Sultan of Kampong.

Thus the setup for a long, wonderful, account of the voyage to the Orient and back. The pleasures of this book are remarkably varied: high comedy, such as the famous drunken sloth incident; high adventure, as the men of the Surprise battle not only the South Atlantic at its fiercest, but also the French; and bitter disappointment and even tragedy, in Stephen's seesaw relationship with Diana, as well as Stephen's involvement with a young Indian girl.

The pleasures of this book, however, are not restricted to a fine plot. The ongoing development of the characters of Jack and Stephen, and of their complex and fully described friendship, is a major achievement. In addition, the many minor characters are fascinating: the envoy Mr. Stanhope, Stephen's Indian friend, the various ship's officers and men, other ship captains, and so on. And O'Brian's depiction of the building of an effective crew, the relationship of captain to officers to men, is another fascinating detail, and something he revisits from book to book, as Jack encounters different crews in different circumstances. Finally, O'Brian is a fine writer of prose, with a faintly old-fashioned style, well poised to evoke the atmosphere of the time of which he writes to readers of our time, and consistently quotable, in his dry fashion.

Jack and Stephen are heroic in certain aspects of their characters, but they are both multi-faceted characters, with terrible flaws and endearing crotchets in addition to their accomplishments. And they truly come across to this reader as characters of their time, and not 20th Century people cast back into the past. Even Stephen's very contemporary racial and religious attitudes are well-motivated by his background, and expressed in language which reeks wonderfully of his time: "Stuff. I have the greatest esteem for Jews, if anyone can speak of a heterogeneous great body of men in such a meaningless, illiberal way."

I recommend all these books highly. It was with great difficulty the first time through the series that I restrained myself, upon finishing each book, from immediately starting in on the next one. (less)

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May 09, 2012 Ben rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-lit

The third volume of the Aubrey/Maturin series starts off exciting, ends happily, and wanders aimlessly in-between. O’Brien immediately gets the reader emotionally involved as Aubrey and Maturin are both endangered and impoverished by bosses’ incompetence, and who can’t identify with that? They bravely soldier on, both literally risking life and limb for their mission, and who isn’t inspired by that? A mini build up followed by a mini climax and then suddenly we find ourselves in a completely dif...more

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Jul 04, 2009 Nathan Piazza rated it 5 of 5 stars

The opening scene of "HMS Surprise" — which pits the venerable spymaster Sir Joseph Blain against the incompetent new First Lord of the admiralty and a cohort of greedy, politicking officials — is a study in what makes Patrick O'Brian perhaps the greatest genre novelist of all time and one of the premiere prose stylists of the 20th century.

With an economy and subtlety that are dazzling, he is able to lay bare the souls of both institutions and individuals in a way that reveals how intricately th...more The opening scene of "HMS Surprise" — which pits the venerable spymaster Sir Joseph Blain against the incompetent new First Lord of the admiralty and a cohort of greedy, politicking officials — is a study in what makes Patrick O'Brian perhaps the greatest genre novelist of all time and one of the premiere prose stylists of the 20th century.

With an economy and subtlety that are dazzling, he is able to lay bare the souls of both institutions and individuals in a way that reveals how intricately the one is bound up in the other. By showing how character and competence ultimately determine the fate of nations, O'Brian does us the rare favor (after George W. Bush) of making us realize how much those things really matter. It's a perfect backdrop against which to set off his protagonists — the blunt, bold Aubrey and the more cunning but less heroic Maturin — whose character and competence are tested at every turn.

O'Brian's human constructions do not have the resonance or authentic plausibility of, say, Faulkner's or Joyce's. But being relatively archetypal does not ultimately detract from their complexity or force. In contrast to the ideas about stream-of-consciousness and multi-vocality that have determined so much of the approach of 20th century authors, O'Brian's modernity or, more appropriately, his post-modernity, derives from the way he embeds individuals within systems and sub-systems, the machine of culture(s). O'Brian's characters are thus remarkable not for being complex "mentalities" but for being sailors, Whigs, and Englishmen. Or, as in Maturin's illustratively complex case, being half-Catalan, half-Irish anti-Bonapartists who regularly present to the Royal Society. Their language and their cognitive life is more determined by their membership in these communities than it is by particular psychological complexes, and their challenges often stem from the conceptual disjunctions and divided loyalties that these multiple communities inevitably generate.

In fact, one might very productively read O'Brian alongside contemporary theorists of community such as Jurgen Habermas or the French philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy, since his books demonstrate quite well that true communities are phenomena that emerge from countless unspoken ethics. They are a matter of what we do and how we do it as much or more than what we claim to believe, where we choose to live, or whose genes we share.(less)

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Nov 11, 2011 Richard rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Patrick O'Brian's third tale of Aubrey the brilliant sea captain and Maturin the ship's surgeon takes place after the closing events of the previous novel, "Post Captain." Stephen's real role, as a British spy, is revealed in that book to the readership and to Jack. Stephen reports directly to the Lord of the Admiralty in his secret capacity, and is influential in getting Jack temporary command of a frigate, the "Lively," as the British put a fleet together to intercept a Spanish gold fleet on i...more Patrick O'Brian's third tale of Aubrey the brilliant sea captain and Maturin the ship's surgeon takes place after the closing events of the previous novel, "Post Captain." Stephen's real role, as a British spy, is revealed in that book to the readership and to Jack. Stephen reports directly to the Lord of the Admiralty in his secret capacity, and is influential in getting Jack temporary command of a frigate, the "Lively," as the British put a fleet together to intercept a Spanish gold fleet on its way home, from Montevideo. The British are successful in winning a fortune in bullion. In this, and many other battles occurring throughout this series of books, O'Brian places his fictional characters in the midst of actual historical events. The capture of the Spanish gold squadron was accomplished by four British frigates in 1804. There really was a H.M.S. "Lively," a 38-gun frigate 5th rate.

Early into "H.M.S. Surprise", Stephen is dropped off in Spain on another secret mission. This time, he is captured and tortured by the French, until Jack mounts a rescue mission and gets his friend out of danger. Back in England, it looks like the future is rosy for the dashing captain who acquitted himself well in the recent fighting against the Spanish, and who used courage and intelligence in extracting a spy from the enemy. However, readers of O'Brian very early find out that he has a way of throwing roadblocks into the best-laid plans of his characters. The attack on the Spanish treasure fleet was a preemptive strike on a country which was preparing to start a war with Great Britain; therefore the treasure was not seized in war; therefore the officers and crew of the British ships are not entitled to prize money; therefore Jack Aubrey remains an impoverished ambitious Royal Navy officer, and not only cannot marry his fiancee, but finds himself picked up by bailiffs and thrown into debtors' prison. It's twists like these which make these books so enjoyable.

Stephen, through his back-channel connections, reminds the Admiralty of Jack's outstanding recent service, and he manages to get his friend released from confinement, and assigned to command the frigate "Surprise", a sixth-rate warship, on a cruise to deliver an ambassador to the East Indies. Jack is relieved of his recent humiliations, and further has the delightful chore of getting reacquainted with the sailing characteristics of this well-made, great-handling ship, which he had been assigned to as a midshipman. The "Surprise" takes on a significance well beyond the plot of this story, becoming in the course of this canon, one of its most recognized recurring characters.

All of the preceding plotting is prelude to the real story of this book, which begins with the usual O"Brian masterly knack of seafaring story-telling. The "Surprise' sails through some of the world's most dangerous waters in the Antarctic Ocean and around the Cape of Good Hope, with a stop in India which would ultimately mark its farthest destination. Stephen's love life will take an ugly turn when he finds out Diana Villiers is also there, to be accompanied by the wealthy merchant Richard Manning. It appears Stephen will never be able to win the affection of Diana since he doesn't have the dashing, manly good looks of Jack or independent wealth, but he won't give up on her. Canning, impressed with Jack's ballsy, skillful handling of the "Surprise" during the recent rescue of the British merchant China Fleet from the French Admiral Linois' squadron, entrusts him with the safe transport of a cache of valuable jewels back to England. The payment of a percentage of the jewels' value will set Jack up financially in order to pursue his wedding plans.

Stephen's recent moves on Diana push Canning to challenge him to a duel. What Canning doesn't know is that the cerebral scientist/doctor known for his clumsiness on board a ship is a Catalan-Irish former revolutionary who is deadly with a gun or a sword. None of this is of concern to the aloof Diana, who sails away with Mr. Johnstone, a wealthy American. And Patrick O'Brian has us waiting expectantly for more exciting developments in the next installment of the saga.

Please note that you can visit a real-life, full size replica of the "Surprise", currently at the San Diego Maritime Museum. This sailing ship began life as the "Rose", which was built in 1970 in Nova Scotia and used as a dockside attraction in New England and as a sail training vessel. It was sold to new owners in Connecticut, and extensively rebuilt, in the mid-1980's. It was purchased about 2000 by 20th Century Fox and refitted to star in the 2003 Russell Crowe movie "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World", based on a combination of two of Patrick O'Brian's novels. It was docked and refurbished at Newport, Rhode Island while plans for filming the movie proceeded. By chance, I had the chance to see it dockside, and to take pictures of it, in Newport in 2001. It was still named the "Rose" at the time.

I hope this isn't too arcane, but I think it is interesting that the 1970's "Rose" carries the same name of the historical "H.M.S. Rose" of the Royal Navy, which was sent to the Colonies in 1774 to combat smuggling out of Narragansett Bay. If you tour Newport, you learn that the town was one of America's largest, and wealthiest cities prior to the Revolution. The "Rose" blockaded the city and damaged its economy while it chased smugglers. When the Revolution started, the ship provided other valuable services to the Royal Navy along the Atlantic Coast of America. All of which is good stuff to know.

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Dec 29, 2011 Bill rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, favorites

This is the definitive Aubrey-Maturin to me. (This was how I discovered the series, borrowing a random book from a friend.) The characters are still forming, the foundations of the long term plot are being laid. So many good features -- great characters, quality and depth of thought, descriptions so real you can almost smell the salt, historical accuracy, rip roaring action and a page turning plot. My favourite series.

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Sep 02, 2007 Cheryl Klein rated it 5 of 5 stars

I'm not going to add all twenty O'Brians here, because I don't really have individual reviews for them. . . . All twenty just stand in my mind as one long reading experience of near-unalloyed pleasure. But H.M.S. SURPRISE was an especial favorite among those twenty, featuring Jack's first journey on the Surprise, Stephen's first (?) major betrayal by Diana, a duel, and of course the debauched sloth.

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May 31, 2010 Tara rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, 2010-official-count

I enjoyed the first two books but hadn't really fully bought in to the series until this one. Full of adventure and excitement, wonderfully described. The Aubrey-Maturin friendship is really taking shape, and the love story bits are also quite poignant. I found this passage quite moving:

But Lord, the infinite possibilities of self-deception - the difficulty of disentangling the countless strands of emotion and calling each by its proper name - of separating business from pleasure. At times, what

...more

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Dec 19, 2010 Jason rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Here's how Patrick O'Brian ropes you into these books:

Make the beginning and the end so good, so ridiculously compelling, that you completely forget about the bombastic, flowery, tediously overwrought writing throughout much of the middle. I enjoy the hell out of these audio books, but I have a feeling that if I had to actually sit down and read them, I'd go a little insane and possibly hoarse from screaming, 'OH MY GOD GET ON WITH IT ARE YOU KIDDING ME SHUT UP'. Brevity was not the author's str...more

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Sep 14, 2009 Otis Chandler rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adventure, england, sailing, historical-fiction

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

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Mar 12, 2012 Scott rated it 5 of 5 stars

O'Brian is in rare form in the third book, my favorite of the series so far. The Aubrey-Maturin relationship is further developed, and this book features an abduction and rescue, a tipsy sloth, a pistol duel, and, as always, an authentic glimpse into life on the high seas. O'Brian's trademark humor and wit is ever present, and it is also quite moving to read about the genuine affection and esteem that the good captain and doctor have for each other.

As a side note, although the movie "Master and...more

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Jan 23, 2010 Greg Pettit rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

This book is from a series that I've known about for some time. I started with the third book simply because I found it in a thrift store for 50 cents. I expected it to be full of adventure on the high seas, but that ended up being fairly rare.

I knew going in that the book would be heavy with nautical jargon, so that didn't bother me. What did bother me was the bombastic language, uninteresting plot, and shallow characters. When you read a novel written in the 19th century, you expect a differen...more

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Sep 11, 2012 Mark rated it 5 of 5 stars

The caliber of the writing in this series is the best in this genre. O'Brian's character development and insight into the thoughts of his novel's players is asute, sharp, humorous and at times philosophical without heaviness. He also has the ability to switch perspectives so that the action is viewed through the eyes and thoughts of various characters, even minor passing ones. This is not done as a writing trick but provides depth and freshness.

In this particular book his painting of India durin...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars

This time Aubrey and Maturin make a long and difficult passage from Brazil to India, venturing close to Antarctica in the process. Albatrosses, storms at sea, a great battle against the French in an attempt to protect a East Indian merchant fleet, and a strong cast of supporting characters make this a great read with some moments of deep sadness. "I am of her caste" was a line that brought me to tears, and the focus on Stephen's internal life (which Jack is often not privy to, or truly able to c...more

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Jun 11, 2011 Nick Stengel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

I don't want all 20 reviews of the Aubrey series to sound alike, but if I don't discuss plot specifics, then there is no choice. This book is the end of the first act. The characters have been introduced, and are being positioned for the act two trials. There's a touch more rounding of Stephen, as he has several touching scenes with an untouchable in India and continues to have his heart broken by Diana. That's not really a spoiler, as the first two books are chock full of that. Anyway, the pros...more

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Dec 15, 2009 Gillies rated it 4 of 5 stars

With every book in this series, Patrick O'Brian seems to add a new dimension to the lives of his main characters, and to stretch the context he places them in, which seems the opposite tendency of most novelists with a winning formula.
His passages of description of Maturin's inner life, in particular, get more and more beautifully crafted, he seems to be shrugging off any restraints of the 'historical naval genre' and reaching for something truly profound. But despite this the pages keep compul...more

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Sep 26, 2010 Len Washko rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book hooked me on O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series. Swashbuckle! Cannon's roar! Pirates! Captain Jack Aubrey takes command of his beloved Surprise for the Royal Navy in the third of the series of 21 historical novels on the British fleet's 19th century battles with Napoleon, the young United States and pirates of all stripes. This one is set in the Indian Ocean, and paints a vivid picture of life at sea and the Navy's part in the political struggles of the British Empire. Aubrey's ship's doc...more

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Aug 20, 2010 Bettie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Radio 4 listeners

Shelves: summer-2010, historical-fiction, seven-seas, play-dramatisation, napoleonic, war

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

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Jun 17, 2011 Sadie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: audio-books, read-with-husband, 3-stars

This one was a little harder for me to follow and I found myself having to rewind the audiobook many times and relisten to sections. I'm sure most of this is because my children have started their summer vacation and any of you with children will understand when I say that children are not condusive to audiobooks! I liked this story and the characters as much as I have in the previous novels. Again, I can't quite get the hang of all the nautical jargon yet, but maybe by the end of this series I...more

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Jun 19, 2011 Tiffany rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: adventure-historical-nautical, fiction, series

I enjoyed this part in the series even more than the last book. It had some great adventure, a couple of rousing sea-battles, a great chase, intrigue, romance, scandal, a duel... what more could you ask of a book? The plot around Stephen Maturin grows thicker and more questionable every round. I think he is a very deep character, and for O'Brian to let this character develop over the series of books is ingenious. We kind of see what Captain Aubrey is about, he is laid out pretty much as he is fr...more

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Mar 30, 2012 Matthew rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There are few stories that I can read and not think that I'm a bad person for screaming obscenities at a romance or lack there-of. "Stephen Maturin! No! You poor thing - she doesn't deserve you!" The cold hearted bitch... but that's beside the point. This is a loooong series, and I think I know what's going to happen as far as Stephen's relationship troubles are concerned.

In any case, something that I really admire in O'Brian's style is the way he constructs his dialogue. I have never seen anoth...more

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May 26, 2012 Kevin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am now hooked. This has been my favorite of the series so far. I have a feeling I’ll say the same about the next book in the line. I’m reading these books off my Kindle and am happy it comes with a built in dictionary. I’ve discovered new words that say so much, what a rich language English is. Back to the book; great scenes particularly enjoyed the battle with the Admiral Linois. For anyone new to O’Brian, as I was a short time ago, it’s passages like these that make the early struggle to ado...more

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Jun 12, 2013 Cathy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

Yet again, this was a fabulous story. I chose the wrong narrator, however, and did not enjoy the re-telling of the story with Patrick Tull nearly as much I have with Simon Vance. I will be much more careful in the future when I download this series of audio books.

Nevertheless, it was another engaging and thrilling adventure for Captain Aubrey and Dr. Maturin and the crew, this time of the H.M.S. Surprise, with its scenes that are at once harrowing, then again touching, bringing to life two amaz...more

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Jan 01, 2013 Claudia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, age-of-sail, historical-fiction

Great, rollicking read, and I apologise to anyone in Leicester that I confused while reading it as I walked. An absolute page-turner gem of a book, filled with more vim than Post Captain, but explaining that book's occasional languors as being part of the set up, because we needed to know Sophie for Jack's motivation in this, and we needed to meet Diana Villiers in order for Stephen's actions to make sense.

The secondary characters were once again quickly and thoughtfully drawn, and there was a g...more

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Dec 15, 2008 Frank rated it 3 of 5 stars

Picked this up at Vinnies (like most of my books) thought I should give it a try as I used to enjyou Jame's Clavell's stuff...this one isn't grabbing me right off, but we shall see...

"Surprise!"

I actually wound up kinda liking this one. No real strong feelings, but the character of the doc really kept the story engaging, and the naval battles were fun, even if I still haven't availed myself to really learn anything about the rigging of a ship.

I think at first I was put off by O'Brian's habit of...more

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Goodreads Librari...: 0-393-30761-1	2	26	Sep 04, 2011 09:34pm
The History Book ...: 2. HF - HMS SURPRISE - CHAPTER 2 (28 - 55) (04/04/11 - 04/10/11) ~ No spoilers, please	2	20	Jun 27, 2011 12:56pm

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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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Trivia About H.M.S. Surprise

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Quotes from H.M.S. 'Surprise'

“Jack, you've debauched my sloth.” — 28 people liked it

“The weather had freshened almost to coldness, for the wind was coming more easterly, from the chilly currents between Tristan and the Cape; the sloth was amazed by the change; it shunned the deck and spent its time below. Jack was in his cabin, pricking the chart with less satisfaction than he could have wished: progress, slow, serious trouble with the mainmast-- unaccountable headwinds by night-- and sipping a glass of grog; Stephen was in the mizentop, teaching Bonden to write and scanning the sea for his first albatross. The sloth sneezed, and looking up, Jack caught its gaze fixed upon him; its inverted face had an expression of anxiety and concern. 'Try a piece of this, old cock,' he said, dipping his cake in the grog and proffering the sop. 'It might put a little heart into you.' The sloth sighed, closed its eyes, but gently absorbed the piece, and sighed again.

Some minutes later he felt a touch upon his knee: the sloth had silently climbed down and it was standing there, its beady eyes looking up into his face, bright with expectation. More cake, more grog: growing confidence and esteem. After this, as soon as the drum had beat the retreat, the sloth would meet him, hurrying toward the door on its uneven legs: it was given its own bowl, and it would grip it with its claws, lowering its round face into it and pursing its lips to drink (its tongue was too short to lap). Sometimes it went to sleep in this position, bowed over the emptiness.

'In this bucket,' said Stephen, walking into the cabin, 'in this small half-bucket, now, I have the population of Dublin, London, and Paris combined: these animalculae-- what is the matter with the sloth?' It was curled on Jack's knee, breathing heavily: its bowl and Jack's glass stood empty on the table. Stephen picked it up, peered into its affable bleary face, shook it, and hung it upon its rope. It seized hold with one fore and one hind foot, letting the others dangle limp, and went to sleep.

Stephen looked sharply round, saw the decanter, smelt to the sloth, and cried, 'Jack, you have debauched my sloth.” — 23 people liked it

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H.M.S. Surprise (Aubrey & Maturin #3)

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