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Oct 31, 2008

Felicity rated it:

I do enter upon my rereadings of Patrick O'Brian books with an open mind. I am willing to give fewer than five stars to each book before I read it. However, at some point, sweeping down upon the blaggardly French under a great press of sail, foreboding the ruin of a tragically flawed officer, or smiling at Aubrey's sweet simplicity, it becomes impossible not to give it every star at my command.

Mauritius Command is a particularly cohesive volume, more united in purpose than most, comp More...

2 comments like (8 people liked it)

Dec 11, 2008

Roger W. rated it:

In previous books Mr. O'Brian has several times told us that he uses real ships and real battles for his fictional accounts. It's well known that he went to great lengths to make his stories ring with authenticity, reading the original logbooks of the vessels involved and the private papers of survivors.

In this the fourth episode of his Aubrey-Maturin series, he takes this method to the extreme - his whole book, not only one or two battles, is based on a historical campaign, makin More...

1 comment like (6 people liked it)

Oct 22, 2007

Rob rated it:

I continue to love the Aubrey/Maturin series. The Mauritius command excels in further character development by contrasting both Aubrey and Maturin with other captains and medical men in a small fleet commanded by Jack to take on the French. It's exciting, fast-paced, and a great read. A worthy successor to Post Captain and H.M.S. Surprise.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 23, 2008

Boz4pm rated it:

I have been so absorbed in these books that I keep forgetting to take time to review them in turn - aside from discussions and over-excited bouncing with mutual online friends who already know the series, that is.

I love this series so much, for all the reasons I outlined in Master & Commander - the depth and breadth of O'Brian's knowledge and research is outstanding, breathtaking and yet the level of writing mastery he shows in his portrayal of character and plot makes these books ut More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

May 04, 2008

Betsy rated it:

I've recently discovered Patrick O'Brian--I had picked up H.M.S. Surprise at a used book store or a garage sale about three years ago and finally read it a couple weeks ago. I have a friend who describes Patrick O'Brian as "Jane Austen for boys." I've long since exhausted my first reads of all Jane Austen, so it is nice to have a score or two of new first reads. Also nice to read what may have been happening on the other side of all that crossed correspondence that drives Austen's dom More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 27, 2011

Deb rated it:

Didn't want to put this one down. Lucky Jack Aubrey gets his first chance to act as commodore, tasked to overcome apparently superior Napoleonic defenders off the coast of Africa. Along the way, Aubrey has to manage a largely inferior group of commanders--one who's capable enough, but plagued by jealousy; another who torments his crew almost to the point of mutiny; and another whose stolidity is welcome, but whose lack of imagination threatens the mission. Meanwhile, Dr. Maturin, in his capacity More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 21, 2011

Ensiform rated it:

The fourth book in the Aubrey-Maturin series. Languishing at home on half pay, Jack is unexpectedly given a commission to go as acting Commodore to the Cape of Good Hope, where he will direct a small squadron to take the French-held islands of Mauritius and Reunion. The captains under Jack’s command are slightly jealous, but they are motivated primarily by their differing natures, whether harsh taskmasters or eager to please and ineffective. After some easy victories, helped along by Stephen’ More...

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Aug 05, 2010

Denerick rated it:

This is the fourth book of the Aubrey/Maturin naval series, and like the first three I enjoyed the relationship between Luckey Jack Aubrey and the sensitive, intellectual doctor, Stephen Maturin. Unfortunately, I still have not come to grips with all of the naval terminology, and the confusing writing style that O'Brien employs... (He quickly changes and resolves plotlines, sometimes in a single sentance, so if your concentration wanders at all you kind of lose track of where you are)

More...

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May 03, 2010

Matt rated it:

In all honesty, I only read this because I was searching out books with Mauritius in the title because I'm going there. I certainly don't regret reading it, and if you enjoy swashbuckling naval adventures from the early 19th century, neither will you, but I wouldn't call it a must read. I probably would have given it 4 stars if I had a thesaurus by my side, as the language is fantastic, with sailing references galore. A sampling for ya, where the vocab was at my land-based level:

" More...

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Dec 08, 2011

Richard rated it:

The intrepid Captain Aubrey, who has faced severe storms at sea, imminent risk of loss of life during close sea battle encounters, capture by the enemy, and the Admiralty's endless red tape, finds himself in quiet domestic bliss at the beginning of this novel. Or maybe bliss is not exactly an accurate description of Jack's state of affairs. He is definitely happy to be settled down with his wife, Sophie, on the farm, Ashgrove Cottage, he bought with prize money from earlier adventures. The Aubre More...

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Jan 11, 2012

Boots rated it:

the opening of this book in the series is brilliant: Jack at home, domesticated, as it were, but pining for the sea; his poverty and family obligations bending--but not breaking him.

once we get on board and out to Mauritius, the story felt a bit more labored (lot of politics and boats and whatnot ~ one gets the impression of o'brian just writing a strange sort of naval fan faction about this historical action). nevertheless, a fun character study of Jack's nemesis Clonfert, the happ More...

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May 22, 2009

Elaine rated it:

This is my fourth O'Brian book and I guess I'm going to spend the summer reading all of them! The Mauritius Command follows Stephen Maturin and his friend, Captain Jack Aubrey, as they further advance their naval careers. Patrick O'Brian has done another brilliant job of recounting the life of British seaman and officers in nineteenth century conflicts. His characters, main and secondary, are maturing in a convincing way in both their professional and personal lives. This adventure finds Cap More...

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Sep 29, 2011

Jennifer rated it:

It strikes me as blackly amusing that the end of each Regency romance book--the happy clinch and fade to implied domestic bliss--leads directly to the opening of so many Age of Sail books--the hero chafing at the domestic life and yearning to escape and be at sea again.

Jack Aubrey is a commodore in this story, which means he is in charge of leading several different ships. Much of the book is dedicated to the interpersonal difficulties dealing with disparate prickly, sensitive, or cra More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jul 20, 2011

Nelson rated it:

Reluctantly, this is a shade less accomplished than the first three novels. It's still a far sight better than a lot of stuff going. The opening features something of a recap of the first three; I get the sense O'Brian was ready to stop at three, then decided to carry on. The opening sums up the first three books nicely. Much of the human interest here attaches to a new character, Lord Clonfert, who is in a weird kind of competition with the growing legend of Aubrey. Naturally much of this More...

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Apr 06, 2011

Wealhtheow rated it:

At the end of the H.M.S. 'Surprise', Captain Jack Aubrey finally had the chance to marry his beloved and settle down into a little country cottage. The Muaritius Command begins with his bff Doctor Stephen Maturin visiting him and offering Jack an opportunity to go back to sea. Jack leaps at the chance, both to return to the profession he loves and to get away from his hectoring mother-in-law and lumpish twin infants. And even better than he'd expected--when Jack makes it to La Reunon, he find More...

4 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 05, 2011

Christie rated it:

The Mauritius Command brings to life a campaign most (myself included) have never heard about, with Aubrey and Maturin right in the middle. Though I did enjoy this book and learned a lot about British history that I did not know, I didn't find the story as interesting as that in the previous books. I especially was disappointed that there was less detail about Maturin's doings than in the third novel, which so far is my favorite in the series. However, there are two interesting characters, Lo More...

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Apr 22, 2011

Laura rated it:

Next On:
Next Sunday, 15:00 on BBC Radio 4

Patrick O'Brian's naval epic set in 1809, dramatised in three parts by Roger Danes. Starring David Robb as Captain Jack Aubrey and Richard Dillane as Doctor Stephen Maturin.

Following his adventures in HMS Surprise, Jack Aubrey has been kicking his heels at home when his old friend, Stephen Maturin, comes knocking at his door with welcome news. Jack is promoted to Commodore, and is to lead a squadron of English ships, charged More...

10 comments like

Mar 16, 2011

Alex rated it:

I love this series. I am immersed in a world where my interest is held by the friendship of two men, and the details and action of this world. I love the humor and found myself laughing aloud a couple of times. The writing is superb but I often need a dictionary. I also often use an atlas to help picture just where the action is taking place.
This may be the type of book perfect for an electronic device that has a built in dictionary and google at you fingertips. It's a rich world made wond More...

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Jun 29, 2011

Sadie rated it:

Though I like this era for reading, I primarily started listening to these books because of my husband. My husband as heard it said that these books are for men what Jane Austen is for women, and I can see why. I don't know if you could find a more masculine book if you tried. I have enjoyed everyone of these books, though at times the story will lag when Steven goes off on one of his many observations of man (though you can't but love him for it). I have grown to love both Captain Aubrey and More...

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Jan 29, 2009

K T rated it:

Less focused on Aubrey and Maturin's friendship than the earlier books, and they spend long passages apart. I found the new characters interesting though, and the action was all new kinds of stuff. I actually missed my bus stop for the first time ever because I was so into reading this. Not as many terrible puns either, but still some really funny moments. And I'm looking forward to how things develop for Maturin in the next book.

I'm still not used to O'Brian's sudden endings.
More...

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Mar 24, 2009

Christine rated it:

I love Patrick O'Brian, and Jack Aubrey, and Stephen Maturin very much. This book just felt sort of in-between.... like a space holder with some character development and stuff. A way to move the characters from the end of HMS Surprise on to wherever they're going next. It didn't feel like a story by itself. Another problem was that I had this one on recorded book, and while the narrator was wonderful, I generally listened to it while I was doing something else, so it didn't get the undivided at More...

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Aug 18, 2011

Tiffany rated it:

Ahh. Adventure back on the high seas, where Lucky Jack Aubrey belongs. And now we see Stephen Mauritan at his craftiest agent bit yet in between his bandaging, skull-opening, and grape-shot repairing. Aubrey is getting much more thoughtful, less brash, less the Aubrey we have come to expect. How will this play out for the rest of the series, I cannot say yet, but I am curious to find out.
I enjoy many of O'Brian's phrasing: "Something, reflected Jack, something came over officers More...

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Jul 29, 2011

Nigie rated it:

I'm cruising through the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey/Maturin series which comprise a mighty set of enjoyable, well-researched yarns set at sea during the Napoleonic wars early in the nineteenth century. The connecting thread is the career of a John-Bull archetype, Captain Jack Aubrey, in the company of his best friend, ship's surgeon and an Admiralty spy, the cerebral, physically Gollum-like Stephen Maturin, obsessed with the study of nature and physiology, and woefully unlucky in love. The pair re More...

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Jan 29, 2012

Jason rated it:

This instalment of the series leads me to believe that it was here that O'Brian was really starting to hit his stride. He showed an economy of words in this one that was lacking in the previous books, i.e. the narrative remained tight and constantly driven forward. This one was also packed with the hot 19th-century naval warfare action that readers of these books expect, nay demand, nay CLAMOR FOR IN THE NIGHT. There's much more humor in this book, both subtle and overt, as well. So, it does More...

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Oct 19, 2011

Ken-ichi added it

Yes, yes, more galavanting on the high seas. Jack is commodore in a multi-ship campaign to seize Mauritius from the French. As with all these books so far, Jack has new command challenges, one of his subordinates is mysterious and troubling, and Stephen vacillates between urbane diplomacy, biological nerd out, and bitter invective. Wonderful, wonderful stuff. These books are truly more about the world and the characters than the plot, sort of like a video game. In this book, the "plot" More...

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Apr 18, 2011

Bettie rated it:

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Apr 08, 2010

Christopher rated it:

This is an excellent episode in Patrick O'Brian's 'Aubreyiad,' and is so aptly titled. The Mauritius Command, is just that -- a study in command -- and as such, should be required reading for anyone in a position of command and authority. I would particularly recommend this for young military commissioned and/or non-commissioned officers, especially those in the sea-going services; and I would be surprised if this is not on a reading list for midshipman at the U.S. Naval and Coast Guard Academ More...

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Jun 06, 2009

EJD rated it:

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. More...

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Mar 04, 2011

Brad rated it:

I'm bumping my rating of this up to five stars from four after my reread.

Damn this is a fine addition to the Aubrey-Maturin series. There is genuine comfort in reading this book, and I think some of that comfort stems from Patrick O'Brian's comfort with his characters. O'Brian knows his men intimately by this fourth book, and he is able to let them live on their own, confident, it seems to me, that they will take him where they need to go.

In this case, they take him to the M More...

2 comments like (8 people liked it)

Dec 13, 2008

Gilly rated it:

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