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Aubrey & Maturin #20
Blue at the Mizzen
The Barnes & Noble Review
C. S. Forester had his swashbuckling Horatio Hornblower,
Bernard Cornwell his dashing Richard Sharpe, but Patrick O'Brian, with his 20 volumes of adventures featuring Captain Jack Aubrey of the Royal Navy and his friend, Dr. Stephen Maturin, has transcended the genre and thrust Napoleonic storytelling into the literary limelight.
C. S. Forester had his swashbuckling Horatio Hornblower,
Bernard Cornwell his dashing Richard Sharpe, but Patrick O'Brian, with his 20 volumes of adventures featuring Captain Jack Aubrey of the Royal Navy and his friend, Dr. Stephen Maturin, has transcended the genre and thrust Napoleonic storytelling into the literary limelight.
Blue at the Mizzen begins with a festive display of bonhomie and largesse that belies Aubrey's deep unease. The men of the Surprise have profited handsomely from their recent capture of a Moorish galley at the close of The Hundred Days. But the one prize Jack most desires -- his commission -- remains elusive. And with Napoleon safely bottled up once again, his frigate, lately attached to the Royal Navy, now officially reverts to its former status as a hydrographical vessel. Worse, this sudden outbreak of peace means that Jack runs the very real risk of losing his seasoned "Your seaman," he muses, "can put up with uncommon dirty weather, endure great hardship and very short commons -- a good, steady, courageous, uncomplaining creature under officers he can respect.... What he cannot bear is sudden wealth. It goes straight to their heads, and if there is the least possibility they get drunk and disorderly, and desert in droves."
To forestall such an event, Jack orders Surprise to slip away from Gibraltar at dusk. But this stealthy gambit takes the ship into the first of several near-disasters that will bedevil her peacetime mission. In the dead of night, Surprise is struck a glancing blow across the bows by a dark Scandinavian timber carrier and nearly sunk. The ship is forced to put into port for repairs -- only to find that the recent cessation of hostilities has taken its toll on the Mediterranean's choice shipyards. While delayed in Madeira, however, Stephen Maturin contacts his intelligence network to sound out the Admiralty's position on the recent political situation in South America, where Chile and Peru are making their bid for independence from Spain.
Carrying a set of indecipherable dispatches, Maturin proceeds to Whitehall aboard Surprise's tender, Ringle, with Jack sailing hard in his wake to Sepping's Yard for proper repairs and crew. Among those who enlist is 15-year-old midshipman Horatio Hansen, the bastard son of the Duke of Clarence (a former naval man himself and the future King William IV). Refitted, remanned, and given the not-quite-official commission to "help the independent and republican Chileans to form a navy, " Surprise at last sets out on its "South American caper." But Dr. Maturin has one last surprise for his old friend Aubrey; he begs the favor of a brief leave in Sierra Leone, in order to discuss Linnaean classification of avifauna with a beautiful widow, Christine Wood -- and, incidentally, to ask her hand in marriage.
Gently rebuffed, Maturin leaves Sierra Leone with a renewed dedication to his relationship with his "dear Mrs. Wood." One of the book's most memorable sections is his record of the ship's southern passage around the Horn, exquisitely depicted in a serial letter to his beloved Christine. In recounting this portion of the journey from Maturin's perspective, O'Brian captures both the sublime and the quotidian aspects of the endeavor with brilliant philosophical detachment. Constant damp, cold meals, frostbite, tedium, and physical exhaustion are contrasted with the more intellectual impressions of the the spiritual ache of depression, loneliness, and isolation; the awesome power and harsh beauty of nature's extremes.
Perhaps shocking to some modern moralists, Dr. Maturin does not deny himself the psychic balms available to a 19th-century man of science -- coca, tobacco, laudanum, alcohol -- though he does keep to a strict personal code of moderation in all things (except, perhaps, an immoderate fondness for coffee). But there is little he can do to alleviate his old friend's deepening depression. For Aubrey, this uncertain escapade represents the last hope of attaining his personal "blue at the mizzen" -- the pennant that signifies an admiral at the head of his squadron. The only prescription for such a malady is action, and where swift and decisive action is concerned, Blue at the Mizzen does not disappoint. Allied with the factious Chilean juntas under Directo...
Audio Cassette
First published January 1, 1999
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About the author
Patrick O'Brian
214 books2,425 followersPatrick O'Brian's acclaimed Aubrey-Maturin series of historical novels has been described as "a masterpiece" (David Mamet, New York Times), "addictively readable" (Patrick T. Reardon, Chicago Tribune), and "the best historical novels ever written" (Richard Snow, New York Times Book Review), which "should have been on those lists of the greatest novels of the 20th century" (George Will).
Set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, O'Brian's twenty-volume series centers on the enduring friendship between naval officer Jack Aubrey and physician (and spy) Stephen Maturin. The Far Side of the World, the tenth book in the series, was adapted into a 2003 film directed by Peter Weir and starring Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany. The film was nominated for ten Oscars, including Best Picture. The books are now available in hardcover, paperback, and e-book format.
In addition to the Aubrey-Maturin novels, Patrick O'Brian wrote several books including the novels Testimonies, The Golden Ocean, and The Unknown Shore, as well as biographies of Joseph Banks and Picasso. He translated many works from French into English, among them the novels and memoirs of Simone de Beauvoir, the first volume of Jean Lacouture's biography of Charles de Gaulle, and famed fugitive Henri Cherriere's memoir Papillon. O'Brian died in January 2000.
The Aubrey-Maturin Series on Goodreads
Set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, O'Brian's twenty-volume series centers on the enduring friendship between naval officer Jack Aubrey and physician (and spy) Stephen Maturin. The Far Side of the World, the tenth book in the series, was adapted into a 2003 film directed by Peter Weir and starring Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany. The film was nominated for ten Oscars, including Best Picture. The books are now available in hardcover, paperback, and e-book format.
In addition to the Aubrey-Maturin novels, Patrick O'Brian wrote several books including the novels Testimonies, The Golden Ocean, and The Unknown Shore, as well as biographies of Joseph Banks and Picasso. He translated many works from French into English, among them the novels and memoirs of Simone de Beauvoir, the first volume of Jean Lacouture's biography of Charles de Gaulle, and famed fugitive Henri Cherriere's memoir Papillon. O'Brian died in January 2000.
The Aubrey-Maturin Series on Goodreads
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 407 reviews
September 16, 2017
I re-read the whole series this summer, and I am not coherent or sane in how much I love it. It's one of my favourite series ever. This is the story of two people and their lives together, a captain in the Royal Navy and a surgeon who's also secretly a spy working against Napoleon, and I LOVE THEM OKAY. I LOVE THEM A LOT.
I also specifically love this as an end to the series. Clearly, O'Brian himself did not expect to die (even though he was nearly 90: respect, dude). He thought he was going to write about these two forever. I think it was Jo Walton who said that if he'd lived long enough, he'd have written about them sailing to the stars. And he would! I'm still kind of sad that he didn't, in fact, get to do that! But if he had to end, then this is, to me, the perfect ending.
The thing is, we have seen their lives, and we know that the greatest thing that Jack could ever want is to die an Admiral of the Royal Navy. And this ends with him knowing, for definite, that that will happen. He gets to fly his flag, blue at the mizzen, and Stephen gets to wish him joy. And I just can't think of anything better.
I also specifically love this as an end to the series. Clearly, O'Brian himself did not expect to die (even though he was nearly 90: respect, dude). He thought he was going to write about these two forever. I think it was Jo Walton who said that if he'd lived long enough, he'd have written about them sailing to the stars. And he would! I'm still kind of sad that he didn't, in fact, get to do that! But if he had to end, then this is, to me, the perfect ending.
The thing is, we have seen their lives, and we know that the greatest thing that Jack could ever want is to die an Admiral of the Royal Navy. And this ends with him knowing, for definite, that that will happen. He gets to fly his flag, blue at the mizzen, and Stephen gets to wish him joy. And I just can't think of anything better.
July 11, 2012
As Aubrey and Maturin slow down with age, so do their adventures. And yet regardless of the slackening of excitement and intrigue - elements so prevalent in most of the prior books - I still found Blue at the Mizzen enjoyable, partly because I'm so comfortably familiar with the characters and partly because of the beautifully crafted prose. However, if this had been the first O'Brian book I'd ever read, its uneventfulness might have made me shy away from his work.
July 29, 2016
The end of the war had meant that almost all the soldiers and sailors and those multitudes who had kept them in activity were now obliged to find civilian work, and obviously wages dropped, when there were any wages to be had at all.
The last completed novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series. Patrick O’Brian died with the next novel partially complete.
If you’re a fan of the series, of course you will eventually read this book, no matter what I say. And unless you’re trapped on a desert island with little else to read, only such fanship could recommend the 20th novel in a series.
I will admit that this one certainly isn’t as good a read as many of the others, though that is partially due to the situation that Jack Aubrey finds himself in here – an aging post-captain who, now that the Napoleonic War has ended, sees little hope for further advance to the supreme closure of a career in the Royal Navy: selection for flag-rank as “rear-admiral of the blue.” Not only is Aubrey unlike himself in these days: depressed; clearly forcing himself to attend to his duties while lacking his normal ebullience and joie-de-vivre; a loss in interest in playing music; even a loss of appetite! But Steven Maturin too, as his closest friend, is himself concerned and feeling low about Jack’s condition.
Moreover, many of the lesser characters who pass through the tale are suffering from various hardships stemming from the decommissioning of vessels and crew downsizings, both a result of the end of the war.
If you’ve not heard of the series, or have some interest in finding out more, go directly to my review of the first novel, Master and Commander. Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200.
There, you may find a reason to set sail on a reading voyage that will delivery hours, days, months or years of pleasure.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
September 20, 2021
Ancora un eccellente episodio, e ancora una volta non potrò dire nulla della trama: non in termini dettagliati, per ovvi motivi di spoiler; e tantomeno in termini generici perché non renderebbe giustizia al valore del libro, a volersi esprimere in termini generici potrebbe sembrare che questi episodi si assomiglino tutti l'un l'altro, ma bisogna toccare con mano la materia pregiata di cui sono fatti per rendersi conto che è una somiglianza di quelle che apportano maggior valore e non - come si potrebbe temere in linea puramente teorica - noia e ripetitività.
Il vero guaio è che sono giunta all'ultimo episodio. Chissà che altro e quanto altro aveva in serbo O'Brian per i suoi protagonisti. Qui ho assistito all'entrata in scena di un nuovo adorabile personaggio, figlio illegittimo nientemeno che del Principe William Duca di Clarence; e sempre qui è stato imbastito un nuovo affaire tra Maturin e un personaggio che fino ad ora era stato del tutto secondario ma che forse da questo momento in avanti sarebbe divenuto di primaria importanza... Ormai sono agli sgoccioli, solo pochissimi capitoli mi separano dalla fine-fine di tutto, e posso solo esser certa che tante domande, curiosità e sviluppi resteranno senza una risposta.
Poco male: procedo di gran carriera perché il volume con l'ultimo viaggio è un'emozione già soltanto a prendersi in mano. Non c'è un momento da perdere.
Il vero guaio è che sono giunta all'ultimo episodio. Chissà che altro e quanto altro aveva in serbo O'Brian per i suoi protagonisti. Qui ho assistito all'entrata in scena di un nuovo adorabile personaggio, figlio illegittimo nientemeno che del Principe William Duca di Clarence; e sempre qui è stato imbastito un nuovo affaire tra Maturin e un personaggio che fino ad ora era stato del tutto secondario ma che forse da questo momento in avanti sarebbe divenuto di primaria importanza... Ormai sono agli sgoccioli, solo pochissimi capitoli mi separano dalla fine-fine di tutto, e posso solo esser certa che tante domande, curiosità e sviluppi resteranno senza una risposta.
Poco male: procedo di gran carriera perché il volume con l'ultimo viaggio è un'emozione già soltanto a prendersi in mano. Non c'è un momento da perdere.
January 28, 2022
This is somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. The writing, as always, is gorgeous. There's just not enough tension and excitement.
The war is over. Jack and Stephen are down in South America fiddling about in the affairs of turbulent foreign nations. Jack is waiting and hoping to become an active admiral, rather than essentially forced into retirement.
The other problem is that this is the last finished book in the series, and yet it's not the finale. O'Brian passed away while working on #21. So, the ending isn't quite as satisfying as it might have been had everything been tied up. It's a minor complaint. I don't know, maybe part of my dissatisfaction is emotionally based. I'm just sad the series is all over. Well, time to start at the beginning again!
The war is over. Jack and Stephen are down in South America fiddling about in the affairs of turbulent foreign nations. Jack is waiting and hoping to become an active admiral, rather than essentially forced into retirement.
The other problem is that this is the last finished book in the series, and yet it's not the finale. O'Brian passed away while working on #21. So, the ending isn't quite as satisfying as it might have been had everything been tied up. It's a minor complaint. I don't know, maybe part of my dissatisfaction is emotionally based. I'm just sad the series is all over. Well, time to start at the beginning again!
December 21, 2021
Read this book in 2009, and its the 20th wonderful volume of the great "Aubrey/ Maturin" series.
This tale starts off in AD 1815, after the Battle of Waterloo, and thus peace in Europe, and because of that peace Aubrey will see that many of his crew deserts him and their ship the "Surprise".
On their way to South America, Chile to be precise and help this land in her independence from Spain, the "Surprise" is nearly sunk, so their journey will be somewhat delayed to get to Chile.
So when they arrive at Chile, this South American expedition will be a desperate affair, but in this sea battle against the superior Spanish, Aubrey will show his mettle as a very capable seaman when it comes to sea actions, and that successful sea action will determine in the end Chile's fate and at the same time Aubrey's own too.
What is to follow is an eventful and masterly seafaring adventure, and all this is brought to us by the author in his own authentic and marvellous fashion.
Highly recommended, for this is another incredible addition to this fantastic series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "A Superb Blue At The Mizzen"!
This tale starts off in AD 1815, after the Battle of Waterloo, and thus peace in Europe, and because of that peace Aubrey will see that many of his crew deserts him and their ship the "Surprise".
On their way to South America, Chile to be precise and help this land in her independence from Spain, the "Surprise" is nearly sunk, so their journey will be somewhat delayed to get to Chile.
So when they arrive at Chile, this South American expedition will be a desperate affair, but in this sea battle against the superior Spanish, Aubrey will show his mettle as a very capable seaman when it comes to sea actions, and that successful sea action will determine in the end Chile's fate and at the same time Aubrey's own too.
What is to follow is an eventful and masterly seafaring adventure, and all this is brought to us by the author in his own authentic and marvellous fashion.
Highly recommended, for this is another incredible addition to this fantastic series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "A Superb Blue At The Mizzen"!
August 5, 2024
What I like about this book is how a deserving commander comes out on top in the end despite facing the dangers of the sea and the politics behind the scenes. Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are now involved in the Chilian war of independence and take part openly as British naval officers. The British are intervening on behalf of Chile with this country being rightful suspicious of their reasons for this. What I also found worth noting was the classism of the British Navy's commanders toward the common seamen that barely get any notice. The few references to the grunts on the ship are their superstitions about a severed hand as the talisman called the "Hand of Glory" and the narwhal horn being mislabeled as a lucky unicorn horn. The other offensive attitude of the higher ups is seeing the men pressed in service as stupid because they don't know anything about being real mariners. What do those fools expect from men who have lived most of their lives on land?
October 9, 2011
I can't believe it's over.
I know, it's a little ungrateful to complain about the end of a 20-book series, but I'm still not ready. I also know that it's probably gotten tedious, my always giving 5 stars to the Patrick O'Brian books, but you know what? They're just better than most other books. I could quibble and come up with a 4-star review here and there, but except for *Far Side of the World* it would only be 4 stars in comparison with the other books in the series, not in comparison with most books in general. I'll probably go pick up 21 now, I'm that hooked.
I know, it's a little ungrateful to complain about the end of a 20-book series, but I'm still not ready. I also know that it's probably gotten tedious, my always giving 5 stars to the Patrick O'Brian books, but you know what? They're just better than most other books. I could quibble and come up with a 4-star review here and there, but except for *Far Side of the World* it would only be 4 stars in comparison with the other books in the series, not in comparison with most books in general. I'll probably go pick up 21 now, I'm that hooked.
November 5, 2015
This is another excellent historical novel by Patrick O'Brian, in the Jack Aubrey/Stephen Maturin series. In this story, Aubrey starts to feel passed over, as other, less experienced captains are promoted to the rank of admiral. Meanwhile, naturalist and surgeon Maturin falls in love with a beautiful widow.
This is peacetime now, and the opportunities for sea action are scarce. Nevertheless, The Surprise and her crew get a chance to show their stuff, although the action does not take very much space in the book.
This was O'Brian's last book. Like all of his novels, this one is good literature. The character development is wonderful, the historical accuracy seems to be superb. The dialogs are spot on. I love the two main characters. Aubrey and Maturin sometimes play music together (violin and cello, respectively), and when Aubrey complains how a particular composition could have been improved, I loved it!
I listened to this book as an audiobook. Simon Vance is a fantastic narrator; he does all of the accents well. His voice inflections help to distinguish the speakers with ease. Vance blew life into the story; I highly recommend the audiobook!
This is peacetime now, and the opportunities for sea action are scarce. Nevertheless, The Surprise and her crew get a chance to show their stuff, although the action does not take very much space in the book.
This was O'Brian's last book. Like all of his novels, this one is good literature. The character development is wonderful, the historical accuracy seems to be superb. The dialogs are spot on. I love the two main characters. Aubrey and Maturin sometimes play music together (violin and cello, respectively), and when Aubrey complains how a particular composition could have been improved, I loved it!
I listened to this book as an audiobook. Simon Vance is a fantastic narrator; he does all of the accents well. His voice inflections help to distinguish the speakers with ease. Vance blew life into the story; I highly recommend the audiobook!
March 20, 2023
Covid Christmas book number three was a bittersweet delight: the last complete novel in the Aubrey/Maturin series. I've been deliberately spacing these books out to delay the moment when there aren't any more to read... Although I can always go back to the beginning and re-read. I'm too woozy-headed from the covid to reflect upon the entire majestic twenty-book series, so will confine my remarks to Blue at the Mizzen. It certainly seemed to me quite a fitting conclusion, even if it wasn't intended as such, by ending on a happy and hopeful note for Jack and Stephen. The reader is treated to all the great strengths of the series: hilarious dialogue, wonderful characterisation, excellent historical details, endearing creatures, exciting sea battles, vivid travelogue, and involving plot. Of particular note are and irresistible little moments like this:
The adventures of Aubrey and Maturin are a delight and Blue at the Mizzen is a comforting, distracting read when ill.
It was inconceivable that the deluge should last till dawn - the sky could not hold so much - but it did, leaving them stunned, deafened, amazed at the light of day to eastward and the familiar sails of Ringle making three or even four knots towards them, a tiny breeze right aft. Incomprehensibly the deck had become littered, even covered in places, with strange forms of deep-sea life, presumably sucked up by some remote series of waterspouts and liberated here.
But Jack Aubrey was having absolutely none of them: Surprise's only care, and Ringle's too, was to get out of this odious part of the sea without a moment's pause - no breakfast, even, until they were well under way with clear decks, rigging free of seaweed, flying squids and various monsters - Stephen had to content himself with pocketing the less gelatinous creatures and hurrying them below before his stony-faced captain had him forcibly removed.
The adventures of Aubrey and Maturin are a delight and Blue at the Mizzen is a comforting, distracting read when ill.
May 16, 2015
I've been putting off finishing the Aubrey-Maturin books for some time, but I guess this day had to come. While I admit I lost track of what the heck was going on in Chile for a while, I think this final volume is as good as most in the series, with some excellent birding / romancing on Stephen's part (obviously), and some decent naval action. I don't think it was intended to be the final volume, so there isn't any closure, but dedicated readers (and what other kind of reader would make it through 20 books?) will neither expect nor desire such frippery. A nightjar, a fair wind, some toasted cheese, and a little postprandial music will suffice for a lifetime.
Words
megrims (n): low spirits (p. 157)
bowgrace (n): some kind of a fender or protection for the bow when passing through icy seas. Can't seem to find a good picture of one, though. (p. 166)
bibulous (adj): fond of the drink. It can also mean "absorbent." (o, 203)
a-tanto (adj): some kind of positive attribute, maybe just "right" or "proper," I don't have a giant Oxford on hand, and Merrium-Webster is giving me nothing. Most search results refer to the "tanto" style of blade, which may be related. (p. 221)
euphroes (n): piece of wood with holes through which wood is passed, usually to suspend something. (p. 234)
surplice (n): Christian liturgical garment, usually with wide sleeves, usually cut off at thigh length. Usually worn over a cassock. (p. 235)
Words
megrims (n): low spirits (p. 157)
bowgrace (n): some kind of a fender or protection for the bow when passing through icy seas. Can't seem to find a good picture of one, though. (p. 166)
bibulous (adj): fond of the drink. It can also mean "absorbent." (o, 203)
a-tanto (adj): some kind of positive attribute, maybe just "right" or "proper," I don't have a giant Oxford on hand, and Merrium-Webster is giving me nothing. Most search results refer to the "tanto" style of blade, which may be related. (p. 221)
euphroes (n): piece of wood with holes through which wood is passed, usually to suspend something. (p. 234)
surplice (n): Christian liturgical garment, usually with wide sleeves, usually cut off at thigh length. Usually worn over a cassock. (p. 235)
September 11, 2023
...and so my audio-voyage with Jack and Stephen comes to an end, and comfortingly on some of the few far-flung shores they visit that I also have known.
Painting of the historical taking of Valdivia by Lord Cochrane in 1820
Painting of the historical taking of Valdivia by Lord Cochrane in 1820
February 3, 2025
After Waterloo, the ship Surprise is sent on an expedition to South America, and things do not go well.
My attention wandered.
My attention wandered.
December 7, 2019
So here ends the Aubrey-Maturin epic saga, though a further book was left incomplete at the time of O'Brian's death. It's a good thing, really. The struggle to find anything original for the pair to do, growing ever more difficult since as far back as book 10, had by this point proved impossible. With the Napoleonic Wars over, reasons for further voyages were also getting contrived. Maturin's drug abuse with no real consequence was getting a little preposterous. Hence ending on the upbeat note of Aubrey finally gaining his Admiral's flag and sailing off to take up command of a squadron on a ship-of-the-line seems the perfect conclusion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 24, 2019
Well, I finally finished the series, all but the last book left uncompleted when O'Brian died--but I'm reading that next!
A lot of folks seem disappointed in this book because "nothing happens" until the end. Um, how is that different than a lot of the rest of the series, and also, how did you not find that "nothing" interesting when it deals with the end of the war and how that has effected the very people we've been following for nineteen other whole books?
Besides the greatest bromance in the history of time, one of the things I've found myself enjoying most over the course of these books is seeing Aubrey and Maturin actually age and make mistakes and figure out how to navigate the rough seas of life (ahem, sorry, sometimes puns happen). A lot of this book involves everyone being worried about Jack because he's tired and depressed and not himself. WHICH IS NATURAL, because he's realizing that he has virtually no chance of attaining the position he's worked so long and hard to reach his entire career and is having to contemplate a entirely different sort of life than he thought he would have. It's hard, and sad, I know, but still interesting, right?
And this book also spends some time focusing on Stephen and his love life, which is freaking adorable--although, of course, also not simple or easy. His life with Diana was always such a roller coaster, so I love that in this last book he's found someone who he shares so much in common with, who is kind and lovely and intelligent and open and honest.
And the very ending! I cried a little, I really did. If this series had to end (and I guess it did, because life has to end), I'm so, so glad this is the place we come back to shore. I would have loved a little more closure--with Sophie, with Stephen and Christine, with the Surprise, with last visits with Sarah and Emily and Brigid and Padeen--but I'm content. Very, very content.
I know this series isn't for everyone (I understand this with my brain, though not with my heart), but I'm so, so glad that I gave the first book a try for some unknown reason back in the day and I look forward to reading it all again in the future.
Jack Aubrey + Stephen Maturin forever! Huzzay, huzzay, huzzay!
A lot of folks seem disappointed in this book because "nothing happens" until the end. Um, how is that different than a lot of the rest of the series, and also, how did you not find that "nothing" interesting when it deals with the end of the war and how that has effected the very people we've been following for nineteen other whole books?
Besides the greatest bromance in the history of time, one of the things I've found myself enjoying most over the course of these books is seeing Aubrey and Maturin actually age and make mistakes and figure out how to navigate the rough seas of life (ahem, sorry, sometimes puns happen). A lot of this book involves everyone being worried about Jack because he's tired and depressed and not himself. WHICH IS NATURAL, because he's realizing that he has virtually no chance of attaining the position he's worked so long and hard to reach his entire career and is having to contemplate a entirely different sort of life than he thought he would have. It's hard, and sad, I know, but still interesting, right?
And this book also spends some time focusing on Stephen and his love life, which is freaking adorable--although, of course, also not simple or easy. His life with Diana was always such a roller coaster, so I love that in this last book he's found someone who he shares so much in common with, who is kind and lovely and intelligent and open and honest.
And the very ending! I cried a little, I really did. If this series had to end (and I guess it did, because life has to end), I'm so, so glad this is the place we come back to shore. I would have loved a little more closure--with Sophie, with Stephen and Christine, with the Surprise, with last visits with Sarah and Emily and Brigid and Padeen--but I'm content. Very, very content.
I know this series isn't for everyone (I understand this with my brain, though not with my heart), but I'm so, so glad that I gave the first book a try for some unknown reason back in the day and I look forward to reading it all again in the future.
Jack Aubrey + Stephen Maturin forever! Huzzay, huzzay, huzzay!
December 25, 2023
Well, and here we are...the end of the series! It's probably a four...but for keeping me engaged through the longest series I think I've ever read with the possible exception of Redwall (which has 22 books but I think I didn't read the last couple), I'll give a round up to five stars. I know there's an unfinished 21st novel, but I'm going to leave that alone out of respect for the author - I wouldn't want someone reading my rough first drafts of a novel either, and this is a perfectly acceptable place to end it, with Jack and Stephen sailing off to another adventure. Jack's obtained his dream, finally being named a Rear Admiral of the Blue, and Stephen looks probably set to find love again, but not definitively. All is well, no dramatic cliffhangers left unresolved, so...goodbye, friends.
As expected, this novel picks up the threads left abruptly shelved by Napoleon's return in the last book, and sees Aubrey once again in a private capacity serving the new-minted Chilean navy as they fight for their independence from Spain, once again drawing from the real life example of Thomas Cochrane, who probably deserves his own book. He probably already has at least one, but I'm lazy and didn't look it up.
The battle : We're once again put to the thrill of a cutting-out expedition, wherein Aubrey in the 28-gun surprise sails innocently into a harbor, and then yardarm to yardarm blasts up a 50-gun Spanish frigate, then launches men over the side, captures the ship, and sails it back out again with minimal loss. I'd call that a load of malarkey except that, as so often that O'Brian felt a need on several books to mention it in the prologues, this is actually based on a real action that took place. Which, wowzer. We also get to see more of Aubrey the mature commander, training up Chilean navy men from scratch and leading a squadron of ships, more than just the Surprise, and flexing his command muscles as he coordinates multiple actions at once to set Chile on a solid independent footing. Whatever they were paying him -- and it looks like the answer to that at the end of the book may have ended up being "nothing", it wasn't enough.
The scientific : Stephen pays court to Christine Wood in Africa once again, and she takes him out into the muddy swamps to show him not one but three amazing naturalist specimens - a giant heron, some kind of weird long-feathered nightjar, and ... well honestly I forget the third one. It's not important. Considering that Christine has ALSO been sending Stephen articulated sets of bones for weird creatures she's found, I'm sure it doesn't need to be said that Stephen is all, "Diana who?" and is smitten with her. She rejects him -- or rather, does not accept, directly -- but indicates she might be open to revisiting the issue later. She sails home for England and apparently gets along very well with Stephen's autistic daughter Brigid, so since I get to write whatever postscript I want, I decree that they get married and live happily ever after, eventually training Brigid to pass them scalpels as Stephen and Christine dissect fancy birds over the dinner table.
The relationships : Aside from the above, there's a really touching moment where the Chilean government (or part of it) has ordered the Surprise impounded, and Aubrey is forced to cut anchor and sail away rather abruptly. In the chaos of departing, he still finds time to connect with some gentlemen from the Royal Academy to make sure they pick up Stephen's specimen collection which was forced to be abandoned on shore, and make sure it gets taken care of and shipped home. And he does this without Stephen even having brought it up to complain about it first. It really shows the depth of their friendship after all this time that he should be so thoughtful, especially considering some of the first several books where he often ran quite roughshod over Stephen's scientific inquiries. There's also a throwaway reference to Jack's son George not doing so hot as a midshipman on his friend's ship, but it's never discussed further, so again, I declare in my official postscript that it was just teenage hijinks, he eventually settles down and becomes a solid lieutenant put ashore on half-pay, maybe he marries Brigid and then Jack & Stephen can be in-laws. I'd love to say "he's a captain too!" but given that they're about to go on something like a 35-year peace jag I can't think the prospects for promotion are very good.
The medical / spy work : Not much medicine here -- there's some discussion of the different kinds of coca leaves, and I'm starting to worry Stephen might be slipping back to the laudanum, or setting himself up for a cocaine addiction. Since I write the postscript, I decree that being as he marries Christine, she's all the joie de vivre he could ever need. Any time he feels the slightest temptation, Christine walks in the door, slightly rumpled, mud-splashed boots and a bonnet askew, and tells him she's just found a charming rare salamander in the garden and could he come take a look? And then he forgets all about the coca.
Today's malapropism : If we want an example of the growth of relationship from the other side, Jack is complaining about having to do something impossible, and Stephen slyly interjects "like making a mountain out of a molehill?" and Jack just charges into it at face value and is like "it's even worse than that!" and keeps rambling, completely oblivious. Stephen knows that's not what the proverb means, but says it anyway b/c he knows Jack's tendency to mangle things will ... result in him misinterpreting it, which is exactly what happens. Poking gentle fun, if you will. It's adorable.
And I guess...that's it! 20 down, none to go! It's a great series, and I'm happy to have read it (and to have done it in a year, meeting my 2023 goal, go me!). Strong recommend if you like that sort of thing...but it is rather niche, so if sailing's not your jam well why have you read through twenty of these reviews anyway?
As expected, this novel picks up the threads left abruptly shelved by Napoleon's return in the last book, and sees Aubrey once again in a private capacity serving the new-minted Chilean navy as they fight for their independence from Spain, once again drawing from the real life example of Thomas Cochrane, who probably deserves his own book. He probably already has at least one, but I'm lazy and didn't look it up.
The battle : We're once again put to the thrill of a cutting-out expedition, wherein Aubrey in the 28-gun surprise sails innocently into a harbor, and then yardarm to yardarm blasts up a 50-gun Spanish frigate, then launches men over the side, captures the ship, and sails it back out again with minimal loss. I'd call that a load of malarkey except that, as so often that O'Brian felt a need on several books to mention it in the prologues, this is actually based on a real action that took place. Which, wowzer. We also get to see more of Aubrey the mature commander, training up Chilean navy men from scratch and leading a squadron of ships, more than just the Surprise, and flexing his command muscles as he coordinates multiple actions at once to set Chile on a solid independent footing. Whatever they were paying him -- and it looks like the answer to that at the end of the book may have ended up being "nothing", it wasn't enough.
The scientific : Stephen pays court to Christine Wood in Africa once again, and she takes him out into the muddy swamps to show him not one but three amazing naturalist specimens - a giant heron, some kind of weird long-feathered nightjar, and ... well honestly I forget the third one. It's not important. Considering that Christine has ALSO been sending Stephen articulated sets of bones for weird creatures she's found, I'm sure it doesn't need to be said that Stephen is all, "Diana who?" and is smitten with her. She rejects him -- or rather, does not accept, directly -- but indicates she might be open to revisiting the issue later. She sails home for England and apparently gets along very well with Stephen's autistic daughter Brigid, so since I get to write whatever postscript I want, I decree that they get married and live happily ever after, eventually training Brigid to pass them scalpels as Stephen and Christine dissect fancy birds over the dinner table.
The relationships : Aside from the above, there's a really touching moment where the Chilean government (or part of it) has ordered the Surprise impounded, and Aubrey is forced to cut anchor and sail away rather abruptly. In the chaos of departing, he still finds time to connect with some gentlemen from the Royal Academy to make sure they pick up Stephen's specimen collection which was forced to be abandoned on shore, and make sure it gets taken care of and shipped home. And he does this without Stephen even having brought it up to complain about it first. It really shows the depth of their friendship after all this time that he should be so thoughtful, especially considering some of the first several books where he often ran quite roughshod over Stephen's scientific inquiries. There's also a throwaway reference to Jack's son George not doing so hot as a midshipman on his friend's ship, but it's never discussed further, so again, I declare in my official postscript that it was just teenage hijinks, he eventually settles down and becomes a solid lieutenant put ashore on half-pay, maybe he marries Brigid and then Jack & Stephen can be in-laws. I'd love to say "he's a captain too!" but given that they're about to go on something like a 35-year peace jag I can't think the prospects for promotion are very good.
The medical / spy work : Not much medicine here -- there's some discussion of the different kinds of coca leaves, and I'm starting to worry Stephen might be slipping back to the laudanum, or setting himself up for a cocaine addiction. Since I write the postscript, I decree that being as he marries Christine, she's all the joie de vivre he could ever need. Any time he feels the slightest temptation, Christine walks in the door, slightly rumpled, mud-splashed boots and a bonnet askew, and tells him she's just found a charming rare salamander in the garden and could he come take a look? And then he forgets all about the coca.
Today's malapropism : If we want an example of the growth of relationship from the other side, Jack is complaining about having to do something impossible, and Stephen slyly interjects "like making a mountain out of a molehill?" and Jack just charges into it at face value and is like "it's even worse than that!" and keeps rambling, completely oblivious. Stephen knows that's not what the proverb means, but says it anyway b/c he knows Jack's tendency to mangle things will ... result in him misinterpreting it, which is exactly what happens. Poking gentle fun, if you will. It's adorable.
And I guess...that's it! 20 down, none to go! It's a great series, and I'm happy to have read it (and to have done it in a year, meeting my 2023 goal, go me!). Strong recommend if you like that sort of thing...but it is rather niche, so if sailing's not your jam well why have you read through twenty of these reviews anyway?
April 18, 2019
I’ve loved reading these twenty Aubrey/Maturin novels and they are some of the very few books which I’ve re-read. They’ve given me a very complete joy, and I can only echo the words of author Jan Morris, who is quoted on the back cover of my copy:
‘We aficionados scarcely feel them to be novels at all. They are a world of their own, one full of excitement, mystery, charm and good manners of which, over three decades, we have ourselves become citizens.’
‘We aficionados scarcely feel them to be novels at all. They are a world of their own, one full of excitement, mystery, charm and good manners of which, over three decades, we have ourselves become citizens.’
February 22, 2021
This was a thoroughly enjoyable read spent in the company of old literary friends, but up until the very end of the story I was convinced that it would be an ultimately disappointing conclusion to the adventures of Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin. Sure, there is technically still the posthumous ‘final unfinished voyage’ in the series which may shed a little bit of light onto remaining questions, but having leafed through it, I doubt that is likely to be much more than a curiosity and an example of what might have been than anything approximating a satisfying conclusion. For more than 90% of _Blue at the Mizzen_ the story seemed to me to be one of the slightest entries in the series (though one granted a certain bittersweet quality due to its place as the last fully completed volume), and even with the conclusion which certainly made it seem more acceptable as a conclusion to the series, I would have to say it wasn’t as fully satisfying for me as other entries in the series have been.
I don’t want it to appear as though nothing happens in this novel, though: we have the introduction of a new midshipman in the form of Horatio Hanson who seems as though he was likely to become a major supporting character, Stephen makes significant steps (in something that was definitely telegraphed in earlier stories) with a new love interest, and Aubrey manages to secure a noteworthy naval victory, but despite all of this _Blue at the Mizzen_ still felt very much like a bridging episode designed to get our heroes from one point in their overall story arc to another and it is unfortunate that we were not able to fully see what lay on the other side.
Of course, my judgement is perhaps not quite fair as I am evaluating a book as a conclusion to a series when it clearly was not intended to be so. Unfortunately whatever Patrick O’Brian may have intended as the true ending of the Aubrey-Maturin cycle was cut short by his demise, and I can really only be thankful that in the end this book performed as well as it did for this unintended purpose. Ah well, there is always the inevitable re-read of the series to look forward to.
I don’t want it to appear as though nothing happens in this novel, though: we have the introduction of a new midshipman in the form of Horatio Hanson who seems as though he was likely to become a major supporting character, Stephen makes significant steps (in something that was definitely telegraphed in earlier stories) with a new love interest, and Aubrey manages to secure a noteworthy naval victory, but despite all of this _Blue at the Mizzen_ still felt very much like a bridging episode designed to get our heroes from one point in their overall story arc to another and it is unfortunate that we were not able to fully see what lay on the other side.
Of course, my judgement is perhaps not quite fair as I am evaluating a book as a conclusion to a series when it clearly was not intended to be so. Unfortunately whatever Patrick O’Brian may have intended as the true ending of the Aubrey-Maturin cycle was cut short by his demise, and I can really only be thankful that in the end this book performed as well as it did for this unintended purpose. Ah well, there is always the inevitable re-read of the series to look forward to.
October 25, 2024
Another great book in the fantastic series by Patrick O'Brian. It's worth mentioning that this is actually the last book in the series. I did not know this when I read it. I was fooled by seeing in all the book lists that there is also a book 21, with the subtitle "The Final Unfinished Voyage of Captain Jack Aubrey", after this one. So I bowled on ahead, thinking that the last book would end with perhaps the death of the main character, or his sudden retirement or something. Instead it turns out that the 21st book was never finished by the author, who died in 2000 leaving an unfinished half-manuscript. Not really wanting to read an unfinished book, I've decided to stop here.
Of course, that means that when I read this book I was finishing the whole 20-book series without even realizing it! I was kind of depressed when I found that out one month later. I think I may have to re-read this one just so I can have the it's-all-ending sensation.
Incidentally, this book, while clearly not intended as the last in the series, does include some details in the lives of the main characters which makes it a nice stopping place.
So I'm done. 20 books. Wow. I've never read that many books in one series before. It was worth it.
Of course, that means that when I read this book I was finishing the whole 20-book series without even realizing it! I was kind of depressed when I found that out one month later. I think I may have to re-read this one just so I can have the it's-all-ending sensation.
Incidentally, this book, while clearly not intended as the last in the series, does include some details in the lives of the main characters which makes it a nice stopping place.
So I'm done. 20 books. Wow. I've never read that many books in one series before. It was worth it.
February 1, 2025
What a journey! I’ll admit knowing the end was incomplete that my enthusiasm for the last book and a half had waned drastically - but despite it not being a true ending, this one was close enough to how I would have expected him to finish it off!
I am sure I’ll listen to them all again over the next few years despite it being such a long series and would recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in the state of the world in the late 17 and early 1800’s, and a penchant for longer books/series.
The slow but steady character development and growth of a lifelong friendship is the true central storyline, with each half complimenting and often preserving the other. The side stories, snapshots of life and political intrigue in the times are well thought out and generally come across as genuine rather than caricatures - and the fleet action and fighting scenes are genuinely exciting, especially when you don’t know if one of your beloved (side) characters are going to cop it!
Overall I’m thoroughly glad these were recommended to me as I might never have started them on my own!
5 stars in the series as a whole, individual books waxed and waned but the quality of the writing and characters far outweighs any dips as both the author and the characters age.
I am sure I’ll listen to them all again over the next few years despite it being such a long series and would recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in the state of the world in the late 17 and early 1800’s, and a penchant for longer books/series.
The slow but steady character development and growth of a lifelong friendship is the true central storyline, with each half complimenting and often preserving the other. The side stories, snapshots of life and political intrigue in the times are well thought out and generally come across as genuine rather than caricatures - and the fleet action and fighting scenes are genuinely exciting, especially when you don’t know if one of your beloved (side) characters are going to cop it!
Overall I’m thoroughly glad these were recommended to me as I might never have started them on my own!
5 stars in the series as a whole, individual books waxed and waned but the quality of the writing and characters far outweighs any dips as both the author and the characters age.
September 5, 2021
There you have it. One last slightly forced set of actions (Jack growing desperate, not O’Brian), one last set of terrible wounds, one last set of thirsty zoological expeditions, and out.
You feel that O’Brian could have kept it up for another 10 books without absurdity, even though he had to bend time slightly to make Napoleon last 14 books. There is admittedly nowhere for J&S to develop - they are already as open and close as such men could be. Jack withdraws during yet another antarctic horror here, saying nothing, getting no focal time, and there is no relational jeopardy; we and Stephen know it’s temporary.
—
—
If you haven’t read about the real model for Jack you’re in for a treat.
—
The ending is abrupt and glad, like all his endings. It wasn’t meant to be one but there’s some indication he had no interest in ending it anyway. From book 14:
You feel that O’Brian could have kept it up for another 10 books without absurdity, even though he had to bend time slightly to make Napoleon last 14 books. There is admittedly nowhere for J&S to develop - they are already as open and close as such men could be. Jack withdraws during yet another antarctic horror here, saying nothing, getting no focal time, and there is no relational jeopardy; we and Stephen know it’s temporary.
—
‘Please tell the Senhor that I have never eaten better porco in my life,' said Jack, holding up a bare white bone. Jack had a variety of little imbecilities, but none irritated Stephen more than his way of tossing in the odd word or two of a foreign language.
[Of Americans]: “Well, may it prosper them,' said Jack. 'Though they are little better than republicans and democrats, may it prosper them.”
“You are doing very well,' said Stephen in that rather loud, distinct voice that even quite intelligent medical men use to their foreign patients, 'and if Mr. Hanson will call a shipmate to make sure you do not fall, you may go up on deck for a while, now that the ship is so still”
A certain cloud hung over the ship. It disappeared after grog and an enormous supper of fresh seal steaks: and stupidly I did not attend to the proportion of those who were affected and those (mostly countrymen and accustomed to killing as a matter of course from childhood) who were not; yet I did notice, since we were in the same boat, that Hanson and his particular friend Daniel did what little they could to hide their distress in our many bloody voyages to and fro, with the skuas screaming just over our heads.
The sea, if it teaches nothing else, does at least compel a submission to the inevitable which resembles patience. And all those concerned contained themselves with a decent appearance of that virtue through the clear hours of approach.
[on authority]: Inside there were four large chests of silver and a moderate chest of gold: curiously enough they were only closed with a hasp, and on seeing their contents a soldier who had been in the Surprise said they had all risked their lives to gain this wealth and that in his opinion it should be shared out equally at once: now, now, equally and at once. His opinion was supported by several men there, but O'Higgins said, 'A fig for your opinion,' and shot him dead.
[nerds, FRS]: ‘A parcel of excited young women screeching aloud and agitating their persons and limbs is enough to make one retire to a monastery. Our Fellows did not present a very elevating spectacle.'
'I did notice some of the Spaniards looking rather grave, and I did regret the last bowl of punch. Yet on the other hand, ours is an eminently respectable society: the Proceedings are known all over the learned world, and the men of the Isaac Newton, however bibulous on occasion, carry recommendations to the government, foreign office and universities of whatever country they visit. I do assure you, Stephen, that our connexion with them, with the Society as a whole in its most sober and learned mood, is a singular advantage to us.'
'My dear, I am entirely in agreement with you, no other Fellow more: yet even so, I could wish they would not laugh; or at the least, if they are truly amused, that they would laugh like men rather than eunuchs’
—
If you haven’t read about the real model for Jack you’re in for a treat.
—
The ending is abrupt and glad, like all his endings. It wasn’t meant to be one but there’s some indication he had no interest in ending it anyway. From book 14:
'As for an end,' said Martin, 'are endings really so very important? Sterne did quite well without one; and often an unfinished picture is all the more interesting for the bare canvas. I remember Bourville's definition of a novel as a work in which life flows in abundance, swirling without a pause: or as you might say without an end, an organized end. And there is at least one Mozart quartet that stops without the slightest ceremony: most satisfying when you get used to it.
August 14, 2020
And I could very well end it here with the lines, 'But here is the essence: Immediately upon receipt of the present order you will proceed to the River Plate, there joining the South African squadron: you will go aboard HMS Implacable, hoisting your flag, blue at the mizzen and take command of the blue squadron.' Jack sat down, bowing his face in his hands: he was almost unmanned, but after a moment he did say, 'Read that again, will you, Stephen?' Stephen did so, and Jack said, 'By God, Stephen, I am so glad it was you brought me this news. Sophie will be so happy. By God, I never thought my flag would come.' '. . . May I too congratulate you, Admiral dear?' He embraced Jack, who took it quite naturally, in something of a daze'
But who do I fool - knowing that there is one more book (albeit unfinished and all the other un-s that come with a book based upon author's sketch of the future novel) I won't have a sense of conclusion until I read it ... and then I probably won't have it because I just hate open endings - such cruel human nature.
But who do I fool - knowing that there is one more book (albeit unfinished and all the other un-s that come with a book based upon author's sketch of the future novel) I won't have a sense of conclusion until I read it ... and then I probably won't have it because I just hate open endings - such cruel human nature.
March 26, 2010
The last completed novel in Patrick O'Brian's superb Aubrey-Maturin series of seafaring novels set in the early 19th century. This installment has it all: a bit of the home-front with the families of Jack and Stephen; a long voyage across the Atlantic and around Cape Horn and into the Pacific; battles ashore and at sea; and the fascinating politics and espionage associated with nation-building in the budding South American republics; and we finally find out if Captain Jack Aubrey will be allowed to hoist his blue ensign as a Rear Admiral. Whilst I've not read 21: The Final Voyage of Jack Aubrey, the book unfinished by O'Brian before his death in early 2000, I felt that Blue at the Mizzen proved to be a very satisfactory and ultimately quite satisfying conclusion to this brilliant canon of great literature. Jack and Stephen will always be sailing on in my imagination -- Just as it should be!
March 24, 2016
That bittersweet melancholy that sets in, as you finish a book that you've loved reading... watching the pages diminish to the end. Yeah, I got that- but far worse this time, because it's twenty novels' worth... I know that this is truly the end- I don't have the heart to read the unfinished "21". I know that I will read more great books. I will certainly take this journey again- but nothing can capture the magic of the first voyage.
How often I catch myself recommending these, often with caveats: "You've GOT to read these. Yes, it's Napoleonic era naval fiction, BUT... yes, there is lots of jargon, BUT... hey, if you're into Jane Austen and Downton Abbey..." It's just one of those things that defies explanation.
They are books to savor, offering a world to get lost in, with characters more fully realized than any others I've encountered in fiction.
How often I catch myself recommending these, often with caveats: "You've GOT to read these. Yes, it's Napoleonic era naval fiction, BUT... yes, there is lots of jargon, BUT... hey, if you're into Jane Austen and Downton Abbey..." It's just one of those things that defies explanation.
They are books to savor, offering a world to get lost in, with characters more fully realized than any others I've encountered in fiction.
August 13, 2023
It seems to me that everything is coming back to the beginning here. It all started with the encounter between Jack and Stephen and their first sight dislike and the determination to kill each other in a duel; and it ended with them embracing after all these 20 volumes of friendship. Jack started the series by being promoted master and commander, and ended here as an admiral of the blue. Stephen started by falling in love with Diana, and ended here falling in love for a second time. The series spans between the beginning and the end of the war with France. There is also the real story of Cochrane who inspired O'Brian to create Jack's character – it started with his unbelievable exploits in Speedy, it continued with the stock exchange trial and his dismissal from the Navy, and it ended with his exploits in Chile and his promotion as an admiral of the blue.
July 24, 2020
So I finally read the last of the O'Brian's twenty Aubrey/Maturin novels and it didn't disappoint. I do feel rather sad that there are no more - I managed to spread out the series over 20 years. Since reading Master and Commander I got married, lived in two different cities, had two children, about six different jobs, bought two houses, and got divorced. So finally finishing the series felt pretty monumental. I urge anyone to begin at book one and read them all. Some of the finest writing there has ever been and two unforgettable and loveable characters that you will feel you know intimately. Just wondering what life will bring me as I read them all over again!
March 16, 2008
From LJ when I had just read it:
(First three chapters)
Is it just me or are Harding and Whewell the new Pullings and Mowett? It's probably just me. In any case yay for the new midshipman. Horatio. Seriously. I know it was a very common name, but even so. Hee. And with the initials HH and everything. Though to be sure, I'm liking Horry Hanson better than Horry Hornblower. Again, that might just be me.
And as a random note, Stephen is attracted to people with a degree of androgyny. I rather like that. But um, Mrs Wood already had a thing for Stephen before, right? I have to say she wasn't very shy about it. Skinny-dipping in front of the man? Innocently? He's Stephen, yes, but sheesh woman, the man's only human.
The thought of Stephen unable to sleep because of all of his horny thoughts amused me as well, I do admit.
And a lot of stuff changed on the home front. Clarissa got married, congratulations there, and she did it after Diana died, which means I can still slash the two of them in my head. Wee George is back from his first spell as a volunteer on Dundas's ship, congratulations there as well, I'm sure he's a splendid little almost-mid, though I do worry about his career in the Navy. Sarah and Emily are all grown up and can't speak a decent word of French. The only ones I don't see any change with are Sophie and the twins.
As a final note: O'Brian's finally done it. He's used the term "Mr Midshipman Name". He's never done it that I can remember in twenty books. Hornblower did, Marryat did, POB.... finally did.
Okay, maybe one more final note. Stephen justifies his experimenting on patients: "A ship does not have three mizzen topsails and a gaff written on its prow; and my patient does not..."
I know I always say I admire Stephen's ability to keep a straight face when Jack mixes up his proverbs, but Lord, Jack must have some serious restraint, too, not to call Stephen out on that one. *giggles* At least he got "prow" right. (Come to think of it, I think he may have mixed up gaff and gallant. There's no excuse for the triple mizzen topsails.)
____
I should never read during dinner. I have such difficulties putting my book down again.
So Christine is definitely caving before Stephen's blatant lack of romantic skill and/or charm, but he's geeky and kind of cute and yeah, we can't blame her. BUT what about Jack? He's all in a slump. Okay, he's been like that for a while what with oh the war being over, but even more since Stephen left to propose to some woman he only met a few times... Poor Jack. Poor, poor Jack.
I mean, I'm happy for Stephen and all, but come now doctor, what has she got that Jack doesn't? Both are good-looking, both offer gratuitous nudity, and both need to be taught about decent sex.
*sighs* I like Christine, I really do, but oh, my poor Jack.
That said, a cabin filled with flowers? N'awww. Sweet.
I'm so conflicted!
___
Read on to Chapter Nine of "Blue at the Mizzen" in bed last night.
My favouritestest quote?
'Why do we laugh? There was nothing droll about our situation or our anxiety,' said Jack.
'Perhaps because you found me, and it all ended happily.'
N'awwww.
The inescapable newest pairing?
Horatio Hanson/ John Daniel, theirloveissosickeninglycute
Some more favourite bits:
[...]: all this with the top of his mind, while the rest of it was concerned with Christine, her West African birds, her grace, her frankness, her singularity; while another part of it took notice of a fiddle being tuned in the cabin immediately below him and then the tentative beginning of an adagio, obviously adapted from one of his own 'cello suites, but graver by far. Mixed feeling: pleasure that Jack was playing, and playing so well: sorrow that what he played was so unlike the Jack Aubrey he knew, bold, sanguine, enterprising, with a face made for laughter or at the very least for smiling.
I really do believe Jack is pining over Stephen, and frets over his impending marriage to Christine. Sure there's some flag-sickness there, but O'Brian seems to make a point of addressing Jack's depression every time Stephen thinks of her and that must mean something. Not to mention the fact that he chose one of Stephen's 'cello suites to adapt.
'Which I told you at breakfast. Sir,' replied Killick, with a very exactly dosed insolence.
There are very few things I love more than Killick's little pauses before he adds "sir."
Although Stephen, as he was the first to admit, could boast no masculine beauty, and although he was capable of very wild extravagances of conduct, he had in fact been carefully brought up by his Catalan grandfather, to whom elegant manners, a mastery of both languages and of French, as well as horsemanship and a real ability with pistol and small-sword, were necessary qualifications.
So he knew French before he ever went to France. Nice. I didn't know that. Also, "no masculine beauty"? What, he has feminine beauty then?
'I hope so, I'm sure,' said Jack. 'When the belt - the convergence - is very narrow and concentrated as I think this one was, it sometimes ends in a furious tantrum like this, as who should say...' meeting the cats' steady, attentive gaze, he changed his mind and finished '"Fare you well, ye Spanish ladies".'
I actually didn't get that one. What was Jack going to say?
Jack Aubrey pushed back his chair, loosened his waistcoat, and said, 'I had no idea I was so hungry: I am afraid I must have eaten like an ogre.'
Killick could be seen to smile: Jack's appetite always pleased him -- his one deviation into amiability.
N'awwww!!
'His expression, his daily mood, his tone of voice are naturally, automatically and universally observed -- not out of curiosity or intense personal interest but as any man -- sailor, farmer, fisherman -- subject to the weather frequently looks at the sky.'
Stephen's back into diary-writing mode, only this time in the form of letters. I'm not used to that anymore. To be sure, he's not as analytical in these letters as he would have been in his old diary, but even so, it's been a while since I read this many of his personal thoughts.
'He asks no man's opinion, and I have the impression that he knows exactly what he is doing -- that he sails with the same determination and clarity of mind as the great albatrosses that sometimes accompany us, black-browed, wandering, and royal.'
And it's probably for a huge part exactly that which makes Jack such a wonderful captain. I'm not even sure whether Jack does know exactly what he's doing, but even if he does not then he gives off the proper impression and the crew respond to that.
'Although I am by now quite an ancient mariner, [...]'
Coleridge shout-out! Coleridge shout-out!
Nevertheless he lingered, the cold biting through his dreadnought griego and his wonderfully unbecoming woollen bonnet.
Jack wears a woollen bonnet. My first thought was to giggle, my second to giggle some more because it was wonderfully unbecoming, and my third thought was to text wicked_warrior about it. I would have, too, if it were not night.
'Do you mean we may survive?'
'Oh, I should not go as far as that.'
*snerk*
'Oh go to the Devil, you hideous ape,' he said in a tone of exasperated hatred, and he heaved over in his cot, pulling the pillow over his head.
Nothing more pleasant than a physician on tincture.
[...] 'the damned fore... had carried away, but all was fast and a-tanto now.' The words that followed fore sounded very like a piece of obscenity far, far grosser than anything that Jack was every likely to say and Stephen was still trying to recapture the sound and interpret it when [...]
Is this like the time O'Brian was talking about a "cunt-splice"? *grins*
'[...] a cure for poor dear William's melancholy, which moves his people so that I have seen them shake their heads and clasp their hands as he goes by.
Poor dear William. I liked the image of that bit, though.
'Indeed, so near are we now that Captain Aubrey is having the barge carefully overhauled and beautified, to run in with me so that the chosen yard shall be ready to start as soon as Ringle comes. He takes me, not as you may well suppose, for my advise in sailing the boat, but merely for my ability to speak Spanish.'
Hahaha, oh Stephen.
'Yes, indeed,' said Lindsay, walking over: he was wearing a uniform very like that of the Royal Navy, but with rather more lace.
If I didn't already dislike the man, that would do it. You're out of the RN, you bastard. Stop pretending. Jack never pretended when he was kicked out.
'Fellows of the Royal Society? Those men in the former Lisbon packet? I dare say you were very much at sea in that learned company?'
Urge to hate riiiiising, riiiiiising.
But then one of the circling birds dropped a turd on his hat.
*pacimollified* Thank you, POB.
And now Jack's apparently under his orders. WTF, mate? WTF!
___
I finished Blue at the Mizzen on the train just now. I cried. I bloody well cried. I knew what was going to happen and I cried utter tears of joy, sitting there with a big soppy grin on my face.
Thank the Lord for empty trains.
*runs around loving EVERYONE*
(First three chapters)
Is it just me or are Harding and Whewell the new Pullings and Mowett? It's probably just me. In any case yay for the new midshipman. Horatio. Seriously. I know it was a very common name, but even so. Hee. And with the initials HH and everything. Though to be sure, I'm liking Horry Hanson better than Horry Hornblower. Again, that might just be me.
And as a random note, Stephen is attracted to people with a degree of androgyny. I rather like that. But um, Mrs Wood already had a thing for Stephen before, right? I have to say she wasn't very shy about it. Skinny-dipping in front of the man? Innocently? He's Stephen, yes, but sheesh woman, the man's only human.
The thought of Stephen unable to sleep because of all of his horny thoughts amused me as well, I do admit.
And a lot of stuff changed on the home front. Clarissa got married, congratulations there, and she did it after Diana died, which means I can still slash the two of them in my head. Wee George is back from his first spell as a volunteer on Dundas's ship, congratulations there as well, I'm sure he's a splendid little almost-mid, though I do worry about his career in the Navy. Sarah and Emily are all grown up and can't speak a decent word of French. The only ones I don't see any change with are Sophie and the twins.
As a final note: O'Brian's finally done it. He's used the term "Mr Midshipman Name". He's never done it that I can remember in twenty books. Hornblower did, Marryat did, POB.... finally did.
Okay, maybe one more final note. Stephen justifies his experimenting on patients: "A ship does not have three mizzen topsails and a gaff written on its prow; and my patient does not..."
I know I always say I admire Stephen's ability to keep a straight face when Jack mixes up his proverbs, but Lord, Jack must have some serious restraint, too, not to call Stephen out on that one. *giggles* At least he got "prow" right. (Come to think of it, I think he may have mixed up gaff and gallant. There's no excuse for the triple mizzen topsails.)
____
I should never read during dinner. I have such difficulties putting my book down again.
So Christine is definitely caving before Stephen's blatant lack of romantic skill and/or charm, but he's geeky and kind of cute and yeah, we can't blame her. BUT what about Jack? He's all in a slump. Okay, he's been like that for a while what with oh the war being over, but even more since Stephen left to propose to some woman he only met a few times... Poor Jack. Poor, poor Jack.
I mean, I'm happy for Stephen and all, but come now doctor, what has she got that Jack doesn't? Both are good-looking, both offer gratuitous nudity, and both need to be taught about decent sex.
*sighs* I like Christine, I really do, but oh, my poor Jack.
That said, a cabin filled with flowers? N'awww. Sweet.
I'm so conflicted!
___
Read on to Chapter Nine of "Blue at the Mizzen" in bed last night.
My favouritestest quote?
'Why do we laugh? There was nothing droll about our situation or our anxiety,' said Jack.
'Perhaps because you found me, and it all ended happily.'
N'awwww.
The inescapable newest pairing?
Horatio Hanson/ John Daniel, theirloveissosickeninglycute
Some more favourite bits:
[...]: all this with the top of his mind, while the rest of it was concerned with Christine, her West African birds, her grace, her frankness, her singularity; while another part of it took notice of a fiddle being tuned in the cabin immediately below him and then the tentative beginning of an adagio, obviously adapted from one of his own 'cello suites, but graver by far. Mixed feeling: pleasure that Jack was playing, and playing so well: sorrow that what he played was so unlike the Jack Aubrey he knew, bold, sanguine, enterprising, with a face made for laughter or at the very least for smiling.
I really do believe Jack is pining over Stephen, and frets over his impending marriage to Christine. Sure there's some flag-sickness there, but O'Brian seems to make a point of addressing Jack's depression every time Stephen thinks of her and that must mean something. Not to mention the fact that he chose one of Stephen's 'cello suites to adapt.
'Which I told you at breakfast. Sir,' replied Killick, with a very exactly dosed insolence.
There are very few things I love more than Killick's little pauses before he adds "sir."
Although Stephen, as he was the first to admit, could boast no masculine beauty, and although he was capable of very wild extravagances of conduct, he had in fact been carefully brought up by his Catalan grandfather, to whom elegant manners, a mastery of both languages and of French, as well as horsemanship and a real ability with pistol and small-sword, were necessary qualifications.
So he knew French before he ever went to France. Nice. I didn't know that. Also, "no masculine beauty"? What, he has feminine beauty then?
'I hope so, I'm sure,' said Jack. 'When the belt - the convergence - is very narrow and concentrated as I think this one was, it sometimes ends in a furious tantrum like this, as who should say...' meeting the cats' steady, attentive gaze, he changed his mind and finished '"Fare you well, ye Spanish ladies".'
I actually didn't get that one. What was Jack going to say?
Jack Aubrey pushed back his chair, loosened his waistcoat, and said, 'I had no idea I was so hungry: I am afraid I must have eaten like an ogre.'
Killick could be seen to smile: Jack's appetite always pleased him -- his one deviation into amiability.
N'awwww!!
'His expression, his daily mood, his tone of voice are naturally, automatically and universally observed -- not out of curiosity or intense personal interest but as any man -- sailor, farmer, fisherman -- subject to the weather frequently looks at the sky.'
Stephen's back into diary-writing mode, only this time in the form of letters. I'm not used to that anymore. To be sure, he's not as analytical in these letters as he would have been in his old diary, but even so, it's been a while since I read this many of his personal thoughts.
'He asks no man's opinion, and I have the impression that he knows exactly what he is doing -- that he sails with the same determination and clarity of mind as the great albatrosses that sometimes accompany us, black-browed, wandering, and royal.'
And it's probably for a huge part exactly that which makes Jack such a wonderful captain. I'm not even sure whether Jack does know exactly what he's doing, but even if he does not then he gives off the proper impression and the crew respond to that.
'Although I am by now quite an ancient mariner, [...]'
Coleridge shout-out! Coleridge shout-out!
Nevertheless he lingered, the cold biting through his dreadnought griego and his wonderfully unbecoming woollen bonnet.
Jack wears a woollen bonnet. My first thought was to giggle, my second to giggle some more because it was wonderfully unbecoming, and my third thought was to text wicked_warrior about it. I would have, too, if it were not night.
'Do you mean we may survive?'
'Oh, I should not go as far as that.'
*snerk*
'Oh go to the Devil, you hideous ape,' he said in a tone of exasperated hatred, and he heaved over in his cot, pulling the pillow over his head.
Nothing more pleasant than a physician on tincture.
[...] 'the damned fore... had carried away, but all was fast and a-tanto now.' The words that followed fore sounded very like a piece of obscenity far, far grosser than anything that Jack was every likely to say and Stephen was still trying to recapture the sound and interpret it when [...]
Is this like the time O'Brian was talking about a "cunt-splice"? *grins*
'[...] a cure for poor dear William's melancholy, which moves his people so that I have seen them shake their heads and clasp their hands as he goes by.
Poor dear William. I liked the image of that bit, though.
'Indeed, so near are we now that Captain Aubrey is having the barge carefully overhauled and beautified, to run in with me so that the chosen yard shall be ready to start as soon as Ringle comes. He takes me, not as you may well suppose, for my advise in sailing the boat, but merely for my ability to speak Spanish.'
Hahaha, oh Stephen.
'Yes, indeed,' said Lindsay, walking over: he was wearing a uniform very like that of the Royal Navy, but with rather more lace.
If I didn't already dislike the man, that would do it. You're out of the RN, you bastard. Stop pretending. Jack never pretended when he was kicked out.
'Fellows of the Royal Society? Those men in the former Lisbon packet? I dare say you were very much at sea in that learned company?'
Urge to hate riiiiising, riiiiiising.
But then one of the circling birds dropped a turd on his hat.
*pacimollified* Thank you, POB.
And now Jack's apparently under his orders. WTF, mate? WTF!
___
I finished Blue at the Mizzen on the train just now. I cried. I bloody well cried. I knew what was going to happen and I cried utter tears of joy, sitting there with a big soppy grin on my face.
Thank the Lord for empty trains.
*runs around loving EVERYONE*
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 3, 2024
Un libro bastante emotivo por varios motivos. Los lectores de la saga se darán cuenta que tiene más ritmo que su anterior entrega, donde los protagonistas embarcan a una misión que lleva tiempo retrasándose en anteriores entregas en vista de los acontecimientos en la guerra con Napoleón. Y es ahora cuando más se evidencian los años que empiezan a pesar a sus personajes. Ya no son personas impulsadas solo por el deber y la gloria. Ahora tienen muchas responsabilidades, muchas heridas físicas y sentimentales. Y sus decisiones, pese a sus éxitos y errores, son meditadas y cada vez cuestan más tomarlas. Me encanta esa evolución de los personajes de la que esta novela es su mayor exponente.
Pese a todo, como decía, es un libro apasionante. Hay vida y acción en cada una de sus páginas. Aparecen personajes jóvenes como la viva encarnación de que la vida continúa. Y la HSM Surprise hace otro viaje espectacular cruzando el Cabo de Hornos. Una aventura deliciosa con un final épico.
Éste es el último libro oficial de la saga Aubrey-Maturin que O’Brian pudo terminar en vida. Había manuscrito 65 páginas para una nueva entrega que quedó inconclusa por la muerte de O’Brian en el año 2000. Esta obra no se ha publicado en castellano porque, entre otros motivos, solo puede resultar interesante para los seguidores más fieles, obviamente. Con esto queda claro que no hay un cierre prediseñado por parte del autor para la saga que haya quedado reflejado en su obra. Es lo bueno y lo malo que nos dejó O’Brian: no sabemos qué final le habría querido dar a los personajes. Pero nos ha dado la libertad de soñar con que aún les quedaron muchas millas náuticas que recorrer y muchos desafíos con los que tropezar o vencer. Sin duda, esta saga se ha convertido en una de mis favoritas y que me ha dado muy buenos momentos de lectura. Dar las gracias a Edhasa por publicarla en castellano. Si os interesa, actualmente la editorial está reeditando de nuevo los libros en una nueva edición. Como destacado he visto que en esta nueva edición han corregido algunos pequeños errores y cambiado en el primer libro, Capitán de mar y guerra (Aubrey-Maturin), el tema de los diálogos entrecomillados que me llamó la atención en mi edición.
Un brindis desde mi puesto de polizón por esos años acompañando al capitán Aubrey, al cirujano Maturin y al almirante O’Brian. Echaré de menos a Killick sirviendo su perro manchado...
Pese a todo, como decía, es un libro apasionante. Hay vida y acción en cada una de sus páginas. Aparecen personajes jóvenes como la viva encarnación de que la vida continúa. Y la HSM Surprise hace otro viaje espectacular cruzando el Cabo de Hornos. Una aventura deliciosa con un final épico.
Éste es el último libro oficial de la saga Aubrey-Maturin que O’Brian pudo terminar en vida. Había manuscrito 65 páginas para una nueva entrega que quedó inconclusa por la muerte de O’Brian en el año 2000. Esta obra no se ha publicado en castellano porque, entre otros motivos, solo puede resultar interesante para los seguidores más fieles, obviamente. Con esto queda claro que no hay un cierre prediseñado por parte del autor para la saga que haya quedado reflejado en su obra. Es lo bueno y lo malo que nos dejó O’Brian: no sabemos qué final le habría querido dar a los personajes. Pero nos ha dado la libertad de soñar con que aún les quedaron muchas millas náuticas que recorrer y muchos desafíos con los que tropezar o vencer. Sin duda, esta saga se ha convertido en una de mis favoritas y que me ha dado muy buenos momentos de lectura. Dar las gracias a Edhasa por publicarla en castellano. Si os interesa, actualmente la editorial está reeditando de nuevo los libros en una nueva edición. Como destacado he visto que en esta nueva edición han corregido algunos pequeños errores y cambiado en el primer libro, Capitán de mar y guerra (Aubrey-Maturin), el tema de los diálogos entrecomillados que me llamó la atención en mi edición.
Un brindis desde mi puesto de polizón por esos años acompañando al capitán Aubrey, al cirujano Maturin y al almirante O’Brian. Echaré de menos a Killick sirviendo su perro manchado...
January 26, 2019
The last of O'Brian's Jack Aubrey series before he died. Like the others of the series, follows the life of Aubrey and Maturin as they sail to places on the far side of the world. What makes this series unique is its attention to detail and magnificent descriptions of life at sea in a complex sailing ship when Britain was the queen of the seas. You start to learn the lingo after awhile, although I'm not sure I could tell you what any of the parts of the ship actually are. A masterful character study combined with period history and realistic intrigue and adventure. Addictive, am reading them all!
July 10, 2025
Fantastic concluding volume to what has become on of my favourite series ever. It revisited many of the things I loved about the earliest volumes, with lots of naval action, cutting out expeditions, hand-to-hand fighting, and much more. Although it was not intended to be the end of the series, it provides something of a fitting close to Jack's story, at least, and suggests that generally positive things were in the works for all our surviving characters. The fact that I got to read this basically a year to the day after I began volume one was just the cherry on top. I guarantee I will be revisiting these adventures with Aubrey and Maturin many more times throughout my life.
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