21 and the Aubrey/Maturin series

21 is the final, unfinished novel in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin naval series. The book itself is only a few chapters long and deals with Captain Aubrey's arrival at the east coast of South America to assume command of his flotilla. The story ends abruptly while Aubrey is reuniting with his family. There's no good sense of where the story was heading, so I will comment on the series as a whole.

What I remember most about the series are the great settings and the great dialogue. O'Brian did a great job creating a real sense of early 19th century sailing life. The naval terminology is an important part of it. We can see the life of the common sailor as well as the lords and officers. The dialogue is fantastic, for all the characters. It is enjoyable to hear the dialogue especially when it is read by Patrick Tull, the narrator for the audiobooks

I think the central nexus of the stories is the relationship between Captain Aubrey and his friend Stephen Maturin. Aubrey is the man of action, the Captain Kirk of the stories. Dr. Maturin is the cool naturalist (and when the plot needs it, the intelligence agent), the logical Mr. Spock. The interplay between the two men is one of the drivers of the plots, but it is also fun by itself.

The most exciting scenes are the action scenes, especially the chase scenes. The naval battles are exciting with all the firepower of the ships, and Aubrey's cunning. The chases are suspenseful as the reader anticipates each ship's next move, the suspense keeps building, and we wait for the final outcome. There were some less exciting installments in the series, but overal it is one of the best out there. I'd give the series an A-.

The Hundred Days

The Hundred Days is the nineteenth book in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series. Jack Aubrey is a commodore in the English navy and is assigned to the Mediterranean when Napoleon escapes from Elba. All of Europe is an an uproar as Napoleon quickly rebuilds his armies and tries to dominate the continent again. Captain Aubrey is commanded to monitor the ports in the Adriatic Sea, find ships being built for the French, and either convert them to English ships or destroy them.

Stephen Maturin, Jack's friend and the ship's surgeon, is mourning the death of his wife in a road accident. The story focuses on him as he is assigned a mission to prevent a large amount of gold being transported from Africa to Europe to assist mercenaries in joining Napoleon's army. Maturin travels into Algeria with a new friend Dr. Amos Jacob. They convince the Dey of Algiers not to transport the gold, but are dismayed when they learn he has been overthrown and a new Dey more friendly toward Napoleon. The ship with the gold tries to sneak through Gibraltar but Jack spies it. A long chase ensues but Jack finally captures the ship and the gold. When Jack and Stephen make it back to the port of Gibraltar, they learn that Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo.

This is a fun installment in the series, but it lacks a bit of suspense and excitement in some of the other volumes. The first half of the book is taken up with small successes as Jack attacks shipbuilding in various ports. There is not much of an overall story form here. Stephen's adventures in Algeria are more interesting, especially when he goes hunting and shoots a lioness. There is real intrigue when Stephen deals with the Dey and his assistants as well as the local English ambassador. The chase at the end is when O'Brian shines, with days of firing guns back and forth and suspenseful changes of the rigging. This book is not my favorite in the series but was still worth the read. B+