The Wine-Dark Sea (Volume Book 16) (Aubrey/Maturin Novels)

November 15, 1993
Though the Jack Aubrey-Stephen Maturin books can be profitably read separately, as fans know, together they read as one long, wonderful novel. This 16th installment (following The Truelove ) is no doubt the best chapter yet. In the early 1800s, Bluff Jack, captain of the privateer Surprise , steers his frigate across the Pacific to South America, around Cape Horn and into the Atlantic, taking French and American prizes, fighting off a Yankee Man of War and suffering dire eye and leg wounds for his trouble. Subtle Stephen, ship's doctor and British intelligence agent, almost pulls off a coup in Peru and must escape across the Andes, losing some toes to frostbite for his efforts. Favorite characters reappear here: Killick, Jack's crabby steward; Sarah and Emily Sweeting, precocious Melanesian waifs attached to Maturin's sick-berth; Sam, Jack's illegitimate black son and rising Churchman. The naval actions are bang-on and bang-up--fast, furious and bloody--and the Andean milieu is as vivid as the shipboard scenes. As usual, readers can revel in the symbiotic friendship of Jack and Stephen, who make for a marvelous duo, whether in their violin and cello duets or in their sharp dialogue. If O'Brian hasn't quite had a break-out book yet, then this deserves to be it. 40,000 first printing; $50,000 ad/promo; author tour.

October 15, 1993
On the high seas in the early years of the 19th century, when full-rigged sailing ships carried cargoes of treasure and slaves and privateers were a continual threat, surgeon-spy Stephen Maturin and his good friend Capt. Jack Aubrey have set sail for South America. Their ship is a privateer with a crew more than ready to board and capture anything in their path. This 16th entry in O'Brian's long-running saga opens as the two men and their crew encounter a volcanic eruption and continues as Maturin, engaged in diplomatic scheming, heads for Peru, where he finds an exotic array of birds and animals as well as opportunities for espionage. Readers already familiar with the series will enthusiastically welcome this new chapter; others may find the references to earlier adventures and distant characters confusing. The plot groans under detailed descriptions of everything from managing the sails to galley-table etiquette. Recommended for libraries holding O'Brian's earlier works. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 5/15/93.-- Elsa Pendleton, Boeing Computer Support Svces., Ridgecrest, Cal.

Copyright 1993 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 1993
Slicing through the swells of the South Seas, HMS "Surprise" heads for the Peruvian coast on a general-purpose patrol. It's wartime circa 1812, so Captain Aubrey captures en route an American ship and its French master before discharging his main mission: depositing pal and secret agent Dr. Maturin ashore so he can foment revolution against the Spanish. Thickly annealed to this basic action, layer after layer, is talk--stilted talk about swabbing decks; Rousseau; anatomy and medicine; minuets and quartets; the quality of wines--all intended to evoke shipboard life in the days of sail. "Moby Dick" this ain't, but O'Brian's not aiming for the ages: he strikes for readers hungering after nautical minutiae, which he has served up in nearly two dozen tales of sea salts, many starring the Aubrey/Maturin duo. O'Brian appeals to those who buy into his maritime formulas--and the publisher banks on 40,000 doing so this time. ((Reviewed Oct. 1, 1993))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1993, American Library Association.)