The Thirteen Gun
Salute – Patrick O’Brian
This is the thirteenth volume of the internationally
successful best-selling series of Royal Navy life in the early 19th
century against Bonaparte. Patrick O'Brian writes with his usual class, humor,
and nautical mumbo-jumbo for us landlubbers who read the novels for his great
characters.
Captain Jack Aubrey puts his run of bad luck behind him
when he is finally reinstated in the Royal Navy. Immediately he takes his extraordinary abilities back to
official service.
He and his friend, the ship's surgeon and secret agent Dr. Stephen Maturin, are dispatched on a particularly sensitive mission. While his old ship Surprise is purported to be under Aubrey's command and after whalers, pirates, United States ships in the China trade, and all French ships crossing its course, Aubrey, in fact, sails under camouflage, so to speak, on Diane, a former French ship cut out previously by Jack. His real mission is to go to the South China Sea to bring a British envoy to Pulo Prabang, an island off present-day Malaysia. The envoy’s mission is to cut a treaty with the local sultan, muscling the French out of the way (recall that at the time the French were still rivals in India).
He and his friend, the ship's surgeon and secret agent Dr. Stephen Maturin, are dispatched on a particularly sensitive mission. While his old ship Surprise is purported to be under Aubrey's command and after whalers, pirates, United States ships in the China trade, and all French ships crossing its course, Aubrey, in fact, sails under camouflage, so to speak, on Diane, a former French ship cut out previously by Jack. His real mission is to go to the South China Sea to bring a British envoy to Pulo Prabang, an island off present-day Malaysia. The envoy’s mission is to cut a treaty with the local sultan, muscling the French out of the way (recall that at the time the French were still rivals in India).
So instead of the exciting sea battles of the other
novels, this one is more a tale of political-strategic jockeying than maritime
action. Still, it’s O’Brian’s wit, imaginative scene-setting and incident, and
his wonderful cast of characters that are the attractions. Maturin’s journey to
the hidden monks of Kumai is adventurous and impressive. The reader whose
travelling days over feels almost jealous of the quirky doctor as he hangs out
with orangutans and gets chased by two rhinos. And the customs and intrigues of
the sultan, his favorite, his family and court are examined at a remove but
still fascinating. Exciting are the meetings with the traitors Ledward and Wray,
the bastards. This novel – the 13th in the series, remember - will appeal more to
the people who’ve read the first 12 than a novice or casual reader. Completist
fans will hate me for saying so but novices can start on #3 HMS Surprise.
I like these books very much. They are entertaining and
highly recommended for fans of serious historical novels. They have more
literary heft and philosophy than naval books by Kent or Forester.
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