The Thirteen-Gun Salute

Resumen del libro

'The Thirteen Gun Salute' opens with Jack Aubrey reinstated to his command and sailing on a secret mission with a hand-picked crew, most of them shipmates from the adventures and lucrative voyages of earlier years. Patrick O'Brian's resourcefulness is a sure warrant that things will not turn out as his readers or his characters expect. Twists and turns, sub-plots, echoes from the past, these are the only certainties in this astonishing 'roman fleuve'. Distant waters, exotic scenes, flora and fauna to satisfy Aubrey's old friend Stephen Maturin's innocent curiosity, as well as the scope for his cloak and dagger work, enrich its flow. The ending of the book leaves the reader more than usually impatient for its successor.

'Patrick O'Brian is one of the most compelling and brilliant novelists of his time with a huge band of admirers in all manner of places. Beyond his superbly elegant writing, wit and originality, he showed an understanding of the nature of a floating world at the mercy of the wind and the sea which has never been surpassed.

Biografía del autor

Patrick O'Brian, CBE born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey Maturin series of sea novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, and centred on the friendship of the English naval captain Jack Aubrey and the Irish Catalan physician Stephen Maturin. The 20-novel series, the first of which is Master and Commander, is known for its well-researched and highly detailed portrayal of early 19th-century life, as well as its authentic and evocative language. A partially finished 21st novel in the series was published posthumously containing facing pages of handwriting and typescript.<br><br>O'Brian wrote a number of other novels and short stories, most of which were published before he achieved success with the Aubrey Maturin series. He also translated works from French to English, and wrote two biographies.