One of my favourite sets of stories by far has to be Patrick O’Brian’s Master & Commander series. Set against the backdrop of the French Wars, these follow Captain Jack Aubrey and Doctor Stephen Maturin as they traverse the seas in pursuit of enemy vessels. Full of thrills and adventure, O’Brian takes us in the HMS Surprise across the world, from the Mediterranean to the Pacific. The action sequences are exquisite and rich with historical detail; life aboard the naval vessels is meticulously researched, even using terminology of the time.
At its heart, the series is about the relationship between Aubrey and Maturin. It explores their initial distaste for one another, and then follows as it transcends into a brotherly love. They are different, but their differences complement the other; one is physical, the other intellectual; one has grace at sea, the other deportment on land; one is traditional, the other experimental. Both are united by their loyalty to one another, their shared interests in music and wordplay, and their duty.
Above all, the deep love O’Brian exhibits for the history is what makes the books so captivating. His attention to detail rivals any historian’s work, and this makes the stories rich and vivid. He is also not afraid of abandoning traditional story structures in favour of something that approaches the biographical. (This in comparison to the Sharpe series, which are more formulaic.) And the stories are so lovingly told, with such depth of setting and character, that you can’t help but be drawn in.
The series has been criticised for its pacing and its correlation to historical timelines; the latter half of the books squeeze in many events over an impossibly short period. In this way the books were a victim of their own success, with O’Brian writing many more than originally conceived. But who can blame O’Brian for wanting to tell every possible story? I know I can’t.
Peter R. S. Thomas 