A gripping tale of the British naval life as told from the exploits of a young captain and his companion the doctor. Live that life of hardship and adventure in the beginning of the seventeenth century told by a master storyteller blending truly human characters with the starkest realism of the navy with sail and gunpowder at war. An engrossing page turner with more to come. Better each reread.

This series is the greatest! Aubrey/Maturin are a superb pair and the books are written by a master.

As a fan of the movie (Am I supposed to admit something like that?), I was curious about the novel. So I picked this up. A handful of parts were well done, but overall I found much of the writing to be lacking in so many ways. It seemed unfocused, with the characters and plot sort of hodgepodge – do I really care about the intrigue of the captain’s promotion or the division of the war spoils? The additional pages of ship-sailing explanation made the whole mess come to a grinding halt. Extremely disappointing.

Without question, the best of its kind. Beware, this is highly addictive!

I am a huge fan of the series, and I go back and re-read them every few years- they never get old. I would love to also have the books in digital form, but cannot bring myself to pay full price all over again for the convenience. Please issue the full set of books at a discounted price! The books are available in paper form as a set, why not the electronic versions? You might tempt those of us who already own the paper copies.

I absolutely loved this book as well as the entire series. Impeccable story telling combined with fascinating historical accounts.

The Aubrey Maturin series is one of the great accomplishments in English letters. O'Brian brings together a mastery of the era and of language into an epic exploration of friendship and loyalty. I am thrilled to see them finally in the iBook store. One warning. These can be incredibly addictive. Once you begin to read them, you won't want to stop. There are three authors I will read again and again: O'Brian, Austen, and Terry Pratchett. O'Brian is the better writer.