Rating: 
Summary: Even Better than the First
Review: "Post Captain" is the second in Patrick O'Brian's epic 20-volume 19th-century maritime series. Captain Jack Aubrey, who made and lost a fortune in the first book, spends this book on the run. On the run from France as war comes, from debtor's prison throughout, and from the entanglements of romance. His shotgun-approach to courtship leads to a near-disastrous conflict with his best friend, the ship's surgeon Stephen Maturin, whose own secret life slowly unfolds behind Aubrey's back. This is a wonderful book, not a typical novel in the sense that it does not open questions in the beginning and then answer them by the end. Instead, it is a linear narrative that ends on a cliff-hanger just begging for a sequel. O'Brian's writing is crisp and spare. The characters are fully-developed human beings, the action is exciting. The book is hard to put down, but the best thing is that there are eighteen more to follow.
Rating:
Summary: O'Brian's Masterful Tribute to Jane Austin
Review: "Post Captain" is O'Brian's tribute to Jane Austin, a good mix of life at sea and the English countryside in the first decade of the Nineteenth Century. And I agree entirely with the previous reviewer in that "Post Captain" is where the real love affair with O'Brian often begins. (In fact, I didn't get the way through M&C until after I had read "The Fortune of War.") The fact is, M&C does not have the pacing of the later books, and is understandable. It is the first book in the series; O'Brian himself was just getting comfortable with the tale. He seems to get into a rhythm only near the end. And this rhythm and command is seamlessly carried over into "Post Captain," as evidenced in the very first page. If you're not hooked from that point on, then you're not the reader you thought you were.
Rating: 
Summary: Sherlock Holmes & Dr Watson of the Sea
Review: "Post Captain", unlike most sequels, far exceeds it's predecessor. For one thing, the character of the doctor takes shape; some of his mysterious history is revealed, and he plays a crucial part in the action. We come to respect his evident brilliance as his work behind the scenes, in love and in war, moves much of the story. In addition, there is a lot more humor and I actually laughed out loud at some of the jokes. I understood them, a big improvement in either my reading abilities or the narrative. Jack is revealed to be a very poor punster, and some of his puns are so stupid as to be quite funny. The friendship between the two men is much more central in this book than in the first. Like Sherlock Holmes and Watson one is smart and the other not, but the authority figure is reversed. It makes for a very interesting relationship, though not entirely unique in literature. (Stretching the point, I think that I have seen a similar relationship on Star Trek with Spock and Captain Kirk!) I liked this book well enough to recommend it to anyone. I would give it a 3.75 on a 5-star scale.
Rating:
Summary: "O'Brian is astonishingly good." -The Times of London
Review: 2. ~Captain Jack Aubrey and his friend, ship's surgeon Stephen Maturin, face even greater
adventure, intrigue and peril in the second of O'Brian's famed series of novels set during the
Napoleonic wars. Now, with a brief pause in the fighting, Jack and Stephen rent a house in the
country, where their friendship meets its first serious test. ~O'Brian has found the perfect sequel to
a perfect first novel: familiarity does not breed contempt, but enables the reader to travel
comfortably and perceptively with his companions through a world the author clearly loves but
does not render untrue. ~(If you have read the first of this marvelous 17-part series, Master and
Commander, you require no convincing of the rewards for continuing. Likewise, you should not be
deprived of discovering on your own the particular storylines; therefore I shall not disclose them,
but in subsequent reviews only remark in the most general and faithful terms my adoration for these
books. They are quite unlike anything I have ever read.)
Rating:
Summary: "O'Brian is astonishingly good." -The Times of London
Review: 2. ~Captain Jack Aubrey and his friend, ship's surgeon Stephen Maturin, face even greater adventure, intrigue and peril in
the second of O'Brian's famed series of novels set during the Napoleonic wars. Now, with a brief pause in the fighting, Jack and
Stephen rent a house in the country, where their friendship
meets its first serious test. ~O'Brian has found the perfect
sequel to a perfect first novel: familiarity does not breed
contempt, but enables the reader to travel comfortably and perceptively with
his companions through a world the author clearly loves but
does not render untrue. ~(If you have read the first of this
marvelous 17-part series, Master and Commander, you require no convincing
of the rewards for continuing. Likewise, you should not be deprived
of discovering on your own the particular storylines; therefore I shall
not disclose them, but in subsequent reviews only remark in the most
general and faithful terms my adoration for these books. They are quite
unlike anything I have ever read.)
Rating:
Summary: Darker than the first, but just as riveting
Review: I can easily imagine some readers not enjoying this novel. If one's idea of a great book is one battle scene after another, then this will not be their cup of tea. O'Brian spends much of the novel dealing with affairs of the heart, and his characters discuss a vast number of subjects that have nothing whatsoever to do with warfare. But like in the first novel, the attentive reader will learn a great deal of social history by reading the book. It is hard to imagine a historical recreation much more attentive to historical detail and accuracy than this one. The nautical detail can sometimes be overwhelming, and some of the sailing maneuvers can leave land lubbers like myself a bit confused about what is happening, but all in all his amazing descriptions provide a "you are there" specificity lacking in many similar books. Although this is only my second book in the series, I have quickly come to appreciate the character of Stephen Maturin. The first novel hinted at hidden depths, and this one revealed some of his situation. We learn that he is a man of some property if not comparable wealth. We find that he is far more involved in espionage than we might have suspected in the first novel. And we find him to be a man not content to be a mere sidekick to Aubrey, but a companion only if it suits his own needs and other duties do not call. This novel definitely has a great deal more in the way of plot than the first book. But by and large, it remains true of POST CAPTAIN as it did of MASTER AND COMMANDER that one does not read it for plot so much as one does to get to know and enjoy the very fine central characters, and to learn some history.
Rating:
Summary: Richer and more complex than the first book
Review: I can easily imagine some readers not enjoying this novel. If one's idea of a great book is one battle scene after another, then this will not be their cup of tea. O'Brian spends much of the novel dealing with affairs of the heart, and his characters discuss a vast number of subjects that have nothing whatsoever to do with warfare. But like in the first novel, the attentive reader will learn a great deal of social history by reading the book. It is hard to imagine a historical recreation much more attentive to historical detail and accuracy than this one. The nautical detail can sometimes be overwhelming, and some of the sailing maneuvers can leave land lubbers like myself a bit confused about what is happening, but all in all his amazing descriptions provide a "you are there" specificity lacking in many similar books. Although this is only my second book in the series, I have quickly come to appreciate the character of Stephen Maturin. The first novel hinted at hidden depths, and this one revealed some of his situation. We learn that he is a man of some property if not comparable wealth. We find that he is far more involved in espionage than we might have suspected in the first novel. And we find him to be a man not content to be a mere sidekick to Aubrey, but a companion only if it suits his own needs and other duties do not call. This novel definitely has a great deal more in the way of plot than the first book. But by and large, it remains true of POST CAPTAIN as it did of MASTER AND COMMANDER that one does not read it for plot so much as one does to get to know and enjoy the very fine central characters, and to learn some history.
Rating: 
Summary: Post Captain
Review: A richer and more textured novel than Master and Commander, Post Captain relies less on the curiosities of British Naval trivia and more on personalities and human interactions. There is a wider range of characters and less focus on shipboard banter and swashbuckling. The single shortcoming I can identify is that a few characters have a wooden quality. In particular, those that O'Brian has marked as negative. This is far from fatal, merely a bit tiresome. By and large, O'Brian offers a stirring vision of maritime England during the Napoleonic Wars, one that has the aura of authenticity. Unlike the first Aubrey/Maturin work, which concentrated almost exclusively on the sea and port life, Post Captain is better paced. When the major naval engagement takes place well over halfway through the book, the reader has been carefully set up for the dramatic change in rhythm. After hundreds of pages that dwelled increasing upon the human flaws of a declining Jack Aubrey, I found myself quite moved by the gripping depiction of heroism and personal recovery in the face of bad luck and poor judgement; a metaphor for real life. We can see in Jack Aubrey's fearless and selfless behavior under stress what we would like to believe lies hidden within ourselves, waiting for the opportunity, perhaps in a crisis situation, where we can, in flash, redeem all our past weakness and failure. I look forward to many more in the series.
Rating:
Summary: Finishing the book really was like losing an old friend.
Review: A terrific book in almost every way. There might be a time when the romantic antics of Aubrey and Maturin get in the way of the adventure spirit which is at the heart of this great series but no...the whole thing is handled with enigmatic skill by O'Brian. The final fifty pages are just masterly and the style in which Aubrey anticipates victory by laying out the best silver for dinner with the enemy captains is the very essence of 'cool'.
Rating:
Summary: A delicate hand at history
Review: About a third of the way through Post Captain, I began to grow a little impatient. "Why can't Aubrey and Maturin get to sea again," I wondered. "All this gallivanting around, dodging bill collectors, competing for the affections of rose-cheeked English lasses - it wears on one." But after reading about the press gangs, the foxes and hounds, the merchant class and their conduct at parties, it became clear that O'Brian had widened his narrative scope. No longer would this series be merely about two men and their friendship aboard a fighting ship; the author couldn't be content with reproducing the prior success of "Master and Commander." And in fact, one gains a rich and carefully-crafted vision of the times and the customs of 1803 England, just before and after the breaking of the Peace of Amiens. Though the novel is imbued with history, you needn't refer to a textbook if your recall is rusty - O'Brian takes you there, he shows rather than tells, and in the end you'll feel like you'd lived through the historical moment in question, along with the good Captain and his faithful Doctor. A very pleasant way to take your history. I especially liked the part where Aubrey finds a dermoid, carefully concealed in Maturin's pistol holster! What a character!
| 
