I just finished Patrick O’Brian’s Post Captain, today (And it has now moved off my Reading List)

+++++ S p o i l e r s B e l o w +++++

—– TOO LATE — You read too far —–

Series Arc

The second book in the Master and Commander series, Post Captain picks up a few months after the close of the first book. It is 1802, and Peace has broken out between England, France and Spain. Unfortunately, this means that a new captain like Jack Aubrey is pretty much out of work.

Plot

There were several plotlines in this book, almost too many to mention. However, I will list a few that caught my attention the most:
• After returning from the West Indies, Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin learn that Peace has broken out between France and England. Napoleon is no longer at war, and Aubrey is pretty much out of a job. So to pass the time, Aubrey lives off his spoils earned in the previous book, and vacations in Polcary Down. Here, Jack meets Sophia Williams, and Stephen meets Diana Villers. The two couples become quite friendly.
• During the extended holiday, Aubrey discovers his Prize Agent (the guy who keeps all of his spoils money safe) has fled the coup, and Aubrey is penniless and in debt.
• Now on the run from his creditors, Aubrey and Stephen escape to France where they learn that France is now back at war with England. This forces Jack and Stephen to flee to Spain, to Maturin’s humble farm. From there, they hitch a ride on an Indian Merchant ship to England. However, they are soon captured by the French Navy, and returned to France as prisoners.
• They are returned to England, and after much petition to the Navy, Aubrey is given command of a prototype vessel, the H.M.S. Polycrest. It is an awful vessel, and handles poorly; worse yet, it is staffed with a green crew. The voyage is marked with many disappointments.
• There is a falling out between Stephen and Jack, and there is supposed to be a duel. It obviously doesn’t happen.
• In an attempt to save his career, Jack embarks on a mission to take the Polycrest into a French harbor to take some prizes, he ends up sinking the Polycrest but capturing a French Corvette, the Fanciulla. This earns him the rank of Post Captain, even though Aubrey is subject to a court marshall for losing the Polycrest.
• Now as Post Captain, Aubrey, who is still in debt, asks for some kind of command, he is given the H.M.S. Lively, a Ship of the Line. The crew of this ship has never seen a real fight, so while they know how to run a ship, they have never really fired the big cannons.
• Finally, Spain is about to announce they are going to join in the war, and side with with French. The Lively is called upon to intercept a capture a Spanish Treasure fleet, in which the conclusion of this battle ends the book

Characters

• Captain Jack Aubrey
  The Hero
  Still a wet-behind-the-ears captain, Jack makes some foolish decisions. However, he is at home when he is at sea. I found the scenes where Jack was at sea were easier to read than when he was on land. Maybe that is because I think that O’Brian seems easier to read when he is talking about naval affars.
• Doctor Stephen Maturin
  Stephen is, as usual, Jack’s best friend. Always at his side, Stephen is the primary reason why Jack was not sent off to debtor’s prison. We see more of Stephen’s other life as an intelligence agent. It is his work that uncovers both France’s secret declaration of war, as well as Spain’s planned involvement. Jack soon surmises Stephen’s role as an intelligence agent, and the two tacitly agree to never speak of it.
• Sophia Williams
  The eldest of three sisters, she and Jack eventually marry towards the end of the book. Its ironic that Sophia is almost the same name as Jack’s first command, the H.M.S. Sophie. At first, Sophia is afraid of her feelings for Jack, as he is a poor captain, and she is expected to marry a wealthy and powerful man, but soon love overpowers the expectations society places on her. (With much help from Stephen.)
• Diana Villers
  Friend of the Williams family, and a woman who catches Stephen’s eye. Diana is an intelligent, but shallow woman, who all but frustrates Stephen. It is a shame, because they were such a nice couple.

There were other characters, ones that caught my attention:

• Lieutenant Tom Pullings We pick him up on the India Trader, he follows Jack though his adventures on the Polycrest
• Preserved Killick Jack’s steward, he follows Jack thoughout the book, and like Stephen, never leaves his side.
• Barrett Bonden Jack’s Coxswain, he joins Jack on the Polycrest and again on the Lively. Bonden is very loyal to Jack and helps fend off some debt collectors as they pursue Jack before his first voyage on the Polycrest

Readability

This was a hard read. It took me 21 weeks to read this 400 page novel. I took a few breaks from it, and picked up and put down several other books in between.

Like I said, O’Brian reads better when the setting is at sea, however a lot of this book was on land, or in port. So there was little action and more drama.

Believability

As much as this is dated to 1800, this was written 1972. So the nostalgia by itself made this book timeless. There are some events I bookmarked, but there were no real memorable supporting chracters.

Overall

This book gets 3 out of 5 stars. I will still read the rest of the series, as there are 18 books left, there are some bound to be better.

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