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The Thirteen-Gun Salute (Paperback, Reissue) Loot Price: R208
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The Thirteen-Gun Salute (Paperback, Reissue)

Patrick O'Brian

Series: Aubrey-Maturin, Book 13

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List price R260 Loot Price R208 Discovery Miles 2 080 You Save R52 (20%)

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Norton's admirable attempt to achieve for O'Brian in this country at least some semblance of the success he has enjoyed in England continues apace with the release of this 13th adventure of Captain Jack Aubrey and his crew of British seamen during the Napoleonic Wars, in conjunction with trade paperback reprintings of two earlier books in the series (H.M.S. Surprise, The Mauritius Command). At this stage in his career, Aubrey commands the Surprise, a private man-of-war licensed to do battle with enemy warships on behalf of the Crown. He remains a man whose great capabilities and raw energy while at sea are often nullified by an inability to cope while on land, and so it is that captain and crew set sail most precipitously for South America after a lengthy stay ashore, at least in part so that Jack will make no social or political errors that might set back his efforts to be restored to the Royal Navy. Aboard as always is Dr. Stephen Maturin - Aubrey's closest friend, ship's surgeon, and British spy - the character who provides an intellectual counterpoint to Jack's more physical presence. While the Surprise goes on its appointed rounds, however, Aubrey and Maturin undertake another assignment - delivering a British envoy to the Malaysian Islands to negotiate a treaty there in competition with the French (a mission that, happily, requires that Jack's precious Navy rank be returned him). The story's the thing, of course, but the ultimate appeal of the Aubrey/Maturin adventures lies in O'Brian's delicious old-fashioned prose, the wonderfully complex sentences that capture the feel of the sea and the culture of the great warships, all the while sketching with apparent accuracy and truth the early-19th-century world. (Kirkus Reviews)

'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.

'Jane Austen, 'sur mer''
Bob Doe, 'Times Educational Supplement'

General

Imprint: HarperCollinsPublishers
Country of origin: United Kingdom
Series: Aubrey-Maturin, Book 13
Release date: April 2022
Authors: Patrick O'Brian
Dimensions: 196 x 128 x 22mm (L x W x T)
Format: Paperback - B-format
Pages: 331
Edition: Reissue
ISBN-13: 978-0-00-649928-2
Categories: Books > Fiction > Genre fiction > Historical fiction
Books > Fiction > Genre fiction > Adventure / thriller > Historical adventure
Books > Fiction > Shipping In 24hrs
LSN: 0-00-649928-7
Barcode: 9780006499282

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