The Commodore

Aubrey/Maturin Series, Book 17

By: Patrick O'Brian

Narrated by: Patrick Tull

For years, critics have hailed Patrick O’Brian’s seafaring adventure series as “the best historical novels ever written” (New York Times). With elegant language, eccentric characters, and authentic period atmosphere, the series transports you to the high seas of the Napoleonic era.

After a dangerous tour of duty in the Great South Sea, Jack and Stephen return to their families in England. For Jack, the homecoming is joyful, but for Stephen, it is heartbreaking. His wife, Diana, has left for parts unknown, and his young daughter has all the symptoms of autism. To escape these painful circumstances, Stephen joins Jack on a bizarre decoy mission to the lagoons of the Gulf of Guinea. There surprises lurk in various guises: risky confrontations with slave traders, secret battle plans for a French invasion, and, possibly, word of Diana’s whereabouts.

Don't miss the rest of the Aubrey/Maturin series.©1995 Patrick O'Brian (P)2003 Recorded Books, LLC

O'Brian Rocks

Compared to other authors writing about the age of sail, Patrick O'Brian is the king.

Great series

A great series of books well written and performed. Surprises even after listening to more than once - by far my favorite!

AWESOME! I have been living these stories

The narration by Patrick Tull is absolutely without comparison. I'm grateful to Patrick O'Brien and Patrick Tull, both dead, but both who have lived in my experience of Patrick's story and Tull's conveyance of it. I have never, and all the many hundreds or thousands of books I have read and listen to, had the experience... truly the experience of this 21 book series. Thank you to both! Wherever you are.

One of the more enjoyable.

In some of the books in this series nothing good happens till the very end; whereas this one, similiar to some of the early books, has a mix of good & bad experiences. The story moves along quite quickly too, but this is probably due to it being a shorter audio book (i.e., <11 hrs compared with 20-30 hrs of some of the other books).

One of the best

I love this whole series and it’s hard to choose but this is one of the best. Full of human stories ranging from vast numbers of enslaved Africans to Stephen’s troubled daughter.

As always, Patrick Tull’s performance is both sympathetic and magnificent.