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JasonKoivu

JasonKoivu

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Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen, Anna Quindlen

The Fortune of War

The Fortune of War - Patrick O'Brian How much do I love these books? Let me count the ways...so far, we're up to six. Six splendiferous volumes of early 19th century seafaring goodness!

By the sixth of this series of twenty, I was fully enamored of the characters, the story, the writing - the whole kit and kaboodle! This is my third or fourth time through them, and although I've become more critical in my appraisal of O'Brian's work, it still stands up as some of my favorite writing of all time. Granted, to be sympatico as book besties, you too would need to be down with the Austen-esque style, the Napoleonic War setting, as well as the sailing, naval warfare and spying subject matter. If none of those things interest you, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't like O'Brian's Master & Commander series. For those who are still with me, let's continue on, shall we?

The Fortune of War admittedly does not kick off to a fast paced start. It languishes for much of the beginning and some in the middle. While helpful for those who are reading these books out of order, an explanation of the preceding book's action does slow things down. The middle is slow for reasons I don't want to spoil and also because O'Brian is setting things up for his big finish, and it's well worth it!

This book contains two lengthy sea battles that make up for the last book's lack of action. Hey, just like fights during NHL games, that's what some of the people come for. Just as exciting, in my opinion, is the second protagonist, Stephen Maturin's secret profession as an intelligence agent, which gets just as much play in this one as the naval aspect. In fact, because of Maturin's clandestine work the later part of the book flies with heart pounding intensity.

The Fortune of War is also intriguing because up to this point in the series it's been all about the British and their fight against the French. Now the British are fighting America, and things get a little weird for American readers, considering that up until now we've been rooting for our British/Irish heroes. This tricky business I think is handled with delicacy. The good and bad of both sides are shown, and yes, there's plenty of nuanced grey area too. On a personal level, I really enjoyed the setting for the later half of the book, having grown up in Massachusetts and spent a good amount of time in Boston, the principle location for much of the story.


My review for book #5, Desolation Island: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/38425019

My review for book #7, The Surgeon's Mate: Coming soonish