The Thirteen-Gun Salute

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 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.