Master and Commander

Aubrey/Maturin Series, Book 1

By: Patrick O'Brian

Narrated by: Patrick Tull

Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

This, the first in the splendid series of Jack Aubrey novels, establishes the friendship between Captain Aubrey, Royal Navy, and Stephen Maturin, ship's surgeon and intelligence agent, against the thrilling backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. Details of life aboard a man-of-war in Nelson's navy are faultlessly rendered: the conversational idiom of the officers in the ward room and the men on the lower deck, the food, the floggings, the mysteries of the wind and the rigging, and the road of broadsides as the great ships close in battle.

Don't miss the rest of the Aubrey/Maturin series.

©1984 Patrick O'Brian (P)2003 Recorded Books, LLC.

Critic reviews

"The best historical novels ever written." (The New York Times Book Review)
"No writer alive can move one as O'Brian can; no one can make you laugh so loud with hilarity, whiten your knuckles with unbearable tension or choke with emotion. He is the master." (Irish Times)

Narrator was fantastic

I’ll be listening to more in this series, narrator really creates a formality I wasn’t expecting and sets the mood

Surprisingly Engaging Story

Nice character development and sharp wit folded into this nautical tale. I am not accustomed to this genre, but I was drawn in by the artful prose, engaging characters, and captivating storyline.

Engaging because of the narrator!

The book was great - the characters and story - but man, that narrator was fabulous! He made it for me.

Patrick Tull reading, Patrick O'Brian!!! it doesn't get any better than that! 

Master and commander is one of the all-time great books, written by one of the all-time best observers of humanity Patrick O'Brien read by the all-time narrators. Patrick Tull is a real pleasure.

Choose the Vance reading instead

Not to disparage Mr. Tull's reading, but since a choice is available it did seem immediately apparent that Simon Vance's more dynamic, and at the risk of seeming ageist, more youthful reading did lend itself better to this action adventure tale. You get the tale 3 hours faster, and that can only be a good thing.

Addictive

This series is absolutely wonderful. Because of all the nautical detail I don't know if I would have been able to wade through them in print but the audio version is outstanding. With O'brien's writing and Tull's narration the characters simply come alive inside your head. You may really come to believe you've been at sea for months at a time in the early 19th century. What a wealth of true history surrounds these fictional characters! I highly recommend these books to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.
I wish Patrick Tull would narrate some G.A. Henty books.

Action Novel for the Thoughtful

Originally intrigued by the movie Master and Commander, I was interested in listening to the book, and found that I very quickly loved listening. Knowing virtually nothing of ships or the navy, I found that O'Brian is such an incredible story-teller, that you somehow intuitively pick up on the details of the ship and focus instead on the action. The character development is just excellent and next thing you know you're swept along with the captivating story. The narrator is just excellent too -- you feel his enthusiasm for the novel in every sentence. All-in-all, this is fabulous book -- I can't wait to continue reading the series!

if it's your sort of thing

it's a great story and I love the narration. it's technical and sometimes a bit slow but great overall

the best

have read these through twice, but listening is incredible, plan to do them all again by ear

Warning!!!

It is mandatory that you bump the playback speed up to 1.2 at least. Afterwards, it's perfect, and if you dont, its terribly slow.