Post Captain

Aubrey/Maturin Series, Book 2

By: Patrick O'Brian

Narrated by: Patrick Tull

Length: 19 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

The Peace of Amiens has left Jack Aubrey with no ship, no enemy to pursue, and no possibility of prize money to supplement his meager income. His decision to seek refuge from his troubles, and creditors, in France proves doubly disastrous.

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

©1972 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)

Wonderful adventure, perfect narrator

Post Captain is very early in the Aubrey-Maturin series, at a point where O'Brian was still finding his voice with what because (for me) one of the two most perfect stories of the 20th century, and my favorite literary friendship. A lot has been written about the relationships, the history, the sense of authenticity, the extraordinary grace O'Brian displays in interweaving gritty historical detail with warmth, love, friendship and 19th century knowledge and sensibilities.

Post Captain is almost purely an adventure story, reminding me very much of Dumas's work. It is a worthwhile read both on its own and as a keystone of the series that follow.

Patrick Tull is, without doubt, the one person born to narrate these books. I've heard several others, some of them terrific narrators for other books, but no one comes close to the perfect portrayals of every character that Tull brings to the table. I would listen to him read the ingredients of a MacDonald's menu. Thank you, Mr. Tull!

Such a fun series!

Man, I love these books! In this one, BFFs Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin thought they knew each other initimately, but both discover there's more to the other than they previously knew. There's a lot of gentlemanly angst--over ladies, over unkind words spoken in the heat of anger, over jealousy and mistrust. But here's a spoiler: they work it all out in the end. Huzzay! There are also the requisite naval intrigues and battles, and, of course, plenty of humor. I can't wait to read book three!

amazing

no seriously, this book is one of my favorites ever written. you should totally get it. I have listened to it perhaps 4 times now and it keeps getting better and better.

real historical fiction

Audible listen up this is historical fiction not those romance novels we have to sift through to find a great storyline like this. Good job offering this book in the weekly specials.

Excellent Book; Capitol Narration

The book was very good and does not disappoint after Master and Commander. I shall not go into a critique of the book, but I will note this: it was more than a sea adventure. The characters are believable and interesting with a lot of depth. The immersion into life at sea is done wonderfully​. O'Brian did a very good job.

The narration is also very commendable. Tull adds to the immersion with his masterful delivery of the story using very authentic-singing accents for the various characters, whether English, Irish, Scottish, French, or Spanish. Listening to these stories narrated by Tull is so immersive that I would regularly choose to listen rather than read the print myself.
I have only two complaints: Firstly, the audio quality is not all that good. Secondly, the audio book is not synced with the Kindle book.

Great entertainment

This book is very well written and the narration further enhances it. A nice story with great development.

Good read but not as much of a sea yarn

Good story for character development but not as good of a sea story. If I was not reading all of the books again it would have been a disappointment.

I adore Patrick Tull’s narrative

I love Patrick O’Brian’s books, and enjoy Tull’s ability to make them come alive. I have only read M&C and PC and look forward to enjoying “seeing” them again.

Excellent book, but not the best in the series.

I love everything O'Brian wrote, and I suppose we need the depth of character which only begins to develop here, but I don't enjoy this book as much as the others in the series.

meh+

In general this book was okay. it was by no means my favorite and was kinda lackluster. this was not helped by the performance. At certain points it sounded like there was someone talking in the background. Moreover, at times I found the accent of the reader hard to understand at times. for me the saving grace is that I love the characters and the writing. I gope the third book in the series is much better.