I am now nearly done with the eighth book in O'Brian's series, having read the seventh book The Surgeon's Mate yesterday. The seventh book is a sort of transition book, where Aubrey and Maturin travel a lot, from Boston to Canada, to Britain, France, Denmark, back to France, etc. In the eighth book, The Ionian Mission we find our two heroes back in the Mediterranean Sea, where we first met them. They are on a ship of the line, helping to blockade the French fleet in Toulon harbor. Blockade duty is boring and unpleasant...and it is a difficult transition for Aubrey from being a dashing and brave frigate captain with a small ship and crew and acting on his own (he's usually his own boss on missions -- he has his orders to follow, but other than that he's on his own) to being the captain of a huge ship of the line which is part of a large group of ships and under the command of an admiral.
Here is a cool website about O'Brian's books (though it is still undergoing construction):
www.hmssurprise.org/Resources/char_index/ ******************************************************
Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
<i>Edited by: Duchess of Malfi at: 8/31/05 10:15 am
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