Synopsis: Jack Aubrey gets back to sea. This time he is sent to the southern Indian Ocean as Commodore of a small fleet.
The quality of Master and Commander returns in this one. Perhaps that's because Jack Aubrey spends much of this book at sea. This book also spends quite a deal of time following Dr. Maturin when he's apart from Aubrey. And that's rather entertaining in itself.
One of the best parts of this for me was reading the Île de la Passe battle with Google Earth open and zoomed in on the locale. Seeing the actual locations of the reefs and imagining sailing anything around there made the scene so much more vivid. And with O'Brian's narrative voice, it was already powerful.
I think the parts of this book (and series) that are most educational for me are the nautical parts (of course) and the handling of political bureaucracy. The nautical parts need no explanation. The politcis are so educational to me because I tend to be pretty straightforward. I have always had a hard time understanding undercurrents and intrigue. I guess I'm somewhat guileless. Reading this series, I have become acquainted with the techniques of advancement by standing on the backs of others.
Of course, I still think them the actions of a scrub.
The best parts of this one are Dr. Maturin's covert ops, the interaction between Aubrey and Clonfert, and Aubrey's reaction to the final reversal. Then there's the great "Flog Bonden?!" scene.
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