Master and Commander: Patrick O’Brian: Book 1 (Aubrey-Maturin)

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There are twenty books in the Master and Commander series, from the first book, Master and Commander, to the final book, Blue at the Mizzen. To quote Garth Franklin, editor of DarkHorizons.com: “Needless to say this is not real, but God I wish it were.” Aubrey improves the Sophie's sailing qualities by adding a larger spar to her mainmast, enabling him to spread a larger mainsail. He makes her ready to sail in convoy with twelve merchant vessels. During their journey east, the new captain takes the opportunity to get to know his sailors and to weld them into a fighting unit. As he does, he and the crew explain many naval matters to Maturin, (and thus to the reader) since the doctor is a novice sailor. So why was this marvel of modern cinema only a modest box office success? And why have there been no sequels, in an age of universes and franchises based on source material of infinitely less literary weight than O’Brian’s, never mind a whole Ridley Scott movie devoted to “ that raggedy arse Napoleon”? (Which I can’t wait to see.)

Reports of a new movie, a prequel, have been around forever. Last year, an image spread of a supposed unveiling of an “Aubrey-Maturin Saga”, complete with release dates, from Master and Commander: Post Captain (spring 2023) to Master and Commander: The Reverse of the Medal (spring 2027).They open a window into a world two hundred years gone - the world of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. This was a time of blood and thunder, of maritime siege, a war of long, patient endurance against a tenacious and powerful enemy. This innocent decision ensnares him in the London criminal underground and in government espionage the province of his friend Stephen Maturin, now tasked with rescuing his imperilled friend as he also attempts to locate his wayward wife, Diana Villiers. The performances of the protagonists are gentle, subtle and lifelike. Crowe gives a rugged and charismatic performance as the tradition-loving Aubrey. Bettany as the charmingly lubberly Maturin is the perfect complement to Aubrey, even as he differs from his book counterpart, his role as an intelligence agent being conspicuously absent from the script.

Other pleasures involve the exciting scenes of naval action that suddenly pop up, from inconclusive minor skirmishes between pairs of ships to major battles involving multiple ships and shore batteries (for in the year 1800 when the novel takes place England is at war with Spain and France), as well as the occasional brief, vivid, and lyrical descriptions of the world viewed with relish from a ship at sea: Napoleon has been defeated at Waterloo, and the ensuing peace brings with it both the desertion of nearly half of Captain Aubrey’s crew and the sudden dimming of Aubrey’s career prospects in a peacetime navy. When the Surpriseis nearly sunk on her way to South America―where Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are to help Chile assert her independence from Spain―the delay occasioned by repairs reaps a harvest of strange consequences.Fighting against the tyranny and oppression of the French, his is the classic underdog tale. Acheron has twice the guns and twice the men. Taking it on is a test of nerve, discipline and courage. Director Taika Waititi has called it his comfort film as well as his favorite romance movie, saying their relationship is “palpable.” The Aubrey/Maturin series are classics. They are quite simply the best historical novels ever written.