My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Surgeon’s Mate is the 7th Aubrey/Maturin Royal Navy story set during the time of the Napoleonic Wars. It is 1812 and there is a new war with the USA. Aubrey and Maturin have escaped on board the HMS Shannon and been present during the battle with USS Chesapeake. From Canada, Aubrey and Maturin make their way back to Britain where more dilemmas await each man’s careful consideration. As a Captain at sea, Jack Aubrey is tremendous. On land, he seems to become a bit of a buffoon. Quite by accident. These land capers get him into all sorts of trouble and often his devoted wife Sophie and his good friend Maturin are the ones who seem to get him out of such vexations. Usually, a ship’s command turns up on time and he can get away from it all with a high sea adventure.
This story moves along the same lines as Aubrey and Maturin go on a mission in the Baltic. In this sea is a fortified island manned by Catalans. Maturin is half Catalan and half Irish. To persuade the garrison to surrender and ally with Britain against Napoleon is the aim of the British government. Maturin is selected to do this and he wishes Aubrey to command the sloop, HMS Ariel, upon the mission. Once again, Maturin is up to his neck at sea where Aubrey can always pull something out of the bag for him. Also, the elegant and tantalising Diane Villiers is still in the story. She becomes more dashing with her gloriously refined roguish elegance and sincere support for her country. The whole saga takes another fabulous step forward. A peach of a read. I can’t wait for the next story in this wonderful chronicle of seafarers.
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