Desolation Island

Aubrey & Maturin #5

by Patrick O'Brian

"The relationship [between Aubrey and Maturin]...is about the best thing afloat....For Conradian power of description and sheer excitement there is nothing in naval fiction to beat the stern chase as the outgunned Leopard staggers through mountain waves in icy latitudes to escape the Dutch seventy-four." —Stephen Vaughan, Observer

Commissioned to rescue Governor Bligh of Bounty fame, Captain Jack Aubrey and his friend and surgeon Stephen Maturin sail the Leopard to Australia with a hold full of convicts. Among them is a beautiful and dangerous spy—and a treacherous disease that decimates the crew. With a Dutch man-of-war to windward, the undermanned, outgunned Leopard sails for her life into the freezing waters of the Antarctic, where, in mountain seas, the Dutchman closes.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Adventure, Audiobook, Nautical, War

351 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Patrick O'Brian's acclaimed Aubrey-Maturin series of historical novels has been described as "a masterpiece" (David Mamet, New York Times), "addictively readable" (Patrick T. Reardon, Chicago Tribune), and "the best historical novels ever written" (Richard Snow, New York Times Book Review), which "should have been on those lists of the greatest novels of the 20th century" (George Will).

Set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, O'Brian's twenty-volume series centers on the enduring friendship between naval officer Jack Aubrey and physician (and spy) Stephen Maturin. The Far Side of the World, the tenth book in the series, was adapted into a 2003 film directed by Peter Weir and starring Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany. The film was nominated for ten Oscars, including Best Picture. The books are now available in hardcover, paperback, and e-book format.

In addition to the Aubrey-Maturin novels, Patrick O'Brian wrote several books including the novels Testimonies, The Golden Ocean, and The Unknown Shore, as well as biographies of Joseph Banks and Picasso. He translated many works from French into English, among them the novels and memoirs of Simone de Beauvoir, the first volume of Jean Lacouture's biography of Charles de Gaulle, and famed fugitive Henri Cherriere's memoir Papillon. O'Brian died in January 2000.

The Aubrey-Maturin Series on Goodreads

Reviews

[Jason Koivu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here's Goodreads' sexy summary for this book:

Commissioned to rescue Governor Bligh of Bounty fame, Captain Jack Aubrey and his friend and surgeon Stephen Maturin sail the Leopard to Australia with a hold full of convicts. Among them is a beautiful and dangerous spy—and a treacherous disease that decimates the crew.


Sounds pretty salacious, doesn't it? There's a"rescue" of a prominent historical figure, the threat of a "treacherous disease," and a James Bond-esque "beautiful and dangerous spy." Wow, talk about Hollywooding it up to titillate and entice a wider audience!

That kind of nonsense cheapens O'Brian's writing, reducing it down to a potboiler, a drugstore dime novel and this is none of that.

Desolation Island and all of the Aubrey/Maturin series reads more like something from the early Victorian era. It is more literary-minded with strong character development and a carefully crafted prose, nuanced to the point that a careless reading will miss important plot points. I'm not saying there's no treachery or danger. There's plenty of that. It's just not going to hit you over the head with the "sex, drugs and rock'n'roll" that the blurb promises.

At the start, and an admittedly slow start, Captain Jack Aubrey is stuck on land dabbling in speculations he does not understand. His good friend, Irish surgeon and intelligence agent, Stephen Maturin is chasing unrequited love as longstanding suffering heart shrivels in the hands of a woman seemingly incapable of returning his deep affections. Both men need to have their time and minds occupied elsewhere. Transporting criminals is not particularly glorious, but it must serve the purpose.

Real history plays some part in every book of the series, but seldom is it ever as popularly well-known. Aubrey is enlisted to bring these criminals to Australia for the dual purpose of assisting Governor Bligh of the colonies there. Yes, the same Bligh from HMS Bounty fame...er rather, infamy.

Before setting off Aubrey meets with the real life Peter Heywood, who as a young man was aboard the Bounty at the time of the mutiny and who was later captured and sentenced to death. Amazingly, Heywood avoided the gallows and later rose to become a naval captain. Also, the ship Aubrey is to command on this voyage is the HMS Leopard, known in America for having wantonly shot broadsides into the USS Chesapeake and pressed men from her at a time when the two nations were at peace. When Aubrey and his British crew are forced into a confined situation with an American naval crew, "the horrible" Leopard's past becomes a point of contention.

History is all fine and good you're probably saying, but what about this beautiful and dangerous spy? Well, yes there is an attractive female spy aboard. She is one of the prisoners being transported. However, she is far more well-developed - I'm speaking of a well developed character - than that simple description. In the realm of political intrigue, she is a player and a pawn. As an attractive woman, she is also the focal point of admiration aboard ship. Both political and personal relationships play out as Aubrey sails his ship halfway around the world, traversing various climates, undergoing the strenuous trials faced in The Age of Sail, though perhaps pushed to extremes now and then....hey, this is a fictional drama after all!


My review of book four, The Mauritius Command: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

My review of book six, The Fortune of War: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Darwin8u · Rating 5 out of 5]

"But I was forgetting -- all is grist to your grisly mill..."
- Patrick O'Brian, Desolation Island



I'm only five books into this series, but I must declare that I love these books like I love ice water on the beach, or hot chocolate with a warm blanket on a Fall night. Rarely do I find a writer that amazes and seduces me with his/her technical skill, prose, poetry, and sense of humanity. I've said the same thing of John le Carré, but I really do feel that when a lot of the bones and books of our modern classics are dead, bleached, buried and forgotten, this series will be still published, read and loved.

Patrick O'Brian captures a certain dynamic element of what it means to be alive, to love, to kill, to scheme, and to befriend. The relationship between Captain Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin is one of the great friendships in literature EVER. I say that after ONLY reading 1/4 of the series. I can't imagine that O'Brian can sustain this level of resonance, but I have said that before when I first heard Bach's Violin Concertos. I had still yet to discover all the other pieces Bach had in his repertoire. I am older and humbler now. I am prepared to be humbled by future O'Brian masterpieces.

[Algernon · Rating 5 out of 5]

After four books in the company of Captain Jack Aubrey and Doctor Stephen Maturin I have come to expect the best entertainment, the best historical and maritime instructions from each of their new voyages. The fifth book is no exception, I would even venture to say it is an improvement over the fourth. Jack Aubrey reached a pinnacle in his career during the Mauritius campaign, commanding the entire expeditionary force and expanding his tactical acumen to a larger playing board, with several ships and several difficult captains to keep under control. Maturin played a more discreet role there, and there were more political considerations than plain sailing. I am glad to return now to a rekindling of the friendship between the two protagonists, to a more focused plot with only one ship under Aubrey's command, and to more actual sailing of the high seas.

Like many of the previous novels, the first chapters take place onshore in England, where Jack is enjoying (most of the time) the company of his expanding family (twin girls and a small boy) and the affluence brought by prize money. There are dark clouds on his horizon though, as the amazing talents Jack demonstrates aboard ship prove to be less helpful to him on dry land, when his innocence and amiable temper is abused by crooks and profiteers:

I am not disloyal, Stephen, not in my least, most secret thought, but it breaks my heart to see him flinging his fortune to the winds, earned so hard, with such dreadful wounds - to see his dear open confiding trustful nature imposed upon by vulgar card-sharpers and horse-racing men and projectors - it's like deceiving a child.

His wife and his friends want to send him back sailing, before he throws away all his wealth. Stephen is also ready for a new voyage, something to take his mind off his opium addiction and off his doomed love for the beautiful Diana Villiers, who lands him once again in trouble. The Admiralty obliges and sends them both with an old ship to Australia, with a mission to investigate a new mutiny against Captain Bligh and an extra cargo of convicts, among them an American lady caught spying. ... and, incredible as it seems, a stowaway.

On paper, the voyage should be a walk in the park, even boring, for the impetuous Captain Aubrey, but there are countless aggravations and complications that will make the Leopard appear to be a cursed ship:

- a virulent sickness that kills almost all the prisoners and a third of the crew
- an irritting, querullous second-in-command, older than Aubrey and convinced he would make a better captain.
- a powerful Dutch ship-of-the-line with a full crew and twice as many guns between decks, hell bent on chasing and sinking the Leopard
- the crew's superstitions that convince them they have a ghost aboard
- the disruptive presence of women aboard, with Aubrey leading the chorus against them ( Damn her for a flibbertigibbet, the hussy.)
- tensions between the British and American Navies, here in 1812 on the brink of full blown war
- as always, the angry seas and the howling winds, with an extra helping of icebergs as the Leopard steers too close to the Antarctic.

The friendship between Jack and Stephen has itself navigated through some storms in the past, but I am glad to see them still comfortable and grateful for each other's presence, so unlike yet so complementary in their personalities. My favorite scene, aside from their humorous baiting and chiding at every opportunity, is the return to the passion that first brought them together:

He paused, and fixed Jack's eye with his own: they both nodded: he brought the bow down and the 'cello broke into its deep noble song, followed instantly by the piercing violin, dead true to the note. The music filled the great cabin, the one speaking to the other, both twining into one, the fiddle soaring alone: they were in the very heart of the intricate sound, the closed lovely reasoning, and the ship and her burdens faded far, far from their minds.

As usual, the book is filled with nautical jargon and detailed accounts of battle maneuvers, but I rarely felt the need to check in a dictionary for explanations. I believe this is the result mostly of the author's ability to explain what is going on to the ninitiated, but also my own growing familiarity with the ships. I feel I can almost echo one of Stephen's remarks:

There were a great many things in a man-of-war that Dr Maturin had never heard of, but he had of late made some groping attempts at learning the difference between a slab-line and a selvagee - had been heard to say, not without complacency, 'I am become tolerably amphibious'.

( Sel`va`gee´
n. 1. (Naut.) A skein or hank of rope yarns wound round with yarns or marline, - used for stoppers, straps, etc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, published 1913 by C. & G. Merriam Co.)

Between hurricanes, epidemics and carronades one would not expect romance to bloom aboard the Leopard, yet Love always finds a way. Without giving too much away, I will just include a quote that illustrates for me yet another reason to admire O'Brian for his well rounded characters, his sense of humour and his sharp insights:

- People do not die of love, you know.
- Do they not, ma'am? I have known them brought pretty low, however, and to take to mighty strange courses, ruin their happiness, career, prospects, reputation, honour, estate, and wits, break with their families and their friends, run mad. But in this case, I fear he may perish away not so much from a wounded heart, as from an empty belly. You cannot conceive the promiscuity of a seaman's life, nor its total lack of privacy.

Speaking of humour, I got another good quote from Stephen, singing the worth of a common vegetable:

I hope, Mr Herapath, that you are not going to join in the silly weak womanish unphilosophical mewling and puling about the cabbage. So it is a little yellow in certain lights, so it is a little sharp, so it smells a little strange: so much the better, say I. At least it will stop the insensate Phaecian hogs from abusing it, as they abuse the brute creation, stuffing themselves with flesh until what little brain they have is drowned in fat. A virtuous esculent!

I am trying to comment now on the title without giving too much away, but it's not easy. The island is real, and Jack Aubrey visits it, more out of necessity than pleasure. Some controversy exists about whether the island in the book is or not one of the Kerguelen archipelago, but for me it was a most interesting episode of botanical and wildlife exploration, Dr Maturin's field of expertise. The visit also captures some of the charm of my childhood favorite journeys to far off lands through the books of Jules Verne.



I have saved the best for last, a moment of peace in the middle of the voyage, when Stephen is led by his friend to the foremost part of the ship :

Oh, oh, this is the noble place of the world, cried he, when he had been carefully turned about: he found himself sitting there, poised high but not too high above the sea, well outside the ship, well beyond her splendid bow-wave, looking back at her from a distance, the Leopard perpetually advancing, a gleaming pyramid of sail, and himself as perpetually fleeing backwards over the unbroken water. 'I am enraptured. I could gaze upon this forever!'

I am myself enraptured by this series, and wish I could keep reading and re-reading it for as long as I can.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

June 2023 re-read thoughts:

Are these the perfect books? Common sense tells me there is likely no such thing strictly speaking, but I have to say that for me they seem to come pretty close. The compulsive readability of the Aubrey-Maturin series, coupled with the excellent characterizations and sheer comforting joy they provide, is exceptional.

The psychological portrait of Stephen as he weathers, yet again, his stormy relationship with Diana for both better and worse is itself worth the price of admission and I’d opine that this volume belongs to him.

Even though I’ve read this before and know how things will turn out (in general if not the specific details) the run to Desolation Island is a masterpiece of tension and finely balanced writing. The various crises from the chase with the Waakzaamheid, the crash with the iceberg, the near miss with the Crozets, and the pseudo-mutiny of Grant all lead inexorably to the final battle with the sea and fate for the life of the Leopard and her crew.

I must also admit that while the beginning and middle may be Stephen’s book, Jack comes clearly into his own in the end. You couldn't wish for a better captain trusting both his guts and seaman’s mind in the final crises that relies on a man who truly knows the sea…and perhaps has a little luck on his side.

Original review:

Two things particularly stood out for me in this volume of the Aubrey-Maturin series: O’Brian’s descriptions of the sea, while always vivid and evocative, seemed particularly resonant here, perhaps because they were paired with the second notable element: a tense chase between Aubrey’s new ship, the Leopard, and a much larger and more powerful Dutch ship, the Waakzaamheid, whose captain seems intent on nothing less than the utter destruction of his foe. The wild Antarctic seas on which the chase occurs are as much an antagonist to both captains as is their human adversary and the end result is catastrophic for both the winner and the loser. At the risk of sounding like a broken record in these reviews of the Aubrey-Maturin series I am constantly amazed by the sheer tenacity, skill, and willpower that seem to have been required to successfully navigate the seas in these early days of ocean voyages. The fact that such hardships as sailors had to endure were for the large part simply accepted as a part of their daily routine kind of blows my mind. This is not to say that there weren’t breaking points, for both men and ships, and I now have an even greater appreciation for the prevalence of (and justification for) the anger, resentment, and contention that could arise amongst even a relatively harmonious crew, not to mention the mutinies and utter destruction that could occur when a crew and their captain were not in synch. That being said, if O’Brian’s picture of life in the British Navy during the Napoleonic wars is anywhere close to the truth I am amazed by the creativity, acumen, and sheer tenacity of these sailors whether it is in the realm of navigation, their ability to make seemingly impossible ship repairs on the fly whilst careening across the ocean depths, or their sheer bloody-mindedness in regards to survival.

This volume also gives us a much closer look into Maturin’s secret life as a naval intelligence officer and we initially see him at perhaps the nadir of his career. An intelligence agent is, after all, an instrument of the moment and regardless of how valuable he has proven himself in the past, if there is any hint of weakness or instability in the present then he is no longer of use to his superiors. Stephen has unfortunately been subject to some particular lapses of late, mostly due to his obsession with the fickle and arguably heartless Diana Villiers, and as the book opens he is given what may be his final chance to prove his worth. Under the auspices of providing assistance to William Bligh (yes, that one), who is proving to be as unpopular as the Governor of New South Wales as he had been as captain of the HMS Bounty, Aubrey and Maturin set sail for Australia. Of course, what could be more natural than to also take aboard a party of convicts bound for the penal colony (much to Jack’s chagrin)? The entire voyage is mostly a cunning ruse, however, as one of the convicts is a suspected American (and possibly French) spy with high connections in the British government whose secrets and goals it is Stephen’s job to ascertain. As the good doctor plays a somewhat muted game of cat-and-mouse with the lovely young spy (who bears not only a connection with the aforementioned Diana Villers, but also a striking physical resemblance to her) and her stow-away lover, Aubrey must deal with the problems of prisoner transport, being saddled with a ship of infamous reputation, and ultimately holding off the seemingly implacable animosity of a much larger enemy ship.

Unlike the previous volumes in the series we do not end back on shore in merry olde England, with Stephen and Jack having discharged their duties with distinction, and instead leave our heroes with their mission only half done and their damaged ship in the midst of repairs anchored off the appropriately named Desolation Island of the title. I’m anxious to see where we go from here…yet another great entry in the Aubrey-Maturin canon.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorites from the series. It contains what I believe to be arguably the most riveting sea chase in any novel. Captain Aubrey is to take the Leopard, a two deck ship of fifty guns to Botany Bay to come to the aid of William Bligh (yes that William Bligh of the Bounty) who is now Governor of New South Wales and seems to have yet another mutiny on his hands. On route, they are chased by the Waakzaamheid, a Dutch ship of the line (three decks of 74 guns) into the far southern ocean where a building storm pushes waves sixty, eighty, one hundred feet high. The Leapard is becalmed in the troughs between the waves while the taller Waakzaamheid is getting closer and closer. Captain Aubrey orders the ship to be lightened in an attempt to escape. Over the side goes stores, water, and finally the guns. All but two which are placed in the stern cabin to fire at the gaining enemy ship. Like a roller coaster the two vessels climb up the face of the huge waves then down into the valley between all he time firing at each other as the distance between them shrinks.

[Malacorda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Riguardo la scrittura di O'Brian e la saga nel suo complesso, le considerazioni che potrei fare sono le stesse dei commenti precedenti, quindi non mi ripeto.

Sul quinto libro nello specifico, si può dire che durante la prima metà c'è stato un momento in cui mi pareva che la qualità andasse in calando, e invece procedendo con la lettura la mia impressione è stata smentita: il momento della peggiore avversità incolla letteralmente il lettore alla pagina, e anche se sono le quattro del mattino è impossibile riporre il libro finché non si sa che i due compagnoni con il loro equipaggio sono in un porto relativamente sicuro. L'isola di cui al titolo si riferisce nientemeno che alle Isole Kerguelen, e già solo un'ambientazione così vale la pena della lettura. Finale un tantino cliffhanger (ma niente Dover stavolta, siamo proprio dalla parte opposta), si rende indispensabile procedere immediatamente con il sesto: fortuna che ce l'ho già in casa. Sarebbe molto bello se con il sesto episodio si potesse chiudere il cerchio di una seconda teorica trilogia.

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me, Desolation Island is where Aubrey/Maturin settle into a comfortable familiarity with their readers, and the rhythm of these books, their own fine and sonorous strings, takes their ultimate shape.

There is confidence in Patrick O'Brian's writing at this point, and one no longer has any sense that he is worried about whether or not the next book will happen, nor any fear over where his Captain and his Doctor are going to take him. This is purely speculative on my part, of course, but I imagine this was the moment when O'Brian knew he'd be writing about these men for the rest of his life, and he was quite comfortable with his realization.

Yet I've never found Desolation Island to be a standout for me. This was my third time through, and I was mildly surprised to realize how much of this book I had forgotten. In fact, the only two parts of the story that stayed in my memory were the chase with the Dutch 74 Gun Waakzaamheid and the poor old Leopard's time in the lea of Desolation Island itself.

I am not sure that the gaps in my memory are actually a problem, though. I don't feel O'Brian needs to be criticized for my failure to remember Louisa Wogan Michael Herapath, nor the wounds some of my favourites suffer, nor the whole set-up for their voyage to Australia. It is more than likely my fault, and those parts of the story were certainly satisfying this time through, especially the time O'Brian took with Herapath. There is something about that character I quite adored this time around. His naivete? Perhaps. But I think it is rather more likely that Dr. Maturin's affection for the young man rubbed off on me, loving Dr. Maturin as I do.

Dr. Maturen and Capt. Jack Aubrey are, after all, my good friends these days. And their opinions matter to me. Strange that characters on a page represented by little black symbols on white backgrounds can mean so much to me and the way I think, but it does.

[Felicity · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though a second reading is less uncomfortable than the first (the edge of the seat is so sharp, and bad for circulation!) this is still an exciting, dare I say epic installment of the adventures of Aubrey and Maturin. With few sentences, O'Brian lets us infer a tragic story and a driving hatred that create the climactic chase of the book.

One of my favorite P.O'B. books.

Further thoughts (on the fourth or fifth reading): This book is a classic 'out of the frying pan, into the fire' adventure. From the sharp practices of landsmen on rich sailors to a vicious blow in the Bay of Biscay, and on and on into more and more pressing perils. It should not be missed.

More than that, I might also say that it represents a crisis in Maturin's affairs: the point where it must be shown if hatred of Napoleon and love of the natural world are strong enough to maintain a man's interest in life when he has a broken heart.

A crucial installment in the series by any accounting. Also, of course, so well-written that a professor of mine in grad school used a section of it to illustrate effective sentence construction.

[Clemens Schoonderwoert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book in 2008, and its the 5th amazing volume of the wonderful "Aubrey/Maturin" series.

In this story, commissioned to rescue Governor Bligh of "Bounty"fame, Captain Jack Aubrey and his friend Surgeon/Spy, Stephen Maturin, are setting sail on a ship called the "Leopard" towards Australia with a hold full of convicts as well as a deadly dangerous spy.

During their voyage disease will start to manifest it itself on board the ship, and they will lose many men of their crew, while being pursued by a Dutch man-of-war.

With the Dutchman closing in, Aubrey and his men must do all in the power to stay out of the clutches of this Dutchman if they want to reach their destination.

What is to follow is a thrilling encounter with the Dutchman that will cunningly and luckily be decided in Aubrey's favour, and in the end he can make his journey safely but desperately to this desolation island and deliver their human cargo, and all this told by the author in his own authentic way.

Highly recommended, for this is another superb addition to this amazing series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "A Brilliant Seafaring Tale"!

[Peter Tillman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one started out slow for me, with Aubrey's hopelessly naive belief in every con-man he encounters on the beach -- the silver-mining scheme! Then Maturin's murky intelligence machinations and the unhappy and unwelcome convicts being transported to Botany Bay. I stalled and put it aside, and decided to take up #6 instead, "The Fortune of War," which I liked a lot. So I came back to this one and picked it up again with the long stern-chase of Leopard by the much larger and better-armed Dutch warship Waakzaamheid in the Southern Ocean. Leopard gets lucky and sinks the Dutchman. Then the "horrible old Leopard" collides with an iceberg in the fog, almost sinking her. But Capt. Aubrey manages to save his ship and ultimately makes landfall on Desolation Island, today known as Kerguelen Island https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerguel... , an isolated place indeed. Which was my favorite part of the book: the wildlife! The whalers! Before landfall, Maturin spotted an enormous blue whale surfacing right next to the ship, "an acre or so of monstrous back... moving slowly through the shrimps. ... It was a hundred feet long!"

So that's enough, I think, for a 1978 book with almost 500 reviews and 12,000 ratings here already. The real review you want to read is Sherwood Smith's: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... She liked it a lot. I liked it too, once I got past the dull (for me) start. Overall I'd rate it at 3.5 stars, rounded down for the dull parts and shaky start.

Good memory-aid, but with SPOILERS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desolat...

[Madeline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my second Aubrey/Maturin book, and I chose it because this was how the plot description went: "Commissioned to rescue Governor Bligh of Bounty fame, Captain Jack Aubrey and his friend and surgeon Stephen Maturin sail the Leopard to Australia with a hold full of convicts. Among them is a beautiful and dangerous spy - and a treacherous disease that decimates the crew."

Holy shit, look at all that stuff! Mutineers! Sexy lady spies! Plagues! What isn't to like here?

First, a few corrections to the slightly misleading synopsis: although we spend a lot of time discussing Admiral Bligh in the opening chapters, he's basically forgotten as soon as we get on the ship, and we never actually get to meet him; the sexy lady spy doesn't do anything except have a boring affair with a crewman and write some letters (which are promptly intercepted and decoded by Maturin with no effort, because Maturin is awesome); and the disease is syphilis. Because if the ship is going to have lady convicts on board, one of them is going to sleep with the entire crew and spread it all over the damn place. Ladies, amirite? Okay, to be fair, there's also a lot of scurvy-related disease going around (it's not a very fun ship), but people mostly complain about the venereal disease.

So yes, the synopsis was a bit misleading. But wait: yes, we don't get to meet Bligh. But that's because the Leopard gets waylaid en route to Australia by a vastly larger and better-armed Dutch ship, and a drawn-out chase and sea battle ensues, when Jack Aubrey has to try to beat a ship with dozens more guns and hundreds more hands than he has. And after the battle, the Leopard strikes an iceberg and springs a leak, and Aubrey has to find land in the Arctic while his supplies dwindle and his ship slowly sinks, and it gives us this great, touching scene where Aubrey writes a letter to his wife explaining their dire situation: "It was when he came to this that the shift between himself and the present broke down, vanished entirely. It had been with him ever since that remote day of the Waakzaamheid, this sense of observing the world from a distance, and of moving, functioning, more through duty than intimate concern; and the moment of its breaking, of his coming wholly to life, was exquisitely painful."

It's a lot more interesting that anything Bligh could have provided, I'm pretty sure.

And the lady spy (Louisa Wogan) has a more subdued, but fascinating storyline. The unspoken attraction between her and Maturin is very subtly and sweetly done, and did I mention that he steals and decodes her letters? Because, oh yeah, Stephen Maturin is totally a spy. I knew that this was a plot point in the series, having read about it in other people's reviews, but this was the first time I got to see the adventures of Stephen Maturin, Surgeon Spy! for myself. It's pretty cool. While not exactly edge-of-your-seat thrilling - like I said, the most exciting thing that happens is a bunch of letter-writing and decoding - the subtle way that Maturin manipulates events and people without their realization is really cool to watch. In fact, it's so subtle that I still don't really understand the mechanics of all the spy-drama, but in the same way that I can't understand a single word of ship lingo, my lack of comprehension didn't diminish my enjoyment of watching Maturin do his thing.

As for the trouble-causing ladies spreading syphilis all over the ship, it goes over about as well as you can imagine. But I suppose we can't have everything.

[Sherwood Smith]

By the time any reader of O'Brian's roman fleuve has made it this far, they know that the writing, the characterizations, the mix of history and fiction, humor and horror, romance and philosophy are all brilliantly handled, so no need to effuse in detail.

On a fifth and beyond reading, certain patterns emerge: the spy Mrs. Wogan in certain regards seems a trial for another female character who will appear later. At least as interesting is Maturin's troubled internal accounting for his actions in deliberately misleading people he cares for, for the sake of poisoning Bonaparte's intelligence service. The fact that he believes the couple will be unharmed--they are merely the messenger, without being aware of the dangerous message they carry--enables the reader to sympathize.

Meanwhile, Jack has to deal with the horrible old Leopard, historically accurate: a badly built 50-gun war ship, whose captain in 1807 added to its many drawbacks by firing on an unprepared American vessel in order to seize sailors from it. While dealing with the ship's vagaries, he is chased by an inimical Dutch captain in a well-built 74, with three times the men. This is one of O'Brian's best sea chases, absolutely riveting.

Until this book, each of the previous could be said to stand on its own, aside from the introduction of Jack and Stephen and their situations. Book four, The Mauritius Command, is as near as O'Brian comes to a complete tale. But with this book, not one but several story arcs are launched, that are going to take a number of books to fully resolve, with only one remaining arc from earlier reaching an emotional nexus.

Anyone who has come this far learns to have the next volume waiting . . .

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was not until the final words of the pursuit sequence that I realized I had been holding my breath:

"An enormous, momentary turmoil of black hull and white water, flying spars, rigging that streamed wild for a second, and then nothing at all but the great hill of green-grey with foam racing upon it.

"'My God, oh my God,' he said. 'Six hundred men.'"

[Karl Jorgenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every O'Brian book is a gem. The reader is immersed in 19th-century sailing, naval warfare, and the complex class culture of the British Empire. Here, Captain Aubrey gets a pretty-good ship but is saddled with prisoners, sentenced to banishment to Botany Bay. Wonderful all around.

[Timothy Moriarty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, as always. I can't say enough about this series. It requires some work from the reader, or the willingness of the reader to simply not understand some of it. What I mean is, writers of historical fiction have a choice to make: explain every custom, odd phrase, popular dish, law -- anything that the contemporary reader might not know about that period. Doing that, he or she has to slow the action down and explain, explain, explain.

But O'Brian never does that. Never. And we're talking parts of an 18th century warship, sailing terms, seas, winds, weather....not to mention customs, turns of phrase. Point is, he plunges the reader into the Napoleonic wars, and you become immersed.

His main characters are great: lucky Jack Aubrey, the brilliant man at sea, somewhat lost on land. Good hearted, brave. And his companion, Stephen Maturin -- physician, naturalist and spy. Between the two, you see the whole world of the time. Jack's courting of his future bride...priceless. Stephen's broken heart over the wily, beautiful woman (also a spy).

It's not just he-man stuff, though I think men will enjoy it more. But it isn't just ships and sailing. It's a whole world of places and characters.

This one is about a voyage gone wrong: sickness aboard, a so-so crew, prisoners causing complications, weather...and then pursuit by a seemingly suicidal adversary. The battle between the ships in heavy seas....the ships rising and falling on mountainous swells...is almost cinematic in vivid description and suspense.

Give this series a shot.

[Moloch · Rating 5 out of 5]

La perfezione assoluta. Di nuovo.

[Elliot · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book marks the first quarter of the series. So far, O'Brian has continued to impress me. What amazes me is how each book feels so distinct, and yet so compatible with the rest. I see no danger of the series becoming stale. One thing I cannot help but wonder about is the chronology of the series. These first five books take place over a span of twelve years; somehow the next fifteen will be set over a period of four or five years. I am curious to see how this plays out.

But, now to Desolation Island. There is little I can say without spoiling, I think, for this book is best enjoyed with no foreknowledge of its events. I was certainly unprepared for the twists and turns of the story, and it had me enthralled. When I sat down to read it earlier today, I had no intention of reading through the whole second half of the book, but, in fact, that is what happened.

As always, the highlight of these books is the dual-protagonist-combination. Jack and Stephen complement each other wonderfully both on the page and in the way that O'Brian weaves the narrative between their varied perspectives and motivations. Stephen provides a deep introspective side to balance the practical, sailor in Jack, but that is not to say that Jack is all brawn and no brain, nor that Stephen sits alone and wallows in his thoughts all day long. Theirs is truly a literary friendship the likes of which I have not experienced before.

Just to give a taste of what one can expect to find in this series, here is my favorite passage from this book:

'But be damned to all that,' [Jack] cried, reaching for his violin, his sea-going fiddle, for his precious Amati was not to be exposed to the tropical heat, the antarctic cold. 'Killick! Killick, there! Bear a hand.'

Killick's voice could be heard coming nearer: 'No peace, no bleeding peace in this barky,' and as the door opened, 'Sir?'

'Toasted cheese for the Doctor, half a dozen mutton-chops for me, and a couple of bottles of the Hermitage. D'ye hear me there? Now, Stephen, give me an A.'

They tuned their strings, that pleasant tentative wailing, and as they tuned he said, 'What do you say to our old Corelli in C major?'

'With all my heart,' said Stephen, poising his bow. He paused, and fixed Jack's eye with his own: they both nodded: he brought the bow down and the 'cello broke into its deep noble song, followed instantly by the piercing violin, dead true to the note. The music filled the great cabin, the one speaking to the other, both twining into one, the fiddle soaring alone: they were in the very heart of the intricate sound, the close lovely reasoning, and the ship and her burdens faded far, far from their minds (114-5).

[Kate O'Shea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bored despite the disaster filled action.

I need a break from the hopeless Stephen, "lucky" Jack (not so lucky with his choices this time) and O'Brian's need to categorise each woman with a caricature. we've had Sophie (pretty but stupid), Cecelia (desperate for any husband), Sophie's mother (crone/harridan), Diana (gold digging siren) and now we meet Meg, the maid (whore) and Louisa Wogan (Mata Hari with a "gurgling" laugh that strikes all men with such desire that they cannot control themselves).

Yes, there's lots of racing around the ocean being chased so far south by a Dutch man that they almost reach the South Pole, Jack has to think on his feet to save his ship and his crew seem permanently on the verge of mutiny. However, considering this started out as a commission to Botany Bay with convicts and to "rescue" Governor Bligh, I can't help thinking that it ended in utter failure.

My only other observation is that Stephen is becoming an utter dullard. He is regaled with a carbon copy of his own pathetic swooning after Diana by the hapless Herepath, whose lady love is a spy being transported for her crimes. He relates his tale of woe (almost word for word of Stephen's slavish adoration and rebuffs by Diana) and yet the only thing Stephen takes from it is that Herepath (once addicted to opium) says he can now limit his use of the drug. So Stephen remains happy in his stupidity and promptly starts taking laudanum. Not sure that being able to "just have one" has been found to be true for any addict but there you go.

I admit to skipping through some very long descriptions of struggles through the sea without a rudder in a badly leaking ship. I was bored. As I said. I need a break.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My annual return to the Aubrey & Maturin nautical adventures & as always the first chapter takes a while for you to adjust to C19th speak, before you become a fair natural & all maketh sense! The series is fairly formulaic in that we always start of ashore (landlubbing that be) & Captain Aubrey is like a man possessed without a ship beneath his feet, driven to distraction....... Dr Maturin will then make an appearance which will involve a sidetale of doctoring or indeed espionage which is his sideline business...... then jus at the right time they have a mission & we’re at sea! Huzzah! As always the landlubbing side of the story isn’t for me & find the real adventure takes when they hit the high seas.

The main thrust of the story involves Dr Maturin & an American “spy” on their way to Botany Bay where en route he is to ascertain the level of her involvement with ol’ Bony & them dastardly traitors (Americans that is), Captain Aubrey is onboard too with a gang of prisoners going to the colony which he finds a tad demeaning shall we say......

Along the way we encounter prison plague...... floggings..... man overboard..... too much grog by the Jolly jacks....... and a Dutch Man O War, 74 gunned a full crew hellbent on the Leopards destruction (thats Cap’n Aubreys ship) – The sea chase & close quarters action is where it’s really at & is superbly told if even at times all the nautical terms are a little lost on the reader (there is a piccy of the ship at the beginning, a glossary & historical notes at the end for the avid reader)

Desolation island IS a real place

Governor Bligh, he of Mutiny on the Bounty fame is also mentioned in dispatches as the Governor of Botany Bay where the convicts (Aussies!) are to be delivered.

I have to finish by saying that the interaction between Cap’n Aubrey & Doctor Maturin is what makes the books such a fine read & I enjoy the Doctors storyline & adventures as much as the ol seadog’s.

Great series & a 4 star read, would be FIVE if it wasn’t for the landlubbing!

[Richard Swan]

Really enjoyed this one, perhaps my favourite of the series so far. Also I really enjoy reading older books sometimes and just seeing how they aren't concerned with wordcount, reader handholding, or really hitting any sort of narrative structure. Several promised plot points aren't resolved and the book ends randomly, almost abruptly. And it's still a great novel.

[Jamie Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars for the paper book; three for the Simon Vance audio book reading.

This book begins my favorite of the story arcs in the Aubrey-Maturin series. Jack and Stephen are aboard "the horrible old Leopard ", and there are some absolutely amazing action scenes in this book: the pursuit by the Dutch 74-gun during a storm; the chaos when the sailors abandon the damaged ship to sail away with Grant; the tense effort to bring the ship to Desolation island before she founders.

Then there's the human drama: Sophie desperate to get Jack a ship before he ruins himself on land; Stephen's continuing anguish over Diana; the pitiful state of the convicts and the gaol fever that ravages the crew; Mrs. Wogan the spy, with her infectious laugh; Stephen's delight in the birds of Desolation Island; the extreme reluctance of Jack and the captain of the American whaler to ask desperately needed favors from one another.

I've read this book twice myself, but it was still nice to listen to the audio book, because I very much enjoy hearing the nautical terminology rattling so easily off the narrator's tongue. Simon Vance was really good at this, and I enjoyed his narration very much.

However, I strongly disliked the voices he affects for the characters when reading dialogue. I eventually got used to Jack, but I never liked the voice he used for Stephen, which sounded effeminate and did not allow for a difference between petulance and cold anger. I positively cringed whenever Mrs. Wogan spoke, which thankfully wasn't very often. The minor characters sounded okay.

I'd like to return to a Patrick Tull recording for the next audio book, but those seem to be more difficult to find than Vance's.

[Reni · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very enjoyable read but not the strongest installment of the series so far.

The story this time around lacks side-plots: It is pretty straight-forward from beginning to end, and I didn't find myself too smitten with the new characters. I had expected the convicts to play a larger role in the book, but, contrary to O'Brian's usual fondness for lavish description and social commentary, they are hardly mentioned and remain pretty inconsequential to the whole story, apart from providing a reason for Leopard to be headed for Botany Bay. We never learn who they were and then they're gone. Even Mrs Wogan remains surprisingly opaque as a character, which is surprising since I found previous volumes of the series so very much invested in its many characters. Neither did I feel like we learned that much more about Jack or Stephen.

Don't get me wrong, O'Brian's prose is excellent and evocative as ever. Occasionally you will simply feel the need to stop reading for a moment to breathe in the beautiful descriptions and striking dialogue.

However, this volume takes a few chapters to get to the exciting stuff. Jack and Stephen are as sympathetic as ever, but it wasn't until around the halfway mark that the story had finally drawn me in. By that point, however, I loved reading about all the obstacles the poor Leopard had to face on her long way to Botany Bay. Fever, foe and icebergs promise to keep our heroes on their toes and the readers glued to the page. A highlight certainly is the long chase with the aptly named Dutchman Waakzamheit, that always managed to find our heroes' ship again at dawn, day after day, almost like a supernatural foe.


At the end I also felt like I had read only half a novel. You know the "coming to the aid of governor Bligh" teaser that is mentioned in the goodreads description? The Leopard does not even reach Botany Bay in this volume. Sure Desolation Island appears to be the beginning of a longer story arc -- perhaps we will see Mrs Wogan and Mr Herapath again to learn more about them -- but even then I needed just little bit more closure. A part of a longer series still needs to be able to stand on its own to a certain degree, and I did not get the impression that Desolation Island really manages to hold its own in this regard.

What I like about this particular edition and the special editions as a whole, are the included essays by naval historians that help put some aspects of the books into historical context. This edition of Desolation Island featured a nice summary of relations between officers and the men from the lower decks that I found a very enjoyable quick read. A bit of free education with your entertainment, so to say. Who could say 'no' to that?

Anyway, Desolation Island is -- despite its faults -- a worthwile read, featuring, for instance, the best chase scenes of the series yet.

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had this on Mt. TBR for years and now it is the Classic Serial starting Sunday. Bargain!

BBC BLURB: August, 1811. Jack Aubrey sets sail for Australia in his new command, HMS Leopard. His mission - to transport a group of convicts to Botany Bay, including a woman, Louisa Wogan, who has been spying for the Americans. Stephen Maturin joins Jack once again as ship's surgeon - but his real mission is to watch Mrs Wogan. When a fever breaks out among the prisoners and crew, Jack decides to head for Recife - but he is pursued through the South Atlantic by a powerful Dutch warship. Dramatised by Roger Danes.

Other parts played by the cast. Producer/director: Bruce Young.

2 of 2: Jack Aubrey is pursued through the South Atlantic by a Dutch warship, whose 74 guns threaten to blow HMS Leopard out of the water.

[Max Tsudowood · Rating 4 out of 5]

O'Brian takes Aubrey and Maturin down the west African coast for the third time and yet again the journey is just as unique and engrossing as the previous ones but this time the challenges come from the natural elements. Indeed, this becomes the primary theme of Desolation Island where the writer's realism is wholly convincing enough to make one be appreciative of the numerous technological advancements that modern ocean vessels are flushed with compared to their counterparts during the Age of Sail. Aubrey and his crew aboard a swift 50-gun HMS Leopard are beset by doldrums, iceberg threats, and stormy westerlies as they transport prisoners to Botany Bay. Each of these present unique set of difficulties which are amplified by a disease that strikes many sailors. The latter force truly tests Jack's ship handing skills when he also has a contend with a chase by a formidable Dutch enemy and the jaw-dropping finale to the event is unlike the series has offered thus far.

4.5/5

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

From BBC Radio 4 - Classical Serial:
Patrick O'Brian's nautical adventure, dramatised by Roger Danes.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jack and Stephen complement each other very well here. Jack starts the book with a continuous series of disastrous and childish decisions on the shore. Stephen explores opium, sexuality, spying methods and psychological issues. The sections about the men-of-war superstitions are great.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plenty of action without being overloaded by battles.

[Ian Morley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won’t say whether I liked the book or not. I will say that I finished it in one day.

[Ron Wroblewski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much action. The island only is in the last part of the book

[AndrewP · Rating 3 out of 5]

As usual with a Patrick O'Brian book the writing, language, historical research and accuracy are superb. My problem with this book, and hence the 3 stars, is that there was really no plot. It was more of a travelogue of a voyage. The island referenced in the title did not appear until about four fifths of the way into the book and the book ended there with much left unresolved.

On audible, there are two different versions of these novel. One set read by Simon Vance and the other by Patrick Tull. Previously I had listened to a couple by Simon Vance as he is great at these kinds of books. This time I decided to try the version narrated by Patrick Tull and was pleasantly surprised. Given the voices and accents he gives the characters I actually prefer this version.