The Thirteen-Gun Salute

Aubrey & Maturin #13

by Patrick O'Brian

Captain Jack Aubrey sets sail for the South China Sea with a new lease on life. Following his dismissal from the Royal Navy (a false accusation), he has earned reinstatement through his daring exploits as a privateer, brilliantly chronicled in The Letter of Marque. Now he is to shepherd Stephen Maturin—his friend, ship's surgeon, and sometimes intelligence agent—on a diplomatic mission to prevent links between Bonaparte and the Malay princes which would put English merchant shipping at risk.

The journey of the Diane encompasses a great and satisfying diversity of adventures. Maturin climbs the Thousand Steps of the sacred crater of the orangutans; a killer typhoon catches Aubrey and his crew trying to work the Diane off a reef; and in the barbaric court of Pulo Prabang a classic duel of intelligence agents unfolds: the French envoys, well entrenched in the Sultan's good graces, against the savage cunning of Stephen Maturin.

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

367 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1989

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]

Out of all of O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series up to this point, The Thirtheen-Gun Salute gets further away from the sea battles and life aboard ship to really delve into the interior of a new and exciting frontier (in the eyes of the characters as set in a pre-"Planet Earth" world) and paints a not-always-pretty picture of diplomacy in the Far East as it was some 200 years ago. O'Brian describes Maturin's romp into the countryside in such flowing and absorbing detail that it reads as vividly as watching any of those fancy nature programs David Attenborough makes.

There are no naval battles in this, the thirteenth episode of the saga. I mention it because that is such a big draw for many who read these kinds of books. However, this is Patrick O'Brian we're talking about, so all the rest that makes up this book is well worth the reading, because the reading makes you feel as if you're living it. You get the sense of an early 19th century voyage around the globe. You feel the tension of a diplomatic mission that may sway the war one way or another in this part of the world. You climb the 1000 steps to the ancient Buddhist temple where it shouldn't be on an island in Muslim Malaysia, and there you connect on a personal level with an orangutan. It's all amazingly detailed.

But action? No, this one's not filled with action. That being said, our courageous hero Captain Aubrey is still busy. He has a ship to run while contending with an envoy whose inflating sense of self may threaten everything.

Intelligence agent, naturalist and ship's surgeon Dr. Maturin takes center stage for much of The Thirteen-Gun Salute. It is a part of his character arc that culminates in a satisfactory, if somewhat devious, finish of a storyline that has been going on and on for book after previous book.

This is a gorgeous and subtle piece of fiction that can be enjoyed by fans beyond the action/adventure genre that one would assume it is. If you're new to the series, perhaps don't start with this book, but otherwise, this is highly recommended!

My review of book #12, The Letter of Marque: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

My review of book #14, The Nutmeg of Consolation: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Darwin8u · Rating 4 out of 5]

"...for him, Truth was what he could make others believe."
- Patrick O'Brian, Thirteen-Gun Salute



"...What I meant was that if he could induce others to believe what he said, then for him the statement acquired some degree of truth, a reflection of their belief that it was true; and this reflected truth might grow stronger with time and repetition until it became conviction, indistinguishable from ordinary factual truth, or very nearly so.” (The Thriteen-Gun Salute, 188)

Certain O'Brian novels just make me want to soak in them. I slow down while reading just to float on the prose. There is a poetry to his descriptions of sailing, the natural world, and music. Thirteen books in (I wonder if this was purposeful) O'Brian continues to paint and sketch more and more detail on his two protagonists. I now consider Captain Aubrey and Dr. Maturin to be, perhaps, two of the greatest characters ever. O'Brian uses these two men as archetypes of masculinity (I've covered this before). But each book allows him to shade more, nuance deeper.

[Ken-ichi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glad I bought the next two, because this doesn't end at the end. Scads of good fun, as always. Probably the most memorable part of this adventure was Stephen's trip to the Buddhist temple, where men and beasts live together in harmony and Stephen basically gets to have the on-shore naturalizing experience he is repeatedly denied while sailing with Jack. Too good. Also, enemy dissection.

Words & Notes

p. 29 As usual, Stephen is at the cutting edge of medical technology, stocking "plaster of Paris for healing broken limbs in the oriental manner (much favoured now by Dr Maturin)". Wikipedia has an extensive article on orthopedic casts, and traces their origin in Western medicine to observations made in Turkey around 1800.

popliteal (adj): referring to the back of the knee. (p. 40)

plansheer (n): possibly the same as plancer, the underside of a cornice (p. 61)

spirketting (n): I think this is the wooden lining around a port. (p. 61)

roborative (adj): restorative, giving strength (p. 63)

sillery (n): Sillery is a region in France known for its wine. (p. 87)

'Bears I have borne, sir, and badgers...' said Mrs. Broad, her arms folded over a formal black silk dress.
'It was only a very small bear,' said Stephen, 'and long ago.' (p. 112)

chilblains (n): ulceration of the extremities due to cold and humidity (p. 149)

"a true Job's muffler" This verbal gaff of Jack's was completely lost on me. Apparently "Job's comforter" is a phrase. So much more at http://www.hmssurprise.org/Resources/... (p. 156)

Oh man, this passage from p. 162 is way too good not to recount in full. Jack is interviewing one of his midshipmen on his historical knowledge:

'What do you know about the last American war?'

'Not very much, sir, except that the French and Spaniards joined in and were finely served out for doing so.'

'Very true. Do you know how it began?'

'Yes, sir. It was about tea, which they did not choose to pay duty on. They called out No reproduction without copulation and tossed it into Boston harbour.'

Jack frowned, considered, and said, 'Well, in any event they accomplished little or nothing at sea, that bout.' He passed on to the necessary allowance for dip and refraction to be made in working lunars, matters with which he was deeply familiar; but as he tuned his fiddle that evening he said, 'Stephen, what was the Americans' cry in 1775?'

'No representation, no taxation.'

'Nothing about copulation?'

'Nothing at all. At that period the mass of Americans were in favour of copulation.'

'So it could not have been No reproduction without copulation?'

'Why, my dear, that is the old natural philosopher's watchword, as old as Aristotle, and quite erroneous. Do but consider how the hydra and her kind multiply without any sexual commerce of any sort. Leeuenhoek proved it long ago, but still the more obstinate repeat the cry, like so many parrots.'

'Well, be damned to taxation, in any case. Shall we attack the andante?'

murrain (n): infectious disease among cattle and sheep (p. 163)

p. 189 describes a form of corporal punishment in Pulo Prabang in which a bag partially filled with pepper is placed over the criminal's head and the victim's family then beats him with sticks. A cursory search turned up no supporting evidence, sadly.

babirussa (n): presumably Babyrousa babyrousa, a kind of wild pig native to Indonesia. (p. 200)

colophony (n): another name for rosin (p. 211)

kedgeree (n): a semi-horrifying mixture of fish, rice, eggs, curry, parsely, and curry powder, eaten by, who else, Britons. For breakfast. It actually doesn't sound that bad as dinner, but not first thing in the morning, thanks. (p. 216)

"past mark of mouth" apparently means "old" and has some equine origin, but what the actual mark might be I'm not sure. Any equestrians out there? (p. 233)

subjacent (adj): below (p. 262)

frowsty (adj): stale, musty (p. 263)

crapulous (adj): irritable from having eaten or drunk too much (p. 263)

colcannon (n): Irish dish of mashed spuds and cabbage or kale. Maybe I'll make some this week... (p. 270)

pugil (n): same as a pinch, as in the quantity (p. 275)

garstrakes (n): the first planks of wood adjacent to the keel of the ship (p. 275)

comminatory (adj): warning or punishing (p. 288)

castramentation (n): possibly a misspelling of "castrametation," so aptly defined by Jack himself as "the learned word for setting up tents and so on." (p. 307)

"and music shall untune the sky" This beautiful excerpt is from Dryden's "Song for St. Cecilia's Day," the full text of which and an interesting description can be found at Harpers.

[Algernon · Rating 4 out of 5]

[9/10]

‘Bonden’ said Jack Aubrey to his coxswain, ‘tell the Doctor that if he is at leisure there is something to be seen on deck.’
The Doctor was at leisure; the ‘cello on which he had been practising gave a last deep boom and he ran up the companion-ladder, an expectant look on his face.

The point of interest is the last glimpse of the home shore of England as the ‘Surprise’ sets sail once more for distant seas, eager to explore beyond that horizon endless possibilities even now, in spite of their late and inauspicious start.
Captain Jack Aubrey, still suspended from the Admiralty lists over unjust accusations of fraud, and doctor Stephen Maturin, on a secret mission to undermine the French efforts in South America, have commissioned the former warship as a ‘letter of marque’ (a form of government sponsored piracy) . Much as I enjoyed the series of shorebound events in the series, the ocean is the natural element for the two friends and for their crew and, not unlike them, I too felt refreshed and excited to leave the safe harbour in search of tropical storms, enemy ships, pirates, natural philosophy and some light classical music in the evenings. Even if I heard it all before, during what is already a twelve volume long epic journey, the start of a new voyage feels as exciting as the very first glimpse I had of Aubrey and Maturin on the Malta station in ‘Master and Commander’.

Briefly, because this is not for me the most important aspect of the series, the title is a reference to the rigid maritime custom of firing up the ship’s guns in honor of the King’s representative, the Crown by proxy and entitled to a thirteen-gun salute .
Surprisingly, the ship is not the Surprise but the bigger and newly-captured from the French Diane , who sails on a very urgent mission to Pulo Prabang, an independent Sultanate in the South China Sea. Aubrey and Maturin are asked to leave their own ship in the hands of the second-in-command, the capable Mr. Pullings, and take a certain Mr. Fox as King’s Envoy to the Sultan in Malaya to counteract a French mission to arm the locals against the East India merchant company. It is a long voyage, with tempers frayed by the difficult personality of Fox, by an almost tragic incident off Tristan da Cunha, by severe storms and icebergs in the Southern latitudes until finally, like a page taken out of Joseph Conrad, they arrive among those spice islands that lure sailors like the mermaids of antiquity with their perfumed, lush tropical shores. Once at the Sultan’s Court, Stephen has his hands full counteracting two British traitors working for the French and guiding Mr Fox through the labyrinth of Eastern corruption and secrecy, while Jack tries to get the Diane ready for both enemy action and typhoon season. All interesting in the general convincing note of the rest of the past episodes, but ...

... the name of the game is not war, or I-spy, but Joy. This is the actual secret ingredient that makes me come back to the series as if I sample one of my favorite dishes. Both Aubrey and Maturin are consummate professionals, but what makes them truly special is the fact that both are engaged in doing what they love most in the world: sailing and/or studying the natural world. This is what makes each day in their company special, even if it is often the drudge of ship routine for weeks on end, until it is interrupted by the passing of a rare species of albatross, or by the sunrise shining on one of the topmost sails, or by a new experiment with chemical powders to produce coloured smoke from the ship guns. Here’s Jack in a moment of relaxation:

It had always appeared to Jack Aubrey, ever since he was a little boy, that one of the purest joys in the world was sailing a small, well-conceived, weatherly boat: the purest form of sailing too, with the sheet alive in one’s hand, the tiller quivering under the crook of one’s knee and the boat’s instant response to the movement of either, and to the roll and the breeze.

... and here’s Stephen, coming down from a visit to an ancient Buddhist temple hidden in a volcanic crater in Malaya:

Kumai was nearer Paradise than anything I am likely to see again in this life or next; I cannot bless my fate enough for having been allowed it. I communed with orang-utangs; they held me by the hand. I saw the tarsier ... immeasurable wealth.

The merit of Patrick O’Brian rests not so much in the accurate historical details from the Napoleonic Wars, but in this sharing of timeless passion, this enchantment with the world we live in, not in denial but in acceptance of the hardships and dangers that are also an inherent part of it. This sharing is not always without hiccups, given the fact that not every reader would be as passionate about maritime terms as Aubrey or O’Brian, but at least you can put a brave face on and continue sailing. A sense of humour sure helps with the journey:

They went forward, and some of the hands in the waist nodded and smiled significantly. The Doctor was going to be stunned, amazed, taken aback all standing. ‘There,’ said Jack, pointing upward. ‘About the topsailyard, right up against the trestletrees. Have you ever seen that before?’
‘The thing like a tablecloth pulled out at one corner?’ asked Stephen, who could be sadly disappointing on occasion.
‘Well, it is a mizzen topgallant staysail,’ said Jack, who had expected little more. ‘You can tell your grandchildren you saw one.’

Our modern world is poorer for lack of a mizzen topgallant staysail or a pair of rhinoceros running through Malaya jungle. Even bit part characters, that you think the author put in only for decorative purposes and then totally forgot about them (like the troop of redcoats billeted on board ship), are allowed their share of the joy in a job well done and in their esoteric specialized knowledge:

‘Castramentation, sir,’ said Welby, beaming with decent triumph – it was rare that a soldier could triumph aboard a man-of-war – ‘And there is more to it than might be supposed.’

Which brings me to a point I have probably made before about the series, but I like to reiterate: sanity is often a question of our ability to see ourselves through the eyes of others. Jack and Stephen are both capable of it, and of having a good laugh at their own expense. On the other hand, Mr Fox, the King’s Envoy is consumed by his own bloated social standing. His portrait is so sharp, so insightful, that the 2020 reader will be forced to draw parallels between Envoy Fox and certain demagogue politicians of our age.

“What I meant was that if he could induce others to believe what he said, then for him the statement acquired some degree of truth, a reflection of their belief that it was true; and this reflected truth might grow stronger with time and repetition until it became conviction, indistinguishable from ordinary factual truth, or very nearly so.”

Edward Fox is not only struck by ‘a case of the sudden onset of folie de grandeur’ , he is also unable to consider anything else beyond his own narrow selfishness : it was no very ungenerous reflection to suppose that this was because he meant to arrogate all the merit to himself.

The best weapon against such people is ridicule and refusing to stoop down to their level, deploying some of that critical thinking and sense of humour that I remarked on earlier. The laughter is an integral part of the series, as much as ship engagements, politics and storms. Some of the jokes are subtle, yet so subversive that I found myself going back to the setup to enjoy the punchline better.

‘Jack,’ he said, as they walked along the rim of the crater to a point where they could hail the ship, ‘did you reflect upon Ganymede at all?’
‘Yes,’ said Jack. ‘I was up with him all last night, and should be this night were it not for the Sultan’s visit tomorrow. Such an endearing little pale golden body as he peeps out – he is easily my favourite. But I shall still have him almost all night, once the Sultan is done with.’
‘Shall you, though?’ said Stephen, looking at his friend’s pleased, well-fed face, rather more florid than usual from the Sultan’s wine; and after a pause, ‘Brother, can we be talking of the same thing?’

On the island of Pulo Prabang, Stephen meets another natural philosopher named Van Buren, and their conversation is literally peppered with droll repartees, some of which were to good to let pass without at least a nod:

‘By the way, there was a python in your lane.’
‘Reticulatus, I suppose?’

or,
‘How glad I am you are a night-bird,’ he said, sitting down heavily. ‘I should have been in a sad way else. My brothel is shut.’
‘You must take off your clothes,’ said van Buren, looking at him with close attention ...

or,
‘An English spleen at last! An English spleen, the most famous of them all! And as fresh a cadaver as ever I have had the pleasure of opening. I am infinitely obliged to you, colleague. Death was caused by this bullet-wound, I see: a rifle-bullet. How curious.’

There’s no way these innuendos are other than deliberate, a tool to lighten the mood and engage with the audience, but in the case of O’Brian they are also oblique references to major plot developments, some of which are taking place off screen and only deduced from context. This is particularly effective in the case of Maturin, whose secret persona as a master spy is rarely described in plain terms, but made more convincing when the reader has the pleasure of decoding the clues for himself.

I made more examples of the jokes that about the general high quality of the prose and dialogue, responsible for the series genuine flavour even in a greater percent than the technical details about sailing and political strategy. I probably said enough about style in previous reviews, and it’s clear enough that O’Brian is well capable of delivering on this front, as always.

As a conclusion of my review, I would like to observe that a new reader might even consider starting with this here novel no. 13, as it is the first in a self-contained journey that will continue to circumnavigate the planet, that is if Aubrey and Maturing manage to escape the dire perils of being stranded on a savage, unknown reef in the final pages of this here book.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The thirteenth instalment of the Aubrey and Maturin chronicles is as delightful and compelling as the rest of this matchless series. The pair are sent on an urgent global mission, introduced to annoying new people and charming new animals, menaced by forces meteorological and human, yet their steadfast friendship remains the heart and soul of the narrative. There is so much to appreciate in O’Brian’s elegant, witty, and endlessly humane writing. At the start, he sets the scene for the reader who read the last in the series a while back, while subtly introducing the plot. The customary verbal misunderstandings, punctured pomposities, and personal eccentricities are all present and correct, yet O’Brian makes them fresh and delightful every time. Reading an Aubrey/Maturin novel always makes me laugh, hold my breath at moments of tension, and quite forget that I’m not sailing the high seas in the early 19th century. One of my favourite exchanges sums up the central relationship very well:

Quite early in the morning Captain Aubrey stood tall and shadowy by Stephen’s cot. “Are you awake?” he asked in a soft voice.
“I am not,” said Stephen.
“We are going ashore in the new pinnace, and I thought you might like to come too. There may be a whole colony of nondescript boobies.”
“So there may - how truly kind - I shall be with you in a minute.”

Of especial note: Jack mishearing the name ‘Fuggers’, complaints about bankers, Stephen replacing his laudanum habit with chewing coca leaves, Jack’s snoring, the Lisbon pilot’s sales pitch, Killick’s perpetually grumpy remarks, Jack and Stephen choosing taffeta together for their wives, spleens, the low-ceilinged cutter captained by one of the tallest officers in the Navy, Jack’s uniform being too big, the voluble patient that tired Stephen, young Philip’s attempt at running away to sea, Jack carefully editing his adventures so that Sophie doesn’t worry, the unfortunate cuttlefish, plagiarism amongst the youths, a troop of grampuses, Stephen prescribing placebos, the arrival in Java, the three officials whose company is a trial, cannon fireworks, Stephen’s magical field trip up the steps, an encounter with rhinos, spy machinations, the purser warning Stephen about the brothel, Jack’s amusement at Stephen staying in a brothel, Fox’s failed babysitting, Stephen wearing scarlet doctoral robes, Jack’s remarks upon Ganymede, the importance of coffee, Stephen being mistaken for an orang-utan, Jack and Stephen always missing one another whenever seperated for a very short time, “What a rattle you are, to be sure”, Stephen hating to be woken up early, the villain of the piece being dissected, Jack and Stephen ducking out of an unseemly dinner party, the mizzen topgallant staysail that Stephen likens to a tablecloth, Jack calling Stephen “Dr Humorous Droll”, the boat’s crew responding to Stephen’s clueless remark about it, the royal salute, a sudden very dramatic storm, “What was that?” “A landslide, my dear”, and the dramatic conclusion: marooned!

To come up with that list I paged through the whole book and kept being drawn back into it - the mark of truly great writing.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Monkeying around in Malaysia with Dr. Stephen Maturin and Captain "Lucky" Jack Aubrey is another gem, a delightful glimpse into a (for us) vanished world that was nowhere near as straight-laced as we are often given to imagine.

[Karl Jorgenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this delightful continuation of the series, Aubrey is reinstated and given command of the Diane, the French frigate he 'cut out' in the previous book. He's on a mission to deliver an irritating diplomat to Malaysia where a local ruler is thinking of allying with the French in their unending war with the rest of Europe. Although there are no battles in this novel, the adventure and excitement are just as good. Read this series from the beginning to follow Aubrey and Maturin from their first meeting and Aubrey's first command.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

In this volume a number of significant changes occur in the lives of our two heroes, some of them behind the scenes, as with Stephen’s discovery that Diana is pregnant with his child (that he assumes will be a daughter), as well as the fact that poor Padeen, now addicted to laudanum, has been convicted of theft and battery and was thus transported to the penal colony in Australia. Others make up a direct part of the plot, the most important of which is likely the fact that Aubrey is restored to the Navy List, primarily so that he and Maturin can undertake a mission to transport an envoy to the sultanate of Pulo Prabang in the South China Sea.

In order to avoid some political complications, the Surprise, under the command of Tom Pullings, is sent on to Aubrey’s previous mission to safeguard British interests in South America, while Jack and Stephen are put on board Aubrey’s new command, the HMS Diane (which had been captured by Aubrey from the French in the previous volume). The Envoy to the Sultan of Pulo Prabang, Edward Fox, proves to be an initially affable character, though both Aubrey and Maturin sense something not quite right about him. Upon arriving at the tropical paradise of Pulo Prabang Stephen becomes enmeshed in the local political and intelligence arenas as the British detachment attempts to outmaneuver their French counterparts who hope to use the alliance to disrupt British trading in the area. Another surprise appears when it is discovered that the British traitors Ledward and Wray, who had been responsible for Aubrey’s downfall, are part of the French delegation. Shenanigans ensue and complications arise as Maturin discovers an influential lever in the Sultan’s court under the sway of the French, and the truth behind his initial fears regarding Fox’s stability and dependability become more and more apparent.

At long last, however, Stephen is given something of a reprieve (at least as far as his inclinations as a naturalist go) when he is afforded the opportunity to spend an extended period studying the flora and fauna of the island’s holy valley of Kumai, a protected enclave in the crater of a volcano. Added to this is the opportunity to perform several human dissections with a famous Dutch colleague (who also appears to combine the trades of natural philosopher with intelligence agent) that proves to resolve several problems in one fell swoop.

The homeward journey is a tense one for Stephen and Jack. Hoping to be able to make a rendezvous with the Surprise they are consistently forced to deal with a now insupportably pompous Fox who expects all of his orders to be unquestioningly obeyed. Add to this a typhoon that leaves them stranded on an island in uncharted seas and we once again end with one of O’Brian’s trademark cliffhangers.

[Sherwood Smith]

Immensely enjoyable beginning of the longest and best arc in the entire roman fleuve. Jack Aubrey, once again on the navy list, is sent to Malaysia to carry an envoy who is to conclude a treaty with a key sultan, enabling the East India Company to stop safely on their long voyage home. This must be done in the teeth of a French mission with the same goal--a mission which includes the two traitors who caused Jack and Stephen (not to mention the government) a lot of grief, and brought about the deaths of many innocent people.

Once again we get complex characters, notably Mr. Fox, the British envoy. The text implies that he was once Ledward's lover, Ledward being the chief of the two traitors. Lover or former friend, their hatred for one another is a living force quite apart from the competition of the missions, and Ledward even tries to get Fox assassinated.

There is plenty of drama about the mission, which resolves in stunning fashion; but this being an O'Brian tale, there is still time for scientific delight with a Dutch physician and anatomist, and also for Stephen to make an immense pilgrimage to an ancient crater, where he stays in a very, very old temple. Here, monks and animals live in amity, and Stephen becomes acquainted with a family of orangutans.

Once again, I'm reminded of how differently I absorb text when reading and when listening. In both, the images are strong and clear, but though I've read this book several times, I was not always certain who killed Ledward and Wray, the traitors. I'd thought for a while that Stephen had. During discussions back in the day when these books were at the height of their popularity, a lot of readers were convinced that Stephen had done the deed--we'd seen him practice shooting with Fox during the voyage to the Malay island. But a single line, in Jack's POV, makes it quite clear that Fox shot them, and did it in some nasty way; Jack feels sorry for the brutes, betrayed like that. Which makes sense: Stephen is a practicing Catholic, and murder would require him to seek religious absolution at the least, but he never does. Instead, in a grimly vivd scene, he and Van Burel dissect the two traitors, whose spleens will sit side by side on a shelf thereafter.

This story is not even remotely over. The mission must be conveyed back to England, Fox adamant that he will now be granted the height of his desire, a title as a result of his successful winning of the treaty.

But! A reef, and then a typhoon, await the ship...

Again, exciting, unpredictable, a roller coaster of emotion, with characters who linger in the mind.

[Clemens Schoonderwoert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book in 2009, and its the 13th wonderful volume of the amazing "Aubrey/ Maturin" series.

In this tale, with Captain Jack Aubrey reinstated within the Royal Navy after his heroics exploits as an privateer, is now setting sail for the South China Sea.

On this trip he will get his friend, ship's Surgeon and spy for the government, Stephen Maturin, on a diplomatic mission to the Malay princes, with the intention to prevent the Malay and the French linking together.

In this seafaring tale Aubrey and his crew will have their actions against weather, water and land, while Maturin has his adventures also on land with the Thousands Steps, while at the court of Pulo Prabang a classic duel will unfold between intelligence agents.

This intelligence duel between the cunning Stephen Maturin and the French envoys will be fought out to the death for the Sultan's good graces, while Aubrey and his crew will do anything to assist Maturin in his endeavours.

What is to follow is an intriguing seafaring tale, in which Aubrey and Maturin will excel again with their actions and results, and all this is brought to us by the author in his own authentic and majestic fashion.

Highly recommended, for this is another marvellous addition to this great series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "An Excellent Thirteen-Gun Salute"!

[Malacorda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una nuova avventura sempre avvincente, una nuova lettura sempre tonificante. O'Brian riutilizza qui lo stesso schema già approntato in molti degli episodi precedenti, eppure non stanca mai e così anche il romanzo numero tredici risulta fresco come una rosellina di maggio: con la vita di bordo, con l'amicizia tra i due protagonisti, con i nuovi personaggi magistralmente pennellati nei loro pregi o nelle loro meschinità, con il finale da cardiopalma che ti cambia tutte le prospettive nel giro di poche pagine e come sempre - cosa che amo tantissimo - con l'epilogo vero e proprio da andare a leggersi all'inizio dell'episodio successivo.

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

There comes a time when we're reading Aubrey-Maturin when we realize that this is not really a book series. A book series, you see, is made up of stand alone stories about a character(s), and you can pop in at almost any point without the pop in point mattering. Like James Bond. Who cares which story you read and when. Moonraker then Dr. No? Sure. Anything Hercule Poirot? Whatever whenever.

But you can't do that with Aubrey-Maturin, and while that feeling's been playing with me for a while, it's The Thirteen-Gun Salute that's really hammered that point home. Aubrey-Maturin is not a series of stories or books, it is one epic tale told over years, and it is only the demands of the publishing industry and an author's craft that split the story up.

I would love to ask Patrick O'Brian for an overarching title to replace "the Aubrey-Maturin books," but that ship of the line has sailed. All that really matters is recognizing how epic this one life long adventure of two men who love each other deeply is, and being willing to take every step that unfolds along their paths.

All of these books form an epic tale. Truly epic. If you don't know the joy of this Epic you are missing out.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another solid outing, though Aubrey seems to have a bad habit of breaking his boats when they aren't named Surprise. Perhaps the real surprise is that he doesn't break the Surprise too? I've been informed this is book 1 of a five-book sequence of them circumnavigating the globe. Honestly, I'm surprised they haven't until now, because I'd swear they went all the way out to Australia in an earlier book but maybe they came back the same way? Aubrey takes command of the Diane, the lovely frigate he cut out of the harbour in the last book, and sails to Malaysia to deliver a high ranking diplomat who will sign a treaty of alliance with the sultan of (the regrettably fictional) Pulo Prabang. The French are also in the mix, of course, attempting to get the sultan to sign on with them, and they have the two spies that have been fencing with Jack & Stephen for the last several books, including the dastardly Wray.

The battle : There isn't one, unless you count the battle with the reef they run aground on and try to float free of (unsuccessfully). A typhoon comes in and smashes everything to kingdom come but luckily they manage to get most of their supplies off b/c apparently Jack has been in one of these before and recognized the warning signs.

The scientific : A lot of lovely work here -- Stephen's contact is a famed Dutch naturalist who hates the French quite as much as Stephen does, as well as having an unhealthy obsession with analyzing the spleens of different animal species, including humans(!). Stephen climbs the thousand steps of the mountain to visit a Buddhist monastery // nature reserve, and finally sees an orangutan, for which he's been pining for quite some time. The orangutan is actually quite used to humans and they interact in a touching fashion, playing Digit to Stephen's Dian Fossey (too soon?). The Buddhists are super not about killing any animals, and Stephen gets to pet and explore and draw a whole bunch of animals and very nearly gets killed when a pair of rhinoceroses charge each other and in their careening wrestling match plow right past him. As is typical, Stephen brushes this off and appears to have no conception of how much danger he was in.

The relationships : There's some great interplay here between the Dianes and the envoy, who starts off unpleasant, becomes much nicer once they land in Pulo Prabang, and then goes back to being an insufferable prig once the treaty is signed and he thinks he's going to be knighted. When the Diane grounds on the reef the envoy insists on taking the ship's pinnace in order to get home and seize all the glory...and is presumably lost at sea when the typhoon hits almost directly afterwards. Woopsiedaisy.

The medical / spycraft : Not a lot of medical work, other than the aforementioned obsession with spleens. Stephen is off the laudanum for good, but seems to be stepping steadily more casually into the coca leaves and I'm not really sure that cocaine is a better option. The spywork shows Stephen at the top of his game though, carefully preparing the way for Fox (the envoy)'s success while keeping to the shadows. He neatly manages to kill two birds with one stone by arranging to have one of the French spies caught in flagrante with the Sultan's favorite, which as you might imagine is a big no-no. The favorite is killed, the French are exiled from the Sultan's presence, huzzah...and then it takes a dark turn when Stephen brings the bodies of the two Frenchmen to his naturalist friend and they quickly dissect them(!) to dispose of the remains. The naturalist observes that they were both shot once and Stephen dispassionately comments that they "must have been fighting" but it seems pretty clear that Stephen killed them both after making sure that they were no longer under the Sultan's protection. Yikes. And the naturalist is like, SUPER excited to finally have an English spleen, and not even a half-English spleen which was all he ever thought he might manage to get but a FULL PUREBLOOD ENGLISH SPLEEN OMG. Double yikes? Maybe find another hobby?

Today's malapropism : "I had invited the envoy and his colleagues to dine with me tomorrow...But this morning I find that I had counted my geese without laying their eggs -- that I had killed my geese -- that is to say, pressure of work prevents Mr. Fox and his people from dining with me tomorrow." Aubrey seems to have particular trouble with proverbs in this category, actually; this rings very similar to the last book where he botched "counting your chickens before they've hatched". Maybe he should just give this one up as a bad job :D

The lack of battles aside, this has been the best of at least the last couple, which while of course they have been very solid workmanlike O'Brian, didn't really knock it out of the park. This one did, and largely carried on Stephen's back. It just makes me regret more that he was reduced to essentially a secondary character in the movie because his character is every bit as great as Aubrey and he deserved joint-leading-man scriptwriting instead of just living in Aubrey's shadow and NOT HAVING HIS SPY CAREER EVEN MENTIONED. Sorry, still not entirely over that.

13 down, 7 to go!

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

At some point O'Brian decided this series would go on indefinitely. The structure of some of the books then became odd. There are some that don't end - they just stop. There's an obvious on-going, unresolved plot but - tough luck - you're gonna hafta wait for the next volume to get a resolution. This is one of them. It ends with a cliff-hanger (which some don't) and for some reason it's easier to handle then when a book just stops apparently arbitrarily.

So, thirteen books in and it's getting harder to find non-repetitive things for Aubrey and Maturin to do with each volume, yet O'Brian pulls it off again! Making Maturin not just a physician but an intelligence officer was a stroke of genius in this regard. It offers a much greater range of possible and plausible adventures than regular Royal Navy work could...and so we are off to the Pacific on a diplomatic mission with clandestine additional motivations. The best, most delightful part of this volume is an almost complete aside from the main plot, however: Maturin indulges his interest in natural history by visiting a volcanic island where Orangutans abound.

Back to the cliff-hanger. I have not had so urgent a desire to read the next in this series since probably somewhere in the first five volumes. I think I overdosed for a while and I also think the quality varies somewhat between volumes in this series, but this one is the best since the tenth, at least.

[Wealhtheow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now that Aubrey is restored to the King's Navy once more, he's off on another mission, this time to Malaysia. His particular friend, Dr.Stephen Maturin, is along to spy on the French's forces in Malaysia. The diplomatic mission goes well, not least because Maturin disgraces and then kills the leading French diplomats. (This plot line is one of those masterful strokes that O'Brian is so excellent at. For the first half of the book, Maturin and Fox often practice their long distance shooting as part of a friendly competition. Later, Maturin befriends an anatomist and has amusingly detached conversations with him. Maturin stays in a brothel and watches the French. All of these minor little background moments come together in one stunning scene, when Maturin turns up on the anatomist's doorstop with an unnamed body with a precise bullet hole, and they dispassionately dissect it. It's stunning and cold.) On the way home, the ship is wrecked on uncharted reefs, and the crew is stranded on a small island.

O'Brian has a talent for the long game, giving little clues and hints that slowly build to a crescendo. He's unafraid of making his characters unlikable, or absurd, which in turn makes them actually far more interesting.

[Moloch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beh, ho fatto un po' fatica, stavolta. Una partenza più lenta del solito, anzi a dire il vero una "falsa partenza", perché la destinazione iniziale, il Sud America, viene frettolosamente cambiata nella Malesia (ora si spiega il titolo), e, se questo dà bene l'idea della totale imprevedibilità della vita sul mare, costringe anche il libro a fare un macchinoso reset quando siamo già quasi a un terzo.
Navigazione tutto sommato povera di eventi e senza nessun combattimento, missione diplomatica in Malesia che si svolge senza che né Stephen né tanto meno Jack vi abbiano gran parte, col solito vizio un po' sconcertante dell'autore di far avvenire svolte importanti nella trama repentinamente e quasi trattandole come dettagli ininfluenti (l'arcinemico Wray muore, ma lo vediamo già cadavere ed è liquidato in poche righe), finalmente un po' di azione nell'ultimo capitolo che getta le basi per la prossima puntata.

Puntata n. 13 insomma un po' carente a paragone di tutte quelle precedenti.

Cari Jack e Stephen, ci rivediamo al prossimo viaggio tra qualche mese!

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's getting harder to rate the Aubrey & Maturin books. While the repetition of key character histories and traits are necessary, they make the early sections of the books at this point a bit of a chore. Yet another storm handled with superb competence by Aubrey. Yet more charming eccentricity exhibited by Maturin.

On the other hand, O'Brian continue to surprise and confound expectations in the way he unspools the narrative. He loops around the crucial political struggle in this book, alluding to it second-hand, but spends many pages on Maturin's zoological discoveries around an ancient Buddhist temple. And O'Brian remains a masterful writer.

Compared to other historical fiction, this is a 5 star novel. Even though it doesn't quite match up to the best in the series.

[Carl Barlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are only so many superlatives, and I risk repeating myself with this thirteenth instalment in the Aubrey-Maturin series. Of course it was read with the smile never leaving my face, my admiration without bounds. The dialogue, the description, the subtlety, the sheer sense of immersion (O'Brian had a time machine: this is proven fact). With this one I noticed a willingness to linger, to take sweet time and enjoy and wonder, to be more prevalent than earlier instalments - for somebody of O'Brian's ability, this only adds to the beauty where such a thing should have been impossible without excess.

Supreme amongst historical novelists. Eating at the high table amongst novelists full stop.

[K.M. Weiland · Rating 5 out of 5]

After more than a year's hiatus from my favorite maritime series, all I can sigh is: I love these stories. Patrick O'Brian may well be the most brilliant man to ever put pen to page. This installment easily bears up to its predecessors, with its subtle humor, nuanced characters, and balanced pacing. Can't wait for the next one!

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

The saga continues, but it's starting to drag. Ended with a real cliffhanger.

cover art: It's so refreshing to have cover art depicting an identifiable scene from the text. This series is much the exception in that most of it's cover art does.

[John Frankham · Rating 5 out of 5]

The thirteenth of 20 in this marvellous series. The GR blurb explains the plot, and a review from Wikipedia about the towering achievement of the book and the series follows after. Read one and you should be hooked!

GR: "In length the series is unique; in quality—and there is not a weak link in the chain—it cannot but be ranked with the best of twentieth century historical novels."—T. J. Binyon, Independent

Captain Jack Aubrey sets sail for the South China Sea with a new lease on life. Following his dismissal from the Royal Navy (a false accusation), he has earned reinstatement through his daring exploits as a privateer, brilliantly chronicled in The Letter of Marque. Now he is to shepherd Stephen Maturin—his friend, ship's surgeon, and sometimes intelligence agent—on a diplomatic mission to prevent links between Bonaparte and the Malay princes which would put English merchant shipping at risk.

The journey of the Diane encompasses a great and satisfying diversity of adventures. Maturin climbs the Thousand Steps of the sacred crater of the orangutans; a killer typhoon catches Aubrey and his crew trying to work the Diane off a reef; and in the barbaric court of Pulo Prabang a classic duel of intelligence agents unfolds: the French envoys, well entrenched in the Sultan's good graces, against the savage cunning of Stephen Maturin."

From Wiki: The uneven pace of re-issues in the US is noted by Kirkus Reviews, who listed this thirteenth novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series after their own reviews of two books much earlier in the series (HMS Surprise and The Mauritius Command, third and fourth in the series respectively). Dr Stephen Maturin is described as "an intellectual counterpoint to Jack's more physical presence."[2] After a nod to the story, they conclude that "the ultimate appeal of the Aubrey/Maturin adventures lies in O'Brian's delicious old-fashioned prose, the wonderfully complex sentences that capture the feel of the sea and the culture of the great warships, all the while sketching with apparent accuracy and truth the early 19th-century world."[2]

Publishers Weekly notes that Aubrey is once again a captain in the Royal Navy and "even a rotten-borough M.P."[4] Maturin's stay in the valley "where he blissfully encounters and studies a variety of tame exotic beasts" is called "charming".[4] They mention that the author's writing style has been compared to that of Jane Austen, and praise the wit of guests at "the dinners (in country house, London, ship's mess, sultan's palace, Buddhist monastery)".[4]

Thomas Flanagan, writing in the New York Times Books was pleased to have discovered the series of novels by virtue of an essay by Richard Snow, "who roundly and with polemical extravagance declared them to be "the best historical novels ever written." Not quite, perhaps." adding that delayed appreciation of the series of novels "is not exclusively American. The British critic Peter Wishart has described the neglect of Patrick O'Brian as a literary wonder of the age, "as baffling as the Inca inability to invent the wheel." Why all the fuss?"[3] The writing style, structure, and plot are remarked favorably, including many incidents of The Thirteen Gun Salute: "The novels display a dazzling receptiveness to language, an understanding of period speech so entire that it never needs to preen itself -- although here and there it does. There is a recklessness with plot that is intentionally subversive of the genre. Climactic scenes are deliberately thrown away, revealed in casual conversation. The narrative pauses to digress on orangutans in Borneo, the cuisine of Portugal, a Mozart quartet. The twists of plot are swift, drastic, on occasion comic, on occasion grotesque: in this novel, Maturin's way of dealing with two English traitors at the Malay court of Pulo Prabang draws casually and lethally on his knowledge of zoology and his skill as an anatomist."[3] Flanagan concludes that "It is a pleasure to read a contemporary historical novel written not by machine but by hand.[3]

Regarding the re-issue of the entire series after publisher W W Norton became interested for the US market, Richard Snow wrote in 1991 that he had read the novels from Master and Commander to Desolation Island from American publishers twenty years earlier. O'Brian's "portrayal of life aboard a sailing ship is vivid and authoritative" and O'Brian presented "the lost arcana of that hard-pressed, cruel, courageous world with an immediacy that makes its workings both comprehensible and fascinating."[1] He noted too that "behind the humor, behind the storms and the broadside duels . . . loomed something larger: the shape and texture of a whole era."[1] As strong as the historical detail was, Snow remarked that "in the end it is the serious exploration of human character that gives the books their greatest power", and he also referred to the poetry of the writing, saying that O'Brian "manages to express, with the grace and economy of poetry, familiar things that somehow never get written down, as when he carefully details the rueful steps by which Stephen Maturin falls out of love."[1] At this time of the re-issues of the novels by W W Norton in the US, Snow recommended that a reader start with the first and keep reading to the last one, then "You will have read what I continue to believe are the best historical novels ever written."[1]

[Jack Abernethy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good as ever, felt like a recap episode because there were so many callbacks to really early books which I thoroughly enjoyed. Slightly disappointed we didn’t get a little more privateering and felt there was a little less emotional relief from that subplot. Really enjoyed the characterization and conflict with Fox but otherwise a slightly slower paced one.

[Jorge Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always a pleasure!

[Sam Chambers · Rating 5 out of 5]

O’Brian wrote 21 Aubrey-Maturin novels, and I vow to read all of them.

[Julie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to Patrick Tull's masterful reading. Of course. :-)

By book 13 you're already heavily invested in the ongoing adventures of captain Jack Aubrey and doctor Stephen Maturin. So I will just say that I treat these as leisurely serial novels, much like the radio shows of old, where the adventures keep the story rolling along and we enjoy the characters' developing lives as much as the main action. This was enjoyable and kept me rolling along to anticipate a leisurely listen to book 14.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another solid entry in the Aubrey-Maturin saga, The Thirteen-Gun Salute finds our seagoing protagonists heading to the South China Sea on a diplomatic mission.

By this thirteenth book, titles are starting to feel more like arbitrary chunks of the ongoing dual biography than discrete novels. A high degree of familiarity with the series is presumed, but for dedicated readers this is part of the charm.

Highlights include Dr. Maturin's sojourn at a Buddhist temple in an isolated volcanic crater -- a naturalist's paradise -- and a frightening encounter with a violent typhoon. All the usual history, politics, humor, espionage, naval sociology and fascinating character studies are here too.

I read this partly in print and partly in the audiobook read by Simon Vance. Though I have a general preference for the work of Patrick Tull, Vance does a good job here with character and narrative.

[WhatShouldIRead · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dull, dull, dull. I could not get into this story with the endless expeditions by Stephen to see all manner of flora and fauna and I heard as much as I would like to know about orangutans. I know this was his cover, but this stuff went on and on and on to the point where my mind wandered, waiting for something else to happen.

The only interesting part was where Jack got his commission back in the Royal Navy and this could have been told in a short story, which perhaps this story should have been.

Disappointed.

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am reporting this book read, but I am re-listening to selected chapters that I enjoyed.

I was disappointed that they changed ships again from The Surprise to The Diane, but gratified that Jack has been re-instated. The spy stuff with Stephen and his old French advisories was a little confusing, and the new Envoy is not a nice guy. The ending caught me off guard after the big blow, but I know that everything will carry on until my turn for the next volume comes off of hold at my library.

[Alan Swift · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another excellent historical novel although I suspect that for those looking for rip-roaring naval action there would be insufficient interest. As others have commented the portion of the book relating Maturin's time at the temple was the most satisfying.

[Deanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes feel that Aubrey takes a back seat to Maturin, spy, surgeon and naturalist. This is one of those books in the series which is more to do with intelligence and shows how cunning Maturin is.