Reviews for Blue at the Mizzen

The average rating for Blue at the Mizzen based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-09-16 00:00:00 Sebastiaan van Eekeren I re-read the whole series this summer, and I am not coherent or sane in how much I love it. It's one of my favourite series ever. This is the story of two people and their lives together, a captain in the Royal Navy and a surgeon who's also secretly a spy working against Napoleon, and I LOVE THEM OKAY. I LOVE THEM A LOT. I also specifically love this as an end to the series. Clearly, O'Brian himself did not expect to die (even though he was nearly 90: respect, dude). He thought he was going to write about these two forever. I think it was Jo Walton who said that if he'd lived long enough, he'd have written about them sailing to the stars. And he would! I'm still kind of sad that he didn't, in fact, get to do that! But if he had to end, then this is, to me, the perfect ending. The thing is, we have seen their lives, and we know that the greatest thing that Jack could ever want is to die an Admiral of the Royal Navy. And this ends with him knowing, for definite, that that will happen. He gets to fly his flag, blue at the mizzen, and Stephen gets to wish him joy. And I just can't think of anything better.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-07-27 00:00:00 Nick Smith The end of the war had meant that almost all the soldiers and sailors and those multitudes who had kept them in activity were now obliged to find civilian work, and obviously wages dropped, when there were any wages to be had at all. The last completed novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series. Patrick O’Brian died with the next novel partially complete. If you’re a fan of the series, of course you will eventually read this book, no matter what I say. And unless you’re trapped on a desert island with little else to read, only such fanship could recommend the 20th novel in a series. I will admit that this one certainly isn’t as good a read as many of the others, though that is partially due to the situation that Jack Aubrey finds himself in here – an aging post-captain who, now that the Napoleonic War has ended, sees little hope for further advance to the supreme closure of a career in the Royal Navy: selection for flag-rank as “rear-admiral of the blue.” Not only is Aubrey unlike himself in these days: depressed; clearly forcing himself to attend to his duties while lacking his normal ebullience and joie-de-vivre; a loss in interest in playing music; even a loss of appetite! But Steven Maturin too, as his closest friend, is himself concerned and feeling low about Jack’s condition. Moreover, many of the lesser characters who pass through the tale are suffering from various hardships stemming from the decommissioning of vessels and crew downsizings, both a result of the end of the war. If you’ve not heard of the series, or have some interest in finding out more, go directly to my review of the first novel, Master and Commander. Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200. There, you may find a reason to set sail on a reading voyage that will delivery hours, days, months or years of pleasure.