Publisher Description
The 13th installment in the Aubrey/Maturin series. Captain Jack Aubrey sets sail for the South China Sea with a new lease on life. Following his dismissal from the Royal Navy (on 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 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. “O’Brian infuses his novels with so much energy, texture and drollery that it’s easy to be swept along for the voyage. Add to this the superb reading of actor Tim Pigott-Smith and you have something approaching audiobook heaven.” ---The Express-Times
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About Patrick O'Brian
Patrick O’Brian (1914–2000), a translator and author of biographies, was best known as the author of the highly acclaimed Aubrey–Maturin series of historical novels. Set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars ,this 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. He wrote acclaimed biographies of Pablo Picasso and Sir Joseph Banks. He also translated many works from the French, among them the novels and memoirs of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean Lacouture’s biographies of Charles de Gaulle.
About Tim Pigott-Smith
Tim
Pigott-Smith is an award-winning English actor of film, television, and stage and an audiobook narrator. He has narrated several notable television documentaries,
including Crimes That Shook the World.
He has won two AudioFile Earphones Awards, for The Honorary Consul by Graham Greene and The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyesvky. He was a three-time finalist for the 2006 Audie
Award for Best Original Work for the three-part Eyewitness series by Joanna Burke. His film career includes roles
in major motion pictures, including V for
Vendetta, Quantum of Solace, The Remains of the Day, Gangs of New York, and more. His
numerous television credits include Downton
Abbey, The Jewel in the Crown, and
North and South. He is also a noted
radio actor, appearing in many productions on BBC Radio 4, and a regular stage
actor in Shakespearean and Greek roles.