"Patriotism, promotion, and prize-money have been described as the three masts of the Royal Navy."- Patrick O'Brian, The Hundred DaysOne more full novel to go in this series and two surprising deaths. This, the 19th novel was published in 1998, 29 years after the first book in the series (Master and Commander) came out (1969). This novel takes place largely in the Eastern Mediterranean, Gibraltar, and the Levant. There were many things about it to love and while this wasn't the best in the serie [...]

4 1/2Said Kent (a Whitehall gentleman), “You will recall that Buonaparte professed himself a Muslim at the time of the Egyptian campaign?” This from the penultimate (19 of 20) novel in O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin series of Napoleonic-era sailing/adventure novels. (For an overview and introduction to this series, see my review of Master and Commander.)At the end of the previous novel (The Yellow Admiral) Aubrey receives a letter, dated Feb 28 [1815] - Napoleon has escaped from Elba. The revi [...]

For the second time (I think) in the series, O'Brian has written an ordinarily entertaining novel rather than something that achieved a bit more. There are minor lapses here and there. Those who cavil at the leaps in plot and the lingering on what sometimes seem like insignificant details haven't been paying enough attention; O'Brian has done this from the beginning. In the past, the swift refocusing of the narrative on surprising events (or the glossing over of major ones--here, the death of a [...]

Many readers have noted that O'Brian's series declines in quality generally at some point in the second ten books. I agree with that, but The Hundred Days is the first volume where I actually almost wished he'd ended the series earlier. The reason for this is mostly in the opening chapter. The clunky exposition in this first chapter is not especially worse than the lame exposition sections in some (not all) of the other books in the series. But I felt shocked and insulted at the way O'Brian uses [...]

What I wrote in my LJ while actually reading it:Warning: heavy spoilers!Do you know what the best remedy is for post-mooting depression? Preserved Killick. God, that man cracks me up. I'm about page 150 in The Hundred Days.And have just reached Stephen's little adventure in the rigging trying to get Jack's telescope back. Oh, they crack me up sometimes.The last thing that happened was us sailing past a whole lot of burning harbours, with the sailors kind of resenting their prize money being burn [...]

Patrick O'Brian is close to the end of the series with this book. There are only one and a half books left and a little bit of the shine and luster have faded. Relatively important characters suddenly die off with very little explanation or impact on the story, Maturin has strangely come to understand the names of sails and the comparative values of different vessels, and much of the narrative involves espionage and the preparations for espionage instead of old fashioned cannon thumping and swas [...]

Not him at his best, I think. O' Brian's very clearly tired at this point, and I think writing just in order to spend more time with the characters, rather than in order to say anything new about them. Still eminently readable, of course, but there's a certain spark that's lacking—not to mention the fact that he elided over the departures of two major characters in a way which made my eyebrows shoot up. There's British reticence, and there's that.I will confess, on a shallower note, to having [...]

Definitely a disappointment--this one fell really flat. It felt disordered, improbable, and apathetic. Lots of conflicting and repeated details, not to mention very little action or real character development and virtually no humor. And then of course there are the deaths. I noticed long ago that O'Brian is possibly the worst author ever for handling death. He just doesn't know how to confront it and make it human. Diana's death (or, more specifically, Stephen's reaction to it) is the closest he [...]

I have to say reading this novel resulted in a bit of a shock to me. Patrick O'Brian uses deus ex machina to address some apparent 'loose ends,' and I shan't say anything further to spoil it for the reader. Superbly plotted and deftly written, "The Hundred Days" refers to the period of time between Napoleon's escape from exile on Elba to his subsequent defeat on the battlefield of Waterloo in June 1815 by the Allies. In that same time frame, our intrepid Royal Navy Captain, Jack Aubrey, now made [...]

Patrick O'Brian, you Son of a BHow can you just kill off one of the most beloved characters in this series, and brush it aside like nothing happened? I get that sudden death is a fact in the British Navy of the Napoleonic wars, but that was ludicrous. I can't believe that, and I'm trying not to spoil the "who" involved, Jack and Steven would have just moved on like he was a landsman. Ok, I'm done venting. Maybe notHere's the problem. This story isn't the most succinct of the series. it's sort of [...]

I cannot tell you how much I love this series. I've been rationing it -- I saved two of the last four for my honeymoon. I'm debating when and how to consume the last two. These books are awesome -- funny, with great characters. If you're just starting out ask someone who's read them before to give you a little primer on what to pay attention to

Repeated from review of Book 1That Patrick O'Brian chose to place his characters on the sea in the not so distant past just raised the hurdle I had to leap to get to know this wonderful author.I had never been enamored with sea stories, didn't much care for European history, and yet was wonderfully taken with this series. The sea is a major character, but history is not greatly illuminated, almost a backdrop to the specific circumstance the characters find themselves in. Which perhaps reflects t [...]

This book was not what I've come to expect of O'Brien. The pacing and characterization were a little off. I had trouble getting through the first hundred pages. Then, the book didn't really seem true to the two main characters. There were a couple of sudden deaths of characters that have been around since the first books--which were then hardly ever mentioned again. I didn't feel that Stephen or Jack reacted to those deaths in realistic ways. I don't care if they are British--no-one's stiff uppe [...]

It was interesting to read this book, written by O'Brian toward the end of his Aubrey-Maturin series, soon after reading HMS Surprise, written much earlier. The Hundred Days fails by comparison. Its plot is weak, disjointed, and wandering. The book deals with a series of relatively minor events occurring during the "hundred days" of Napoleon's return from exile, which return ended in his loss to Wellington at Waterloo. In the book, Aubrey and Maturin fitfully pursue a shipment of gold intended t [...]

This was another 3.5 stars really, a good read, but I still prefer the earlier books in the series. The thing that really stuck out in this one was the death of two important characters, one on land and one at sea. Considering who they were (I won't say to spoil things), I was surprised at how little it seemed to effect the other characters in the book, especially Aubrey and Maturin. One of the deaths you only hear about via idle gossip, the other you witness, but it was abrupt and barely mentio [...]

I didn't enjoy this book as much as I did the previous one.The author tended to ramble on about inconsequential things and when something did happen, it felt like the events were few and far between. As others mentioned, there was a death and we were not privy to any consequences from this nor any reactions. That was disappointing.Still, I enjoy the characters of Jack and Stephen as they always surprise me with their actions. I think these two are probably the most human characters I've read in [...]

hard to write my thoughts about this one without spoilers- so there isn't much to say. This volume is a solid part of the canon. POB was really regaining his footing after a bit of a "drop in intensity". This one pulsed with life. I thoroughly enjoyed it. 3 stars for the unceremonious way the endpoint of one character's long-term trajectory was handled.

What an amazing voyage it has been. It's kind of heartbreaking that it's almost over.

Another in the series where I either couldn't get into the plot or there wasn't much of one to speak of. It seemed to really lack the narrative oomph of so many others in the series.

My favorite character is dead!

This sets out to be another glorious read from Patrick O’Brian. Unfortunately O’Brian chooses to eliminate Stephen Maturin’s wife Diana in such a cursory fashion in the first few pages, it is hard to forgive him and slide back happily into the story. In the previous volume, The Yellow Admiral, we come to know Diana even better than before, and to have such a dashing, independent, colourful personality, with such superlative driving skills, rubbed out via a conversation between two characte [...]

As those with a historical bent will know, the Hundred Days is a commonly used though slightly inaccurate term for the period in which that rascal Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from his island prison on Elba, returned to France, proclaimed himself emperor again, and threatened the peace of Western Europe before being stopped and packed off to a new island prison. That Napoleon failed was directly attributable to a land battle whose name has become synonymous with defeat, but according to the action [...]

And it finally jumped the shark In tutta onestà la morte di Diana non mi è andata giù, come non mi è andato giù il "eh ma la vita continua ! :P " cercando un riavvio della serie con le solite cose che i protagonisti fanno: saccheggiare, incendiare e distruggere le navi francesi (o catturarle per vendere), oppure andare ad osservare uccelli marini o specie, in questo caso, native dell'Adriatico. Non vedo la ragione per porre in ogni libro una disgrazia apparente, per poi volgerla come al sol [...]

I confess it was the movie, 'Master and Commander: The far side of the world' that got me into this series several years ago. Since then, I've read almost all 20 of the 21 book series. There's only the final unfinished manuscript of the 21st book to go. Things that make the series so good:1. The characters of Jack Aubrey and Steven Maturin are so well developed that it's easy to spend time with them. 2. The technical details of the old sailing ships -- not for everyone but fascinating for me. 3. [...]

To those who say the last few in the series of Aubrey/Maturin adventures are weaker than the earlier ones, I say, "Poppycock. Tommyrot." This is another grand story by an incredibly talented story-teller and writer.Just when you think that Mr. O'Brian has run out of plots, he challenges you with yet another one. Just when you think Killick's insouciance has gone too far, O'Brian surprises you. Just when you think you've come to know every seaman well, Mr. O'Brian introduces you to a new and wort [...]

With Napoleon defeated leaving Aubrey without a position and Stephen reeling from heartbreak, they set out on a voyage to South America with the stated purpose of charting and hydrography, but, of course, it's just a cover for a Maturin led intelligence operation to liberate South America colonies. Before they get too far however, Napoleon has escaped and his 100 day reign begins. The Surprise becomes the head of a squadron to harass French shopping in the Mediterranean and forestall Algerian mo [...]

I like the younger Aubrey in previous books better, more energetic and even reckless at times. Too bad everyone had to grow up, even a fictional character cannot be spared. He's become more circumspect.At the same time Maturin has stayed in his own derelict appearance with no hint of self consciousness. How a person can be a surgeon and in a state of filth is a mystery that can only happen in fictions. He is still endearing - sometimes he reminds of Sheldon Cooper in early episodes. There is a p [...]

Missed this one. I find this series readable and very well constructed and researched. Yet I can't say I really like the books that much. The centrality of war making and espionage is always subsumed under much too detailed descriptions of natural history or geography etc etc. Everything is overdescribed and long winded. Some of the conversations in this one - the narwhal's horn - have an inadvertently comic tone out of Bob and Ray. The elaborate conversational style is perhaps historically accu [...]

They had a soft spot in terms of story line and pacing a couple volumes ago. And it has picked back up amazingly over the last couple volumes. Maybe its just because I am getting close to the end of the series that it seem all the better (knowing this adventure will soon end). Either way, onward to finish the series by, well, the next in order

Sort of interstitial, not my favorite of the series. Too, a couple of important deaths go largely un-remarked. And I'm beginning to thing the "the dear old Surprise" is cut from The same cloth as villains in GI Joe cartoons epic damage, this time at the hands of a badly steered Dutch man-of-war, can't sink her.