Patrick O'Brian
Book 16 of the Aubrey/Maturin series
The Wine-Dark Sea
The sixteenth volume in the
Aubrey/Maturin series, and Patrick O'Brian's first
bestseller in the United States.
At the outset of this adventure filled with disaster and
delight, Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin pursue an American
privateer through the Great South Sea. The strange color of the
ocean reminds Stephen of Homer's famous description, and portends
an underwater volcanic eruption that will create a new island
overnight and leave an indelible impression on the reader's
imagination.
Their ship, the Surprise, is now also a privateer, the
better to escape diplomatic complications from Stephen's mission,
which is to ignite the revolutionary tinder of South America.
Jack will survive a desperate open boat journey and come face to
face with his illegitimate black son; Stephen, caught up in the
aftermath of his failed coup, will flee for his life into the
high, frozen wastes of the Andes; and Patrick O'Brian's
brilliantly detailed narrative will reunite them at last in a
breathtaking chase through stormy seas and icebergs south of Cape
Horn, where the hunters suddenly become the hunted.
"lf Jane Austen had written rousing sea yarns, she would
have produced something very close to the prose of Patrick
O'Brian." —Time
"They're funny, they're exciting, they're informative. .
. there are legions of us who gladly ship out time and time again
under Captain Aubrey." —The New Yorker
"Addictively readable." —Chicago Tribune
In addition to twenty volumes in the highly respected Aubrey/Maturin series, Patrick O'Brian's many books include Testimonies, The Golden Ocean, and The Unknown Shore. O'Brian also wrote acclaimed biographies of Pablo Picasso and Sir Joseph Banks and 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. He passed away in January 2000 at the age of 85.
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