Entrusted with a secret mission, the perils of the South China Sea await.Entrusted with a secret mission, the perils of the South China Sea await.In the fight against the French, a treaty with the Sultan of Pulo Prabang, a piratical Malay state, may prove decisive. Captain Jack Aubrey and ship’s surgeon Stephen Maturin, along with a hand-picked crew, must survive the dangers of the high forties and convey a diplomatic envoy to ensure this key alliance, but dangers, both natural and man-made, will dog their every move.When echoes of the past return, no one is safe.‘If Jane Austen had written rousing sea yarns, she would have produced something very close to the prose of Patrick O'Brian.'Time‘Written with the most engaging enthusiasm that can’t fail to give pleasure to anybody who enjoys historical adventure flavoured with more than a dash of realism.’Sunday Times‘If O’Brian’s novels have become a cult, this is because they are truly addictive. . . They are, quite magnificently, adventure yarns whose superb authenticity never distracts from the sheer thrill of the action.’Caroline Moore, Sunday Telegraph‘The Aubrey–Maturin novels, by Patrick O’Brian, are so addictive that after I finish one I have to hide the next from myself for a little while in order to do anything else but read.’Louise Erdrich‘In Aubrey and Maturin, Patrick O’Brian has created two of the most enjoyable characters in twentieth-century fiction. Their relationship sustains an absorbing and thrilling sequence of naval stories, unrivalled in their complexity, full of impeccable detail and psychological insight. O’Brian switches from the intimate to the epic with equal assurance. One of the greatest authors to sail with.’Michael Palin‘My hero is Patrick O’Brian. It’s basically impossible to write that well.’David Mamet‘One of the most compelling and brilliant novelists of his time . . . Beyond his superbly elegant writing, wit and originality, Patrick O’Brian showed an understanding of the nature of a floating world at the mercy of the wind and the sea which has never been surpassed.’Max Hastings, Evening Standard‘I devoured Patrick O’Brian’s twenty-volume masterpiece as if it had been so many tots of Jamaica grog.’Christopher Hitchens‘One of the most brilliantly sustained pieces of historical fictional writing this century.’James Teacher, Spectator‘Patrick O’Brian brings depth to his sea-stories with outstanding dialogue, characterisation, humour and a golden thread of romance. You don’t have to love books about naval battles to become entranced.’Katie FfordeAs 'The Thirteen-Gun Salute' opens Jack Aubrey has been reinstated to his command, and he and his old friend Dr Maturin are sailing on a secret mission with a hand-picked crew, most of them shipmates from the adventures and lucrative voyages of earlier years. But Patrick O’Brian’s resourcefulness is a sure warrant that things will not turn out as his readers or characters expect. Twists and turns, sub-plots, echoes from the past, these are the only certainties in this astonishing novel. Distant waters, exotic scenes, flora and fauna to satisfy Maturin’s innocent curiosity as well as scope for his cloak and dagger work enrich its flow. The ending leaves the reader more than usually impatient for its successor.“… Robert Hardy has a consummate knack of giving timbre and atmosphere to everything he reads.”TIME OUTPatrick O’Brian was born in 1914 and published his first book, Caesar, when he was only fifteen. In the 1960s he began work on the idea that, over the next four decades, evolved into the twenty-novel long Aubrey–Maturin series (with an extra unfinished volume published posthumously). In 1995 he was awarded the CBE, and in 1997 he received an honorary doctorate of letters from Trinity College, Dublin. He died in January 2000 at the age of 85.Requires internet connection for purchase, plus iPod or other Audible-compatible player or iTunes software on Mac OS X or Windows• Available for the first time as a downloadable audio file.o A new movie with $150 million budget, starring Russell Crowe and directed by Peter Weir is based on these adventures.o Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series has sold millions of copies. He is one of our greatest novelists ever.Competition: clarissa oakes;post captain;treason’s harbour;desolation island;sharpe’s assassin;war lord;the last kingdom. by;bernard cornwell;julian stockwin;david gilman;alexander kent;allan mallinson;dean king;c. s. forester;dewey lambdin;jay worrall;diana gabaldon
Publicat de: HarperCollins Publishers