"O'Brian's sheer brilliance as a writer constantly dazzles."Irish Times

"in the end it is the serious exploration of human character that gives the books their greatest
power."New York Times Book Review

Captain Jack Aubrey is ashore on half pay without a command, until Stephen Maturin arrives with
secret orders for Aubrey to take a frigate to the Cape of Good Hope under a commodore's pennant,
there to mount an expedition against the French-held islands of Mauritius and La Runion. But the
difficulties of carrying out his orders are compounded by two of his own captainsLord Clonfert, a
pleasure-seeking dilettante, and Captain Corbett, whose severity pushes his crew to the verge of
mutiny.

Earphones Awards recipient Simon Vance was born in England and worked for the BBC for ten years as a radio news announcer and as a narrator for the Royal National Institute for the Blind in London. Besides narrating audiobooks, he is involved in numerous stage-acting projects in the United States and Europe.