Patrick O'Brian - The Ionian Mission

Rating: 5/5

Review:
The eighth in a brilliant series

This is now my third time reading through this brilliant series and I am reminded again how beautifully written and how wonderfully, addictively enjoyable they are.

In The Ionian Mission, Jack's affairs ashore are still in a tangle (to say the least) and he is again  grateful to accept even the command of a dodgy old ship of the line and sail to the Mediterranean.  This book centres around the hard life blockading Toulon and then dealing the complex treacheries of the smaller territories whose alliance is so vital.  It's a fascinating story and although I found myself a little bemused by the intricacies of the politics, another thoroughly addictive one.

Patrick O'Brian is steeped in the period of the early 19th Century and his knowledge of the language, manners, politics, social mores and naval matters of the time is deep and wide. Combined with a magnificent gift for both prose and storytelling, it makes something very special indeed. The books are so perfectly paced, with some calmer, quieter but still engrossing passages and some quite thrilling action sequences. O'Brian's handling of language is masterly, with the dialogue being especially brilliant, but also things like the way his sentences become shorter and more staccato in the action passages, making them heart-poundingly exciting. There are also laugh-out-loud moments and an overall sense of sheer involvement and pleasure in reading.

I cannot recommend these books too highly. They are that rare thing; fine literature which are also books which I can't wait to read more of. Wonderful stuff.