Several days ago, I finished Patrick O’Brian’s The Letter of Marque. Aubrey is temporarily a licensed privateer (the ‘letter of marque’ is written permission from the government to maraud the enemies of the state), commanding the Surprise, now owned by Maturin. While Aubrey’s situation — especially his longing to be re-instated in the Navy — drives the action, Maturin continues to become ever more central to the omniscient narrator’s storytelling. His influence with the government, via one of its intelligence agencies, supports Aubrey in various ways. There remains some wandering about London in this stage of the ongoing tale, but we have three sea voyages of consequence. First, there is a shakedown cruise to the Azores, where Lucky Jack captures a string of prizes, including a cargo with significant quantities mercury, of value for gold mining. The second outing, of most significance to Aubrey’s chances, is cut out a frigate from a French harbor. The target ship’s name, Diana, reminds us that Maturin is married to, if slightly estranged from, Diane. The third trip is to Sweden, to visit Diane… and eventually, as the book ends, bring her back to England.
Twelve volumes down, eight to go. But I’m not looking forward to finishing the series, even though there are many, many books I want to read.