'... full of the energy that comes from a writer having struck a vein... Patrick O'Brian is unquestionably the Homer of the Napoleonic wars.' James Hamilton- Paterson 'You are in for the treat of your lives. Thank God for Patrick O'Brian: his genius illuminates the literature of the English language, and lightens the lives of those who read him.' Kevin Myers, Irish Times 'Few, very few, books have made my heart thump with excitement. H.M.S. Surprise managed it. [O'Brian's] erudition is phenomenal, as is his capacity for creating another completely believable world. I might have given a better idea of this book if I had simply written 600 times the word 'superb'.' Helen Lucy Burke, Irish Times 'As sinewy, and virile as its predecessors, this is a copper-bottomed investment for the numerous fans of Jack Aubrey...we sail breathlessly through perilous seas to the Far East. Vivid and authentic as is Mr O'Brian's mastery of period and life at sea, it is in his creation of characters that he excels.' Sarah Lake, Daily Telegraph
