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Review
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
‘In a highly competitive field it goes straight to the top. A real first-rater.’ Mary Renault
Product Description
A breathtaking collection of sea-faring tales.
Set sail for the read of your life …
Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin tales are widely acknowledged to be the greatest series of historical novels ever written.
For the first time ever Patrick O'Brian's famous and much-loved Aubrey-Maturin novels will be available on audio CD - as omnibus editions and split into seven volumes.
Follow the adventures of Jack Aubrey and his ship's surgeon Stephen Maturin. Theirs is one of the greatest friendships in all literature. These collections are a perfect tribute to such a literary achievement and a perfect gift for the O'Brian enthusiast.
Collection One contains Master and Commander, HMS Surprise and Post Captain.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Very well read, Robert Hardy does a fantastic job. Unfortunately, whoever abridged it did so a bit too thoroughly. I doubt that I'd be able to follow the story very clearly if I'd not read the book. Pretty much everything that is not absolutely critical to the plot has been cut, which is a shame because much of the enjoyment in the books is from the host of incidental events and sub plots.
I would have gladly spent a bit more on an unabridged version.
I would have gladly spent a bit more on an unabridged version.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
If you've never read one of Patrick O'Brians Aubrey-Maturin novels I won't be going into the who's, where's and why's of his writing here, you can look that up elsewhere on the internet. I'm going to assume you're familiar with his works and are wondering how they've been translated onto audio.
The answer is - extremely well. Robert Hardy does a wonderful job of reading the novels on this volume, his voice is a pleasure to listen to and matches the material perfectly. He manages to provide a different voice and accent for every character but not in a way that sounds forced or over the top as is my experience with many narrators of audio books. They are obviously second nature to Mr Hardy (who is clearly enjoying himself reading the books) and complement the stories perfectly.
The audio is also punctuated occasionally with classical pieces of the sort Aubrey and Maturin might well enjoy or even play themselves, and often provide a pleasant "full stop" at the end of a chapter.
The only reason this volume doesn't score a full five stars is that the material has been fairly heavily abridged. I've read the first two novels in the series and although I believe all the major events are covered in the audio version, much of the conversation and smaller events are missing. But that said, it's nearly five hours listening per book anyway,so a full unabridged version would be a monster.
But if that's something you can live with, this is a fantastic way of cracking through Mr O'Brians fantastic stories (the central friendship and bantering really comes to life here) and at 14 hours for all three books is well worth the asking price.
The answer is - extremely well. Robert Hardy does a wonderful job of reading the novels on this volume, his voice is a pleasure to listen to and matches the material perfectly. He manages to provide a different voice and accent for every character but not in a way that sounds forced or over the top as is my experience with many narrators of audio books. They are obviously second nature to Mr Hardy (who is clearly enjoying himself reading the books) and complement the stories perfectly.
The audio is also punctuated occasionally with classical pieces of the sort Aubrey and Maturin might well enjoy or even play themselves, and often provide a pleasant "full stop" at the end of a chapter.
The only reason this volume doesn't score a full five stars is that the material has been fairly heavily abridged. I've read the first two novels in the series and although I believe all the major events are covered in the audio version, much of the conversation and smaller events are missing. But that said, it's nearly five hours listening per book anyway,so a full unabridged version would be a monster.
But if that's something you can live with, this is a fantastic way of cracking through Mr O'Brians fantastic stories (the central friendship and bantering really comes to life here) and at 14 hours for all three books is well worth the asking price.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
I would have banked on Robert Hardy being perfect for this but even taking into account the fact that having read the whole series several times I have my own fixed voices in my mind, the accents and mannerisms are not representative of the characters. Worse, they are inconsistent and often incredibly theatrical. This latter point is made worse by the in contrast to a brilliantly measured and toned narrative.
For the very familiar reader of these books, the abridging is too aggressive and for those who are not so - there will be a number of confusions as the pretext to passages is occasionally essential to understanding.
I shall continue to enjoy both actor and author - but separately in their correct places.
For the very familiar reader of these books, the abridging is too aggressive and for those who are not so - there will be a number of confusions as the pretext to passages is occasionally essential to understanding.
I shall continue to enjoy both actor and author - but separately in their correct places.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Ripping yarns
I bought this to listen to in the car on long journeys and I am very pleased. The packaging is robust, CD quality and production with Robert Hardy's excellent reading make them a... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Captain Wingspan
Buy the whole set!
I love these stories and own all seven volumes. I started reading them as text but Robert Hardy has such a perfect voice for these characters that I enjoy the CDs even more. Read more
Published 5 months ago by coffeedrinker
Excellent, with a tiny 'but'.
This really is a wonderful reading... O'Brien's prose and Hardy's delivery is synergy. My only complaint was that I already know the books well, and this is an abridged version... Read more
Published 22 months ago by JWBlatchley
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