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Prolonged Priapism posted:So at my local used book store they have all 20 novels in paperback (same editions too). $6 each. Worth it? I bought them all on an impulse when I found the entire series at 1/2 Price Books. Really shouldn't have at the time as it made me broke until my next check, but as many times as I've re-read them, totally worth it.
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Nov 14, 2014 03:49
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Prolonged Priapism posted:So at my local used book store they have all 20 novels in paperback (same editions too). $6 each. Worth it? You can probably find a set for cheaper on ebay (that's how I got mine), but I would buy at that price, particularly as you can see the condition first hand, rather than relying on descriptions.
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Nov 16, 2014 05:59
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I bought mine in threes and fours via Amazon, averaged $4 per but none of them match. It would have been much cooler to have all of the spines match since they went through all the trouble with the cover art.
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Nov 17, 2014 20:54
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Dielectric posted:I bought mine in threes and fours via Amazon, averaged $4 per but none of them match. It would have been much cooler to have all of the spines match since they went through all the trouble with the cover art. I have I think 17 books in the Norton edition. And then I have 3 that are the UK version, which of course don't fit at all with the others. Unfortunately Norton changed the look of their books now, so I'm a bit out of luck getting them match up. At least it's not like with the German ones, which changed look (and translator) every few books and ended the hardcover edition completely somewhere around book 15. These books were the main reason why I started buying and reading English books back in the early 2000s, when it still was a pain in the rear end and very expensive to get them. I can't thank Amazon enough to make it a breeze to get them now (nor Donna Leon for recommending them in a Der Spiegel article in 1998).
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Nov 19, 2014 08:04
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I bought the awesome hardcover boxed set that condenses all the books into 5 exquisite bound volumes with nice placemarking ribbons.
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Nov 19, 2014 13:14
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I'm halfway through 18 and it's starting to read like Jack Aubrey's Horrible No Good Very Bad Day.
Arglebargle III fucked around with this message at 05:22 on Nov 20, 2014 |
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Nov 19, 2014 14:38
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I saw a (mounted) Potto and a Hoopoe in a natural history museum last week, and now I know why Stephen was so excited about them.
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Nov 20, 2014 03:57
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In 18, I must have missed something: how did Maturin get his fortune back after it was seized by the bank in Spain? Oh my god Diana and Clarissa giving Sophie The Talk at ~38. I had forgotten how funny these books could be. Arglebargle III fucked around with this message at 05:42 on Nov 20, 2014 |
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Nov 20, 2014 05:28
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Arglebargle III posted:In 18, I must have missed something: how did Maturin get his fortune back after it was seized by the bank in Spain? He didn't have the right forms signed to transfer his money over, so it never happened.
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Nov 20, 2014 05:30
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Raskolnikov2089 posted:He didn't have the right forms signed to transfer his money over, so it never happened. He signed the form to his bank transferring money out "Stephen" and the letter to Diana "THIS IS REALLY MY LEGAL SIGNATURE, DR STEPHEN MATURIN, DDS" and his bankers were like "I heard you wanted all the gold you put in our bank back but sorry "Stephen" if that even is your real name, you need that poo poo notarized or at least use your full name. PS thanks for the continued use of your loot." The Lord Bude posted:I bought the awesome hardcover boxed set that condenses all the books into 5 exquisite bound volumes with nice placemarking ribbons. My favorite books. 
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Nov 20, 2014 05:42
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No that was a different thing. What you're talking about was back when Jack advised Stephen to transfer his money to a country bank before they left on their circumnavigation covered in Reverse of the Medal to Wine-Dark Sea. They got the news about the bank failing in Australia, and then when they finally got back it turned out like you said. What I mean is in The Commodore, book 17, when Lord Haverbacksdale (sp?) discovers that Stephen, whom he knows killed Wray and Ledward (sp?) is guilty of returning two transported convicts and possibly treason from his involvement in the Irish rising, he brings an accusation in court. Stephen has to whisk his chests of gold from London to Spain before the case comes to court and his assets are frozen. He borrows Jack's schooner and takes his gold from London to Coruna I think, where he puts it in the bank. Then while they're off the coast of Africa taking slavers Dutord gets back from South America and denounces Stephen as the prime mover in the Peruvian independence conspiracy. So even though Haverbacksdlaghdsd kills himself and that ends the suit, Stephen can't go back to Spain to get his gold (I'm not sure if it was actually seized) and in the beginning of 18 Stephen mentions to Sir Joseph Banks that a) he lost the receipt for the bank in Coruna but then remembered he left it on Bellona or something and b) he has to borrow money from Jack, who can't lend him any because he's getting sued very successfully by slavers he captured illegally. Then like ¾ of the way through 18 Banks mentions to Stephen that he's rich again, and when he gets back Stephen tells Diana he found the receipt and everything's in order again so she can unpawn her diamond. What I don't understand is how he ever got the money from the bank in Coruna if he's wanted in Spain. Like I said I must have missed something. I know he went on a ride through Spain with Diana, Padine, Clarissa and Bridget, but I thought they were avoiding the authorities. I got a bit misty-eyed when Stephen listening through the door caught Bridget talking to Padine. I was really worried all through their trip to Australia and Peru that the unnamed problem with Bridget would turn out to be fetal alcohol syndrome.
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Nov 20, 2014 06:19
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Arglebargle III posted:
Oh, if you don't get bleary-eyed there you've a cold-stone heart. To your question When Stephen catches the spy in Blaine's house, the spy is a Spanish royal (or something like that, working from memory) dilettanting as a spy. The Spaniards essentially pay the money back in ransom to keep the guy un-hung and get him back safely. .)
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Nov 20, 2014 06:40
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I don't recall an explicit explanation but they caught the Spanish agent, Don Diego Diaz, with his "grand connexions," burgling Joseph Blaine's library - and then there are "negotiations" and Stephen shows up at the Aubreys dressed like a peacock. I think maybe some leverage was applied. e: Yeah.
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Nov 20, 2014 06:43
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I like how Clarissa and Diana tell Sophie to have an affair with this guy that they know to learn how to do the deed better and Diana slightly later mentions to Stephen how surprisingly literal-minded Sophie is.
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Nov 20, 2014 11:10
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MAJOR SPOILERS: I can't believe Diana fell in a river and drowned while Stephen and Jack were away. Looks like Stephen can't believe it either.
Arglebargle III fucked around with this message at 03:48 on Nov 23, 2014 |
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Nov 22, 2014 15:07
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There's a game out called Naval Action that's about this very era (even has the Surprise). I've made a thread for it. I thought I heard about it in this very thread, but I couldn't find the post.
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Nov 23, 2014 02:17
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Colonial Air Force posted:There's a game out called Naval Action that's about this very era (even has the Surprise). I've made a thread for it. I've been playing Sails of Glory on the tabletop and it's pretty neat. I've been waiting for a good age of fighting sail computer game for ages though.
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Nov 23, 2014 07:35
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AlphaDog posted:I've been playing Sails of Glory on the tabletop and it's pretty neat. I love Sails of Glory. Need to buy some more ships, though....
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Nov 23, 2014 14:02
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Is it pathetically spergy that what I really want is more of a quarterdeck simulator than an age of sail fighting game? I don't even think I would want ship-to-ship combat to be the focus, rather just sailing to different ports and such. "Helmsman, make your course south by south west." "Leadsman to the chains!" etc...
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Nov 24, 2014 17:42
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Murgos posted:Is it pathetically spergy that what I really want is more of a quarterdeck simulator than an age of sail fighting game? I don't even think I would want ship-to-ship combat to be the focus, rather just sailing to different ports and such. For that kind of thing you could try Sunless Sea by Failbetter Games.
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Nov 24, 2014 21:57
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For PC, the Port Royale games are nice. You got some cotton! Trade it for Wool! You have wool, trade it for beer! Oh no, pirates! Sail away quickly!* (*I may never have gotten as far as actually fighting pirates and spent most of my time with it trading planks for beer)
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Nov 24, 2014 23:50
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Arglebargle III posted:MAJOR SPOILERS: I can't believe Diana fell in a river and drowned while Stephen and Jack were away. Looks like Stephen can't believe it either. I'm always a bit torn about that scene. On the one hand such things happen. Sudden, unexpected death on the road taking away loved ones from one second to the next is after all rather common. On the other hand killing Diana (and Ms. Williams) off unceremoniously between books, especially by the one thing she's always excelled at - driving a coach dangerously fast - reeks a lot like getting rid of a stale character to free Stephen for further story developments.
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Nov 27, 2014 07:20
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Decius posted:I'm always a bit torn about that scene. On the one hand such things happen. Sudden, unexpected death on the road taking away loved ones from one second to the next is after all rather common. On the other hand killing Diana (and Ms. Williams) off unceremoniously between books, especially by the one thing she's always excelled at - driving a coach dangerously fast - reeks a lot like getting rid of a stale character to free Stephen for further story developments. I think that he wrote it like that because his own wife died when he was writing that book.
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Nov 27, 2014 15:19
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Hogge Wild posted:I think that he wrote it like that because his own wife died when he was writing that book. Bingo. I've always thought that the whole tone of The Hundred Days was in a minor key as it were.
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Nov 28, 2014 15:03
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I read the Hornblower series as a kid, then later started and put down one of the Aubrey books (HMS Surprise, I think), but I always found the original documents from the era to be better reading than the novels. With the BBC Radio 4 broadcast of one of the series I was interested in picking up one of the Aubrey-Maturin books again. Besides reading/listening to them all in order, is there a good book to start out with in the series? I'm taking a long car trip this January to get to the Battle of New Orleans bicentennial, and a good period adventure would help kill the time. For other books, I really have to recommend Melville's "White Jacket". It's a pretty unique look at life on an American frigate on a seemingly endless voyage around the world in the 1840s. Not much at all had changed from the navy of the 1790-1810s. I also really like "Trafalgar: An Eyewitness Account of a Great Battle" edited by Stuart Legg. It collects in chronological order excerpts from many different gun-deck level personal accounts of the battle. I could probably dig up many more historical accounts worth reading if people are interested, but I have a lot less knowledge about good frigate novels set in the period.
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Dec 11, 2014 05:33
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khamul posted:I read the Hornblower series as a kid, then later started and put down one of the Aubrey books (HMS Surprise, I think), but I always found the original documents from the era to be better reading than the novels. With the BBC Radio 4 broadcast of one of the series I was interested in picking up one of the Aubrey-Maturin books again. Besides reading/listening to them all in order, is there a good book to start out with in the series? I'm taking a long car trip this January to get to the Battle of New Orleans bicentennial, and a good period adventure would help kill the time. I'd encourage you to read them in order. The first book is one of the better ones in any case, and an excellent starting point.
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Dec 11, 2014 05:50
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Master and Commander is probably the best single entry in the series and introduces a ton of recurring characters so you might as well start there. I have a weird fondness for Desolation Island.
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Dec 11, 2014 05:51
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khamul posted:I read the Hornblower series as a kid, then later started and put down one of the Aubrey books (HMS Surprise, I think), but I always found the original documents from the era to be better reading than the novels. With the BBC Radio 4 broadcast of one of the series I was interested in picking up one of the Aubrey-Maturin books again. Besides reading/listening to them all in order, is there a good book to start out with in the series? I'm taking a long car trip this January to get to the Battle of New Orleans bicentennial, and a good period adventure would help kill the time. Start from the first one. Skim as necessary. It won't matter, you'll re-read them all eventually.
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Dec 11, 2014 06:06
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Right then, I'll start with the first book. Does the series ever get into the larger fleet actions of the period or does O'brian mostly stick with the cruisers?
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Dec 11, 2014 06:35
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khamul posted:Right then, I'll start with the first book. Does the series ever get into the larger fleet actions of the period or does O'brian mostly stick with the cruisers? Mostly sticks to the cruisers; they miss Trafalgar, oddly enough. There are a few points where they watch fleet actions with telescopes, but I think the two largest actions they find themselves directly involved in are based on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Pulo_Aura and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_5_October_1804. One whole book is based on the Mauritius campaign so there are multi-ship actions in that one as well.
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Dec 11, 2014 06:40
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Fleet actions just sound hard to describe. It's a recurring comment from characters that have experienced them which they can't see or hear much beyond their ship and station once the battle really gets started.
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Dec 11, 2014 07:15
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That's true. I imagine also that serving with the main fleets was one of the least-liked duties of frigate captains, since it restricted what they could catch in terms of prizes. Most of the time the frigates attached to the fleet served as outriders, scouts, and relay vessels for signals. It makes reading about the Great Lakes battles during the War of 1812 very interesting though, since both sides used frigates, brigs, and schooners as line-of-battle ships. At the Battle of Plattsburgh, for instance, the Americans managed to do exactly what the French failed to at the Battle of the Nile, with disastrous effects on the British squadron.
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Dec 11, 2014 16:28
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I really enjoyed this series, and also the Horatio Hornblower series, but I'm just over halfway through the Alan Lewrie series by Dewey Lambdin and I am enjoying it even more. If Horatio Hornblower is Captain Picard, Alan Lewrie is Captain Kirk.
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Dec 19, 2014 02:52
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I'm making my way through my Aubrey-Maturin audiobooks again for, like, the fifth time. I have every book narrated by Patrick Tull, and I just love that man. I'm almost through Sense and Sensibility and Sailors, and I can't get enough of the bees in Lively's great cabin. There is so much ignorant prejudice against bees in a dining room.
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Dec 19, 2014 03:48
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CroatianAlzheimers posted:I'm making my way through my Aubrey-Maturin audiobooks again for, like, the fifth time. I have every book narrated by Patrick Tull, and I just love that man. I'm almost through Sense and Sensibility and Sailors, and I can't get enough of the bees in Lively's great cabin. They drank to the sentiment in three times three, bumpers all around.
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Dec 19, 2014 17:09
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NotWearingPants posted:I really enjoyed this series, and also the Horatio Hornblower series, but I'm just over halfway through the Alan Lewrie series by Dewey Lambdin and I am enjoying it even more. It's strange, but after Aubrey/Maturin, I just couldn't re-read Hornblower. They're fantastic books, but for me they just don't hold a candle. I'll give Alan Lewrie a try.
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Dec 19, 2014 17:59
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Raskolnikov2089 posted:It's strange, but after Aubrey/Maturin, I just couldn't re-read Hornblower. I agree, I read Hornblower first as a teenager and usually the books I read during that period, no matter how flawed, have a special place for me where they just seem better than other books. I tried going back to Hornblower after my latest read through of O'Brian and it's just not there. Too, cliche? Too shallow? I don't know, somethings missing. Anyway, I think a good case could be made that Aubrey is Kirk and Maturin is an amalgam of Spock & McCoy.
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Dec 19, 2014 20:53
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Are there any of these novels written from a French perspective? It would be kinda neat seeing what a French frigate captain and crew would do.
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Dec 20, 2014 17:23
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Much more time spent describing food, much less time practicing gunnery. 
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Dec 20, 2014 19:38
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Ugh. Man, I know I've read/listened to these books a dozen times already, but I just can't with Mrs. Williams. Seriously, gently caress that woman. this mother is the most unromantic beast that ever urged its squat thick bulk across the face of the protesting earth
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Dec 20, 2014 20:32
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