Master and Commander

For so long I've looked forward to trying Patrick O'Brian's famous tales of the British Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, and I'm glad I finally did so via Patrick Tull's utterly delightful audio rendition. The novel itself (the first of twenty (!) in the series featuring captain Jack Aubrey and ship's surgeon Stephen Maturin) is full of superb character studies as well as a density of period language and absurdly detailed seamanship that's even more delicious to consume than I expected, all of which are matched by Tull's wonderfully dramatic impersonations, true to person, to naval lingo, and to the variety of accents onboard. Reef the topsails, Mr. Marshall! Set the topgallants! Mr. Pullings, fire as they bear! —Tom (available from our audio download partners at Libro.fm)