Criticism > Contemporary Literary Criticism > O'Brian, Patrick - Patrick T. Reardon (review date 19 December 1993)

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Patrick T. Reardon (review date 19 December 1993)

SOURCE: “Patrick O'Brian's Profoundly Addictive Tales of the Sea,” in Chicago Tribune Books, December 19, 1993, p. 4.

[In the following review, Reardon offers a positive assessment of The Wine-Dark Sea, noting that—although the novels in O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series are similar—each installment remains enjoyable on its own.]

The Wine-Dark Sea, is the 16th in Patrick O'Brian's series of addictively readable Aubrey/Maturin novels of the British Navy at sea and at war in the early 19th Century.

For those already caught in the thrall of the exploits of Captain Jack Aubrey and his particular friend, Stephen Maturin, a surgeon, naturalist and spy of high skills, no more needs to be said. Skip the rest of this review. Go out and buy the book.

For those who have seen the handsomely packaged paperback copies of the series blossoming, seemingly all at once,...

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1. Introduction
2. Principal Works
3. Criticism
   1. John Bayley (essay date 7 November 1991)
   2. Frank Stewart (review date 4 April 1993)
   3. Byron Rogers (review date 10 July 1993)
   4. Michael Dirda (review date August 1993)
   5. Patrick T. Reardon (review date 19 December 1993)
   6. Frederick Pratter (review date 31 December 1993)
   7. John Balzar (review date 2 January 1994)
   8. Thomas McGonigle (review date 2 January 1994)
   9. Elliott Abrams (review date 24 January 1994)
   10. James Hamilton-Paterson (review date 26 December 1994)
   11. Frederick Pratter (review date 2 May 1995)
   12. Katherine A. Powers (review date July 1995)
   13. Sam Pickering (review date Spring 1996)
   14. Thomas R. Edwards (essay date Summer 1996)
   15. John Balzar (review date 20 October 1996)
   16. Edward T. Wheeler (review date 8 November 1996)
   17. Christopher Clausen (review date 16 December 1996)
   18. James Teacher (review date 4 January 1997)
   19. John Mullan (review date 10 January 1997)
   20. Books Magazine (review date October 1997)
   21. Molly Finn (essay date 19 June 1998)
   22. Alan Judd (review date 22 August 1998)
   23. Barbara Everett (review date 4 September 1998)
   24. Martin Jacques (review date 6 September 1998)
   25. Christopher Hitchens (essay date 9 March 2000)
4. Further Reading
5. Copyright