His malevolence ensures the victory brings Aubrey and his crew no official recognition, promotion, or significant prize money. However, Captain Harte, the commandant at Mahon, has a grudge against Aubrey, who has been having an affair with his wife. After a number of prizes are taken, they meet and defeat the Cacafuego, a Spanish frigate, losing a number of crew, including Dillon, in the bloody action and gaining the respect of other naval officers. As he does, he and the crew explain many naval matters to Maturin, (and thus to the reader) since the doctor is a novice sailor.Īfter the convoy duties, Lord Keith allows Aubrey to cruise independently, looking for French merchants. During their journey east, the new captain takes the opportunity to get to know his sailors and to weld them into a fighting unit. He makes her ready to sail in convoy with twelve merchant vessels. He persuades Maturin to serve, at least on a temporary basis, although as a physician, he is overqualified for the job.Īlso introduced are Master's Mates(Senior Midshipman) Tom Pullings, William Mowett and midshipman William Babbington, who become long-term fixtures in the series, and James Dillon, Sophie's first lieutenant, who is also a member of the United Irishmen along with Stephen.Īubrey improves the Sophie's sailing qualities by adding a larger spar to her mainmast, enabling him to spread a larger mainsail. As 'Master and Commander', and in charge of the tiny sloop-of-war HMS Sophie, Aubrey has to fill out his crew, including the post of ship's surgeon. His joy overcomes his animosity towards Maturin and after coffee at 'Joselito's Coffee House' they become fast friends. On his return to his lodgings, Aubrey finds that he has been given a command and promoted to the rank of commander. Maturin elbows Aubrey in the side to quiet his humming while they are listening to the quartet and almost provokes a duel. Jack Aubrey, a lieutenant languishing in port without a ship, on half pay, depressed and indebt, and Stephen Maturin, a penniless half-Irish, half-Catalan physician and natural philosopher, meet for the first time at a soirée at the Govenor's House. It is April 18, 1800, in Port Mahon, Minorca, at that time a base of the Royal Navy. Whoever climbs aboard the new film’s cast and crew will have large shoes to fill.Master and Commander is the first book in the Aubrey-Maturin series. Hopefully Russell Boyd returns as cinematographer for the prequel, though no names have been attached to the film aside from Patrick Ness, who is reportedly working on the screenplay.
#MASTER AN DCOMMANDER MOVIE#
The movie remains one of the most visually stunning films ever made. In a year when The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was the 800-pound gorilla at the Oscars, Master and Commander raked in a whopping 10 Academy Award nominations and took home wins for best cinematography and best sound editing. And with so many books to draw from, it was just a matter of time before another movie got made. With a story so compelling, it’s no surprise the movie adaptation was a commercial and critical success. O’Brian has been compared to literary giants Herman Melville and Joseph Conrad for the fiction series. Jack Aubrey, played by Russell Crowe in the film, and ship’s surgeon Stephen Maturin, played by Paul Bettany, as they wage war on the high seas against French privateers.
#MASTER AN DCOMMANDER SERIES#
Master and Commander was adapted from Patrick O’Brian’s 20-book series about naval combat during the Napoleonic Wars.