As an O'Brian fan, I'm extremely sad to see the Aubrey/Maturin series end, but what better way to end than in mid sentence. I can picture Patrick O'Brian finishing his daily writing, the writer at his task, and then just stopping. A great craftsman and artist to the finish.
The book itself is every bit as good as his others: nuanced, erudite, intelligent, artful, with extremely well drawn characters and situations. I got the audio book version and the reader, Patrick Tull, is one of the best ever.
21 is truly great and a fitting end to the series and to a life of writing. |