Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • The Mauritius Command

  • Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 4
  • By: Patrick O'Brian
  • Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
  • Length: 12 hrs and 56 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (997 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
The Mauritius Command cover art

The Mauritius Command

By: Patrick O'Brian
Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.00

Buy Now for £16.00

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Men-of-War cover art
Mr Midshipman Hornblower cover art
Midshipman Bolitho cover art
The King's Coat cover art
Kydd cover art
The Iron Pirate cover art
The Torrid Zone cover art
The First to Land cover art
Storm Front cover art
Jack Tar cover art
Into the Wilderness cover art
Taliesin cover art
The Shores of Tripoli cover art
The Last Best Hope cover art
By the Mast Divided cover art
Deadly Nightshade cover art

Summary

In The Mauritius Command, Captain Jack Aubrey is ashore on half-pay without a command until his friend, occasional intelligence agent Stephen Maturin, arrives with secret orders for Aubrey to take a frigate to the Cape of Good Hope under a Commodore's pennant. But the difficulties of carrying out his orders are compounded by two of his own captains: one a pleasure-seeking dilettante, the other liable to provoke the crew to mutiny.

Based on an actual campaign of 1810 in the Indian Ocean, O'Brien's attention to the detail of early 19th-century life ashore and at sea is meticulous. This tale is as beautifully written and as gripping as any in the series; it also stands on its own as a superlative work of fiction.

©1977 Patrick O'Brian (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about The Mauritius Command

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    778
  • 4 Stars
    170
  • 3 Stars
    39
  • 2 Stars
    7
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    739
  • 4 Stars
    113
  • 3 Stars
    17
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    642
  • 4 Stars
    171
  • 3 Stars
    50
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Chapter 9 fixed. Excellently read.

Fear not.

Purchased reluctantly due to reviews suggesting chapter 9 was missing, however Chapter 9 is now present and well.

Jerrom captures spirit of each character so well, whilst avoiding being too comical. Terrific job.

I need not recommend the story itself. These books are without peer.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful

If you've got to book 4, you probably know the Aubrey-Maturin series and you'll enjoy this as much as any of the others. My only comment concerns Ric Jerrom's reading of it - either I've got used to him or this is the best yet. Or both. Only a lost star for the grisly attempts at McAdam's Northern Irish accent. Otherwise superb.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story and reading spoilt by 197 chapters

Excellently read, this (4th in the series) is well up to the high standard of the Aubrey-Maturin sequence, but almost wrecked (ha) by the absurd division into 197 tiny chapters, which makes it a dreadful voyage of exploration every time one loses one’s place, and makes the timer setting to the end of a chapter unusable.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The end of chapter nine is missing.

Any additional comments?

Terrific vocal work by Ric Jerrom, who was an inspired choice for the Aubrey/Maturin novels.

Unfortunately due to a production error the end of chapter nine was missing in its entirety.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

bad chapterisation

book is good but audibile have not followed the chapters but instead have inserted random chapters at a few minutes interval.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

chapter 9 missing a part!

A fantastic book, but it's missing the last part of chapter 9! which is the part that ties the last chapter together!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant story, but you'll need the book too

An outstanding performance of a splendid story, marred only by the strange lack of the second half of chapter 9 because of a technical fault. Very surprised that this has not been remedied by the publisher.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Jerrom’s accents rip through the nautical lexicon..

..which constitutes O’Brian’s prose, like a thundering broadside through a French Man o’War.

The trick to enjoying O’Brian’s novels is knowing just enough of the dense terminology to pick out the brisk plot and deep character within. This is helped immeasurably by Jerrom’s turning of the narrative into an absolute stage production of voices, accents, invective and partois; delivered with verve and affection for the material. Nobody else does ‘surly belligerent sea dog currently three sheets to the wind’ with quite such humour and commitment.

Close your eyes and you can almost feel the sea air on your face. A book, and a production to get lost in -23rd August, 2.24am

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

enjoyable romp but.........

An enjoyable romp but 'Stephen ' does waffle on a bit and when he goes off on one of his discourses I switch off for a while.
I find that as the series of books (although very good) go one 'so does Stephen' !
The narrator does a really good job and this adds to the enjoyment. The description of life onboard is so good as to transport you far and wide, along with the crew !

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

My favourite since the first book

The first book was full of character development and real Naval story. Since then it's been good but too much of a soap opera too. This book had less of the latter which to me, puts this back on form.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful