Captain Jack Aubrey sets sail for the South China Sea with a new lease on life after reinstatement in the Royal Navy. His task is to shepherd Stephen Maturin -- ship's surgeon, sometimes intelligence agent, and now unofficial advisor to His Britannic Majesty's envoy -- on a diplomatic mission.
Links between Bonaparte and the Malay princes would threaten English merchant shipping and must be prevented at all costs. Aubrey and Maturin deal with everything from a killer typhoon to court intrigue on their way to success.
"O'Brian reminds us that the triumphs and disasters of those who were here before us are in fact maps of our own lives." (The New York Times)
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