The Unknown Shore

O'Brian, Patrick

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1568953607 ISBN 13: 9781568953601

Publisher: Compass Press, 1996

Follows the adventures of two young seamen who are shipwrecked along the coast of Chile in 1740 and are driven to drink and mutiny by a ruthless captain

Review:

The Unknown Shore, something of a sequel to The Golden Ocean, is a fascinating blue-print for the Aubrey-Maturin series. We follow Jack Byron and Tobias Barrow, two unlikely neighbours and close friends in whom we catch glimpses of the heroes of the epic series to come. They set off to sea in 1740 as part of Commodore Anson's fleet to circumnavigate the globe. Byron, a romantic, forceful lad, signs on as a midshipman; Barrow, a strangely educated, scientifically brilliant boy, is running away from his father and wins a commission as a surgeon's mate. Set up in the Wager, which is parted from Anson's squadron and sinks somewhere along the desolate coast of Chile, Byron and Barrow are left to struggle for survival by wits alone, facing mutiny, famine, indifferent natives and lingering infighting. A fully realized hint of the fictional magic to come.

Review:

Immediately and unmistakably O'Brian, with humor both slapstick and subtle, the sea implacably neutral, and his heroes bold rough sketches of Aubrey and Maturin. This and The Golden Ocean are fine forerunners of the grand series, and meeting them now is like being suddenly young again. --Stephen Becker"

Here is an unexpected bonus: a precursor to the Aubrey/Maturin series...with all the charm of the author's mature works. And for those who have been daunted by the prospect of embarking on a 17-volume series, here is the perfect way to test the waters...It has the same elements that mark Mr. O'Brian's more recent works: the wealth of social detail, the quiet humor, the harrowing shipwrecks, the swashbuckling adventures in foreign parts.... From a cozy, well-lighted 20th century home, [Jack and Toby's] travails could not be more delightful to contemplate. --Tamar Lewin"

I haven t read novels [in the past ten years] except for all of the Patrick O Brian series. It was, unfortunately, like tripping on heroin. I started on those books and couldn t stop.--E. O. Wilson"

I haven't read novels [in the past ten years] except for all of the Patrick O'Brian series. It was, unfortunately, like tripping on heroin. I started on those books and couldn't stop.--E. O. Wilson