The Patrick O'Brian Muster Book: Persons, Animals, Ships and Cannon in the Aubrey-Maturin Sea Novels

I must say that my recent purchase of "PO's Muster Book" is worth the investment. I wish I had bought it sooner.I am not quite finished with all 20 and 1/2 volumes of the O'Brian 19th century odyssey, having only finished the first 18, but I became an Aubrey/Maturin junkie after reading the first two novels and watching the movie. Comprehending the wealth of people, places and events, real and imagined, combined with a liberal use of foriegn languages was difficult and intimidating. I was often confused, because I didn't readily remember names and places from one chapter to the next.Fortunately, before I started no. 5, I discovered, through Amazon, the companion books advertized there. I purchased "Sea Of Words", "Harbors And High Seas" and "Patrick O'Brian's Navy". Problem solved. I constantly cross referenced my new literary tools several times a chapter to interpret the rich mix of story and detail woven together in O'Brian's romantic chronology. The downside is that I needed to carry a tote when I went to read at the coffee shop as well as use an extra chair to hold my not so portable library.Recently, I have added "The Patrick O'Brian Muster Book" and I immediately liked using it. Actually, it could be a "stand alone" companion book, except that it is absent of maps, diagrams, pictures or a commentary on the life and times. I know that this type information is beyond the scope of "Muster" by nature, so, my other books are still important to me, just not needed by the night stand.That said, I am pleased with the appearance, organization and thoroughness of "Muster". Formatted like Webster's, it is highly informational and allows quick alphabetical access to the who and the where along with the what and the when not as easily accomplished by the other companion books. I can quickly remind myself of the names and places and not lose track of the story in doing so. Additionally, it lists all O'Brian's books with a Cliff Notes style summary and along with each item is the cross reference of all mentions in the series by book and chapter. It has helpful optional references to deliniate the fact from fiction.While I finish the series and re-read it, as I'm sure I will, "Muster" will be my favorite companion. Now, when I'm reading on the plane, I won't have as much baggage.

If you love the Aubrey-Maturin series, you already appreciate the erudition and exhaustive research is the foundation of Patrick O'Brian's great work. Yes, there are websites that show the routes taken by ships in every volume, and a website that translates all the foreign parts - but here is a very BOOK which you may keep at hand, and, if you are like me, turn to this encylopaedic work to flesh out virtually all of those obscure references that have me marking pages with a dog's ear for later research on Wiki and Google: research I haven't pursued as thoroughly as I'd like. This is a very dense, compact, extremely detailed resource. Buy the Folio Society editions, and buy this.

If you have enjoyed Patrick O'Brians Aubrey/Maturin series, you should get this book. Over the 20 books, it is impossible to keep track of all the characters, unless you keep your own notes on every book. O'Brian loves to bring back characters three of four books past, and I was always rereading the previous books so I could remember who the hell they were and what they did. This book really helps out with that and it has been a time saver. Although it is a little pricey I recommend it. A word of warning though, it can be a spoiler if you read that certain characters die in future books, this happened to me more than once.

This is a new edition of the work formerly entitled "Persons, Animals, Ships and Cannon in the Aubrey-Maturin Sea Novels of Patrick O'Brian". The first edition was a bit rough around the edges, but this one is much more polished. Many errors have been corrected, material has been added on the novels and fragments published after the first edition went to press, and there is now an interesting biographical article on O'Brian himself. Another improvement is a key to abbreviations at the foot of every second page, so you no longer have to scratch your head trying to remember what TGS or WDS stand for.The text shows evidence of a good going-over. Spelling, punctuation, and wording have been cleaned up, and some articles have been expanded; for example, there is now factual information about Lucatellus's balm, where formerly there were only citations of its several appearances in the novels. Some minor errors remain, though: for example, there is no entry for HMS Goliah, which occurs as such (rather than as Goliath) in some editions of "HMS Surprise".As before, Brown's notes about the correspondence of fact and fiction are among the best things in the book. He also does a commendable job of sorting out, as far as possible, the tangled and often contradictory histories of the major characters. (It's said that even Homer nods; and at times O'Brian seems to have been fast asleep.)As in the first edition, Brown seems determined to catalog every named entity in the novels, even those the reader might be expected to have general knowledge of, such as Luke the evangelist, Jesus, and, for that matter, God. This is commendable thoroughness, but one feels that a line might have been drawn somewhere.On the other hand, I don't quarrel with the inclusion of minor figures. When a character appears only once, it's sometimes nice to be able to confirm that. Even an entry like "Grace, Your", although it appears silly at first (it is based on something said to an anonymous person), has some value when the author explains what rank the addressee might have.The book is attractively and durably bound in glossy, color-printed hard covers. Despite the steep price, O'Brian fanatics will want to have it.

A vivid and welvome addition to the "Captain and Commander "series. I wish i had had it when i first started reading it. Gave it as gift to a fellow traveler and she was delighted by the information about the flora and fana encountered in the books.

After dipping in and out of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novels many years ago, I have now embarked on reading the whole series from start to finish. This book is an invaluable companion on such a voyage, especially if like me, the memory is not what it was in the past.You do have to be careful when reading entries to read just as much as you need to know at that moment, as sometimes reading too far into an entry may reveal "spoilers" about future volumes.Well worth the price.

I love it!Incredible detail. If you have not read all the series be aware there are spoilers when looking things up.Not a problem for me as the series is my comfort read.

Very necessary to fully enjoy Patrick O' Brian's outstanding Aubrey/Maturing Series.

Es muy completa y detallada. Excede en mucho una mera sistematización de las personas, lugares y hechos de las novelas, profundizando en el contexto histórico, los personajes y los hechos reales que tienen relación con lo que sucede en las novelas o ayudan a entender mejor la época

Il libro è quello che deve essere ossia un dizionario di tutte le terminologie inerenti / riguardanti il mondo dei libri di Patrick O'Brian. Speravo tuttavia che contenesse anche immagine e approfondimenti invece altro non è che un noiosissimo dizionario. Scelta mia superficiale e sicuramente sbagliata rispetto alle mie aspettative. Starò più attento sui prossimi acquisti di questo genere