Desolation Island
Aubrey/Maturin Series, Book 5
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Narrated by:
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Tim Pigott-Smith
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By:
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Patrick O'Brian
About this listen
Sent to rescue Governor Bligh, former captain of HMS Bounty, Jack Aubrey sets off for Australia in the Leopold with his friend, Stephen Maturin, and a hold full of convicts in this fifth of the Aubrey/Maturin series.
A beautiful and dangerous spy lurks among these prisoners, as does an even more lethal traveling companion, gaol fever, a treacherous disease that decimates the crew. With a Dutch man-of-war to windward, the under-manned, outgunned Leopold sails for her life into the freezing waters of the Antarctic. There in mountainous seas, the Dutchman closes.
"Good history, espionage, romance and an action at sea that for sheer descriptive power can match anything in fiction." (The Guardian)
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"O'Brian is not that hard a taste to acquire, but he is very tough to shake...[the Aubrey/Maturin series] is a great work." (Boston Globe)
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Wise, Perceptive, Heart-breaking
- By S. Coldsmith on 04-16-16
By: Barry Unsworth
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Billy Budd
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Peter Joyce
- Length: 3 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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On one level...Melville’s tale is an historical adventure telling the story of life aboard ship shortly after the mutiny at Spithead in 1797. Billy is taken from a homeward bound merchantman to serve on the ‘Seventy Four’ HMS Indomitable. He falls foul of Claggart, the ‘Master at Arms’, and the final confrontation results in death. Billy becomes an unwilling martyr - what passes for justice must be implemented because of the rebellious climate of the time.
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Well done, a pleasure to listen to!
- By Kindle Customer on 10-17-18
By: Herman Melville
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The House of the Four Winds
- One Dozen Daughters, Book 1
- By: Mercedes Lackey, James Mallory
- Narrated by: Emily Sutton-Smith
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
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The rulers of tiny, impoverished Swansgaard have twelve daughters and one son. While the prince’s future is assured, his twelve sisters must find their own fortunes. Disguising herself as Clarence, Princess Clarice intends to sail to the New World. When the crew rebels, Clarice/Clarence, an expert with rapier and dagger, sides with the handsome navigator, Dominick, and kills the cruel captain. Dominick leads the now - outlawed crew in search of treasure in the secret pirate haven known as The House of the Four Winds.
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Solid story, but this one is popcorn
- By Phillip on 09-19-14
By: Mercedes Lackey, and others
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Sailing Alone Around the World
- By: Joshua Slocum
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Joshua Slocum was believed to be the first man to sail single-handed around the world. After a distinguished career, where he worked his way up from cabin boy to captain, Joshua Slocum wrecked his ship off the coast of Brazil. Turning this catastrophe to his advantage, he built a sailing canoe from the wreckage and sailed back to New York. Moreover, he wrote Voyage of the Liberdad, a chronicle of his trip, and earned some literary success.
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A REMARKABLE MAN
- By Rod on 05-03-06
By: Joshua Slocum
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The King's Coat
- By: Dewey Lambdin
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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It is 1780, and 17-year-old Alan Lewrie is a brash, rebellious young libertine. So much so that his callous father believes a bit of naval discipline will turn the boy around. Fresh aboard the tall-masted Ariadne, Midshipman Lewrie heads for the war-torn Americas, finding - rather unexpectedly - that he is a born sailor, equally at home with the randy pleasures of the port and the raging battles on the high seas. But in a hail of cannonballs comes a bawdy surprise.
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"Sex, Swords, Sailing Ships"
- By Andrew on 05-16-10
By: Dewey Lambdin
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Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates
- By: Howard Pyle, Merle Johnson
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Merle Johnson has here gathered together in one volume all of the nineteenth-century author-artist's classic pirate stories that had been scattered through many magazines and books. Well researched and with richly drawn characters, Pyle's work will appeal to students of history and adventure lovers alike.
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Fascinating and wonderfully read
- By Fletch on 09-08-06
By: Howard Pyle, and others
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A High Wind in Jamaica
- By: Richard Hughes
- Narrated by: Michael Maloney
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Set in the 19th century against a backdrop of island life and the vast surrounding seas, A High Wind in Jamaica is the gripping story of the Bas-Thornton children, whose parents send them back to England following a hurricane in the postcolonial Caribbean they call home. Having set sail, the children quickly fall into the hands of pirates. As their voyage continues, things take an awful turn
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Prose that reads like a Child's Fever Dream
- By Darwin8u on 01-02-17
By: Richard Hughes
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The Captain of the Pole Star
- By: Arthur Conan Doyle
- Narrated by: B. J. Harrison
- Length: 1 hr and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Word goes among the crew of the Pole Star that the captain is haunted by demons. And after the days turn into weeks in the frigid Arctic Ocean, stories begin to circulate of ghosts and midnight hauntings.
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Conan Doyle wrote more than Mr. Holmes.
- By Kristi R. on 11-14-11
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The Shadow-Line
- By: Joseph Conrad
- Narrated by: Fred Williams
- Length: 4 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Written at the start of the Great War, when his son Borys was at the Western Front, The Shadow-Line is Conrad's supreme effort to open man's eyes to the meaning of war through the stimulus of art. In many ways an autobiographical narrative, this masterpiece of his final period relates the story of a young and inexperienced sea captain whose first command finds him with a ship becalmed in tropical seas and a crew smitten with fever.
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A Reflexion on Maturity
- By Darwin8u on 01-05-17
By: Joseph Conrad
What listeners say about Desolation Island
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- P. McBride
- 05-07-16
Narrator's accents are annoying
I love the book, but not Piggot-Smith's narration. The Irish accent he lends Maturin is distracting, and his American accent for Mrs. Wogan is worse. Far worse. I much prefer Simon Vance's narration of this series.
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Overall
- Amazon Customer
- 06-27-03
good book
I read this series several years ago, and when I say it available on Audible, I was very happy. I prefer unadbridged versions, but this one was abridged quite nicely, without taking away from the story. If you want to know what the sailors life was like during the late 1700's early 1800's this series of books is unsurpassed. I only give it 4 of 5 because: its abridged, and at 5 hours, it could be priced a little lower.
Tim Pigott-Smith does a good job of narration, making the book enjoyable to listen to.
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall
- K. Ray
- 11-14-04
Great news, good news, bad news
The great news is that this is a terrific series, as you can tell by reading the reviews of other titles. It is fun. It is easy to listen to. Even the naval jargon becomes clearer as you go through the stories.
The bad news about this particular audiobook is that it is abridged. The books follow a rhythm, like a voyage, and abridgement destroys that. Also, you are always wondering what you missed.
The good news is Tim Pigott-Smith, who is the best of the readers. For the accents of the characters, particularly, he is just right!
Overall, it's worth the abridgement to get the excellent narration.
Now, UNabridged AND Tim Pigott-Smith..... wow.
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2 people found this helpful