The Thirteen-Gun Salute: Difference between revisions
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==Plot summary== |
==Plot summary== |
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Immediately following The Letter of Marque, the story picks up with Aubrey getting the Surprise underway for the mission to South America. Upon reaching Portugal, however, they are intercepted by Sir Joseph Blaine and Aubrey learns that he is to be reinstated with his former seniority as a Post Captain in the Royal Navy, and given the recently captured French ship Diane, the Surprise to be commanded by Captain Pullings. |
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Aubrey, now a civilian, prepares the Surprise to sail as a privateer. He is bitter and low-spirited about his dismissal, and dreads affronts and disrespectful treatment from naval vessels and their officers. However, he is strongly supported by his crew - notably a group of smugglers and religious fanatics recruited at the little port of Shelmerston (fictional) in south-west England. |
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His new assignment leads us into the story of a venture to the fictitious Malay island of Pulo Prabang, where Fox, an ambitious King's emissary, attempts to win over the local king with a treaty, while the French attempt the same. The French, in this case, are now being openly assisted by the same English traitors who were responsible for Aubrey's disgrace. |
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The downfall of the traitors Wray and Ledward in the previous book has restored order in British intelligence circles, and Maturin - now the owner of Surprise - plans to use her privateering as cover for a covert anti-Spanish mission to South America. The ship is therefore under official protection to an extent and Aubrey's innocence is known privately to many, though the spies are still at large and politics will make his rehabilitation impossible without extraordinary deeds on his part. They depart on a cruise, during which Maturin's servant Padeen becomes a secret laudanum addict after painful dental surgery, diluting Maturin's own supplies with brandy in order to conceal his thefts. Maturin is thus unknowingly weaned off his own addiction. |
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Stephen's work keeps him undercover as a naturalist as he engages in a political duel for influence at the Sultan's court. Although his works are to go unknown, they prove to be invaluable in both undermining the French efforts and finally exacting his revenge on his enemies, the French agents, Ledward and Wray. |
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Surprise takes an enemy privateer and retrieves its valuable looted British cargo of quicksilver, then seven other rich prizes follow. These, together with his success in a cutting-out raid on the French port of St. Martin despite serious wounds, make Aubrey both wealthy again and a popular hero. He is offered the opportunity to seek a free pardon, but angrily declines on the grounds that he is innocent; his friends fear that he has missed his chance of redemption. However, Aubrey's embarrassing father, a fugitive since his part in the stock-jobbing affair, dies, and Aubrey is offered his seat in Parliament by his cousin, who owns the borough. This extra influence is enough for him to receive private assurances that he will indeed be restored to the Navy as soon as the time is right. |
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Ledward and Wray are caught in bed with Abdul, a boy who is the Sultan's cupbearer and catamite, the Sultan having pederast tendencies, though married and fathering a son by his queen. Abdul is gruesomely executed, while Wray and Ledward are banished from the court, effectively ending the French mission. Ledward and Wray are later shot: O'Brian leaves it until well into the following novel to confirm Maturin as the assassin. Maturin dissects their bodies with a fellow natural philosopher and intelligence agent and then reduces them to skeletons by laying their remains on an anthill. |
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Maturin goes to Sweden and meets his wife Diana - he is not surprised to learn that the letter he sent to her via Wray, explaining his apparent infidelity, was never delivered. She has not been unfaithful with Jagiello, and has been supporting herself by ascending in a hot-air balloon. Maturin is seriously injured in a fall after taking his usual dose of laudanum to nerve himself for the meeting, unaware that his tolerance has been reduced by Padeen's actions. Diana nurses him and they are reconciled; when Surprise arrives, Diana embarks with him for home. |
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Returning, Aubrey and the crew of the Diane are shipwrecked on a desert island. Fox and his colleagues decide to sail for Batavia in Dianes pinnace, but are caught in a typhoon and killed. Aubrey's crew decides to stay on the island and build a small schooner from the ship's remains. |
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(Note: the "letter of marque" of the title probably refers to the Surprise herself, rather than the document.) |
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The title refers to the honor that is due to Fox as an official envoy and representative of the King. |
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"Related Article" By Lois Montbertrand, concerns O'Brian's use of A. E. Housman's poem "Bells in the Tower" in this novel; appeared in Housman Society Journal 2002, see [1] |
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==Editions== |
==Editions== |
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*Collins; (1988) |
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*Fontana; Paperback Edition (1989) (ISBN 0006177042) |
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*HarperCollins; Paperback edition (1994) |
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*HarperCollins; B-format paperback edition (1997) |
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*HarperCollins; Paperback edition (2003) (ISBN 978 0 00 649927 5) |
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| ⚫ | |||
==Sources, references, external links, quotations== |
==Sources, references, external links, quotations== |
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Revision as of 19:37, 27 June 2007
| Cover by Geoff Hunt for The Thirteen-Gun Salute. | |
| Author | Patrick O'Brian |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Geoff Hunt |
| Language | English |
| Series | Aubrey-Maturin series |
| Genre | Historical novel |
| Publisher | Harper Collins (UK) |
Publication date | 1989 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) & Audio Book (Cassette, CD) |
| Pages | pages (first edition, hardback) & pages (paperback edition) |
| ISBN | ISBN , (first edition, hardback) & ISBN (paperback edition UK) Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
| Preceded by | The Letter of Marque |
| Followed by | The Nutmeg of Consolation |
Plot summary
Immediately following The Letter of Marque, the story picks up with Aubrey getting the Surprise underway for the mission to South America. Upon reaching Portugal, however, they are intercepted by Sir Joseph Blaine and Aubrey learns that he is to be reinstated with his former seniority as a Post Captain in the Royal Navy, and given the recently captured French ship Diane, the Surprise to be commanded by Captain Pullings.
His new assignment leads us into the story of a venture to the fictitious Malay island of Pulo Prabang, where Fox, an ambitious King's emissary, attempts to win over the local king with a treaty, while the French attempt the same. The French, in this case, are now being openly assisted by the same English traitors who were responsible for Aubrey's disgrace.
Stephen's work keeps him undercover as a naturalist as he engages in a political duel for influence at the Sultan's court. Although his works are to go unknown, they prove to be invaluable in both undermining the French efforts and finally exacting his revenge on his enemies, the French agents, Ledward and Wray.
Ledward and Wray are caught in bed with Abdul, a boy who is the Sultan's cupbearer and catamite, the Sultan having pederast tendencies, though married and fathering a son by his queen. Abdul is gruesomely executed, while Wray and Ledward are banished from the court, effectively ending the French mission. Ledward and Wray are later shot: O'Brian leaves it until well into the following novel to confirm Maturin as the assassin. Maturin dissects their bodies with a fellow natural philosopher and intelligence agent and then reduces them to skeletons by laying their remains on an anthill.
Returning, Aubrey and the crew of the Diane are shipwrecked on a desert island. Fox and his colleagues decide to sail for Batavia in Dianes pinnace, but are caught in a typhoon and killed. Aubrey's crew decides to stay on the island and build a small schooner from the ship's remains.
The title refers to the honor that is due to Fox as an official envoy and representative of the King.
"Related Article" By Lois Montbertrand, concerns O'Brian's use of A. E. Housman's poem "Bells in the Tower" in this novel; appeared in Housman Society Journal 2002, see [1]
Characters in "The Thirteen-Gun Salute"
- Jack Aubrey - Commander of the Polychrest and later appointed Captain of HMS Lively.
- Stephen Maturin - ship's surgeon, friend to Jack and intelligence officer.
- Sophie Williams - Jack's love interest
- Mrs. Williams - Sophie's mother
- Diana Villiers - Stephen's love interest, and one of Jack's mistresses
- Lt. Parker - 1st Lieutenant of the Polychrest
- Lt. Pullings - 2nd Lieutenant of the Polychrest
- William Babbington – midshipman in Polychrest
Ships in "The Thirteen-Gun Salute"
The British
The French
Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science
Literary significance & criticism
Reviews
Editions
- Audio Edition Recorded Books, LLC; Unabridged Audio edition narrated by Patrick Tull (ISBN 0788767178)