Good addition to the series, and very sad to know that it is the last one. The edition includes O'Brian's hand written manuscript. I am delighted to have this volume. ( )

A disappointing end to a wonderful voyage. ( )

Patrick O’Brian’s Final Unfinished Voyage of Jack Aubrey, his intended twenty-first book in his Aubrey-Maturin series, picks up shortly after the events of Blue at the Mizzen, with Admiral Jack Aubrey and Dr. Stephen Maturin sailing His Majesty’s Hydrographical Vessel Surprise up the the River Plate in Brazil, for Aubrey to join the South African squadron and formally hoist his pennant as Rear Admiral of the Blue. Along the way, Stephen continues to write a serial letter to Christine Wood, to whom he proposed marriage in the previous novel. In Brazil, the crew finds sentiment much against the Royal Navy, especially as a local uprising is in the works. The Vatican has sent a legate to calm tensions and Jack finds to his great joy that it’s his son, Samuel Mputa, whom he fathered while a midshipman and only met much later in The Reverse of the Medal, and who is recently installed as Papal Nuncio to the Republic of the Argentine.

With the arrival of the South African squadron, Jack repairs aboard HMS Suffolk, hoists his pennant, formally becoming Rear Admiral Aubrey. Finding the ship somewhat undermanned, he endeavors to bring aboard those Surprises who seek employ during the peace. Meeting Commander-in-Chief Admiral Lord Leyton, Jack finds him a hard man, though he avoids any lasting conflict. Sending Surprise and Ringle back to England, Jack sends for Sophie and his girls while Stephen sends for his daughter, Brigid, and his paramour Christine Wood. Unfortunately, Jack’s daughters had not got on with Brigid, but the sea travel gives her time to resist their bullying. From there, Jack takes the time to practice the Suffolk’s guns before he and Stephen repair aboard Admiral Leyton’s ship, there meeting with Captain Miller, a neighbor of Jack’s and cousin to Leyton. Leyton sends them to bring Miller to Saint Helena, where Napoleon now lives in his second exile and where Leyton plans to hold an interview with the former Emperor. Here O’Brian’s typed manuscript ends midsentence, though the handwritten manuscript continues on, describing a duel between Stephen and Captain Miller after Miller assumed an overfamiliarity with Christine Wood.

In many ways, The Final Unfinished Voyage of Jack Aubrey recalls the published collections of J.R.R. Tolkien’s notes or his Unfinished Tales. It gives a sense of how he intended to continue the series prior to his death, with some sections sketched out and others more nearly complete. The book also features both a facsimile of his handwritten manuscript and his typed copy, allowing those who are so inclined to study something of his method as an author. For O’Brian’s longstanding fans, this manuscript offers a pleasant send-off. While it is impossible to say what he intended for his characters’ futures, O’Brian’s manuscript leaves them with hope and a fair wind on the horizon. ( )

This has four stars only because it is unfinished - yet Jack and Stephen sail on together, forever. ( )

*tears*

I started the first book in this series in January, and determined to read through them all by the end of the year. (Could have read them all in a much shorter time, of course, but I wanted to draw it out, and make the experience last as long as possible. But, now its over, and I'm not ready...

This last entry in a wonderful series is only three chapters. Less, really, as O'Brian stopped mid-sentence, and died without finishing it. Still, he left us with all our beloved friends seemingly healthy, and happy, and with much to look forward to. Really, in a way, its the best sort of ending, as the lack of resolution allows the reader the freedom to imagine what happens next. I'm sad that I'll never read another tale of Aubrey and Maturin, and their adventures on the sea, but so very happy for the 20 and a partial volumes we spent together. ( )