Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
A little mournfully, I’m going to treat myself to listening to #20, Blue at the Mizzen, next week and follow it up with the unfinished fragment. I’ve been rationing myself on these for eight years! I hate to see it come to an end. Although I will, I know, circle back around, it won’t be the same.
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One more chapter to go in
Blue at the Mizzen, read by Simon Vance*.

Oh, how I hate to see these books end. I may even listen to something else first.
That said, part of me acknowledges that maybe it’s just as well; the back end of the series** does not have the quality of the earlier books and now that the war is over…. Essentially, I’d rather have O’Brian leave me (as his death occasioned) than to have me leave Aubrey/Maturin because the books had gone the way of all prolonged series. Because that would be just too sad.
Over the 20 books, my ratings have ranged from three stars to five stars, averaging something over four. But rating the series as a whole? Five solid stars, for the quality and the immense enjoyment the books have given me.
*I agree with Charlie; Tull and Vance are both excellent and I suspect most people’s preference reflects which one they tried first.
**For me, the falling off came at the thirteenth book. And I still gave four stars to two subsequent books of the next eight, but #12 was my last five-star rating. The first 12 books averaged a 4.5 rating, but the last eight averaged only 3.25.