Add me to the list of people singing the praises of O'Brian's Aubreyiad. I immediately thought of it upon reading the title of this thread, since I'm also rationing my read. I started it almost grudgingly nearly two decades ago, after having it recommended by my Dad, but was immediately hooked - I think it only took about 50 pages.
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Originally Posted by Sirtel
I hope it's the characters and plot, not sailing or military stuff (which invariably make my eyes glaze over, no matter how well done).
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It absolutely is the former. It's not for nothing that critics have compared O'Brian to Jane Austen (who he was a huge admirer of, and it shows). The technical military stuff is there if you want it, but the stories turn on the relationships of the characters, and it really isn't necessary to understand all the jargon (but eventually you *will* - it's like how one acclimates to Shakespeare after spending some time with it). Not to mention that O'Brian wrote some of the most delicious and nutritious prose in the English language, full of literary and historical allusions - after completing 13 of the 20 so far, these novels have spoiled me for lesser writers, and it's difficult to find anything that delivers the same pleasures. And to top it all off, these books can be drily hilarious, which is rarely mentioned.
All of this sounds like hyperbole, I know, but O'Brian lives up to it.