Captain Aubrey's illegitimate son, Father Panda, provides crucial help to Maturin in Lima and for his long walk along the Andes Mountains to meet the Surprise.

[1] Another review noted reading the novel "induces a rueful awe at the depth and intensity of the author's determination to make his characters authentic creatures of their time",[2] and praises the "nuanced handling of everyone's political and religious beliefs and how these relate to the war they are fighting.

"[2] The plot and the writing style were praised: "The naval actions are bang-on and bang-up--fast, furious and bloody--and the Andean milieu is as vivid as the shipboard scenes.

"[4] The battles are intense and the storms riveting, but it is the "meticulously recorded mundane moments of the story (and of the sea journey) that bring the novel to full life.

"[4] Another reviewer quotes some of the dialogue between Aubrey and Maturin, and remarks that the "painstakingly researched details about 19th-Century life aboard ship, that elevates his tales into heady escapism.

[6] The Surprise, with bow guns blazing, is in close pursuit of the American privateer Franklin in the wine-dark waters of the South Pacific.

The Franklin took prizes of British ships en route to Moahu, proved by ransomers aboard, seamen taken as security, along with cargoes taken.

An ex-British naval sailor on the whaler tells Aubrey of the Alastor, a privateer turned true pirate, flying the black flag and demanding immediate surrender or death of its victims.

Maturin's mission begins now, done under cover of Surprise not being a Royal Navy ship, but perceived as a privateer, and she is again in this port with Pullings as her captain, with many prizes in tow.

Martin mistook salt sores (from a period of low fresh water aboard) to be the pox, treating himself with harsh medicines, which in turn made him truly ill. As the hospital in Callao is inadequate, Maturin yields up his patient to Geary.

The ship, recognized by Maturin as having two rows of cannon, is HMS Berenice under Captain Heneage Dundas, accompanied by her tender, and carries Aubrey's much younger half-brother Philip.

Dundas has precious news from home, as he visited Ashgrove Cottage before he sailed, seeing Sophia and their children, but not Diana, only her horses.

[8] Example of Homer's verse: “And if some god should strike me, out on the wine-dark sea, I will endure it,”[9] This novel references actual events with accurate historical detail, like all in this series.

They sail around the Cape Horn, suffering damage from lightning, but meet with HMS Berenice, with supplies to repair her, and Aubrey and Maturin are ready to be home after the long voyage around the world.

Sending Maturin to deal with the tottering Spanish vice regency in South America is a good choice, aboard the privateer Surprise.

"Maturin's mission, complicated enough by the various revolutionary factions, becomes a real hair-raiser involving an arduous transit of the Andes, where he is spit on by llamas and sees the great condors.

eventually induces a rueful awe at the depth and intensity of the author's determination to make his characters authentic creatures of their time.

In an enthusiastic review, they describe the writing: "The naval actions are bang-on and bang-up--fast, furious and bloody--and the Andean milieu is as vivid as the shipboard scenes.

As usual, readers can revel in the symbiotic friendship of Jack and Stephen, who make for a marvelous duo, whether in their violin and cello duets or in their sharp dialogue.

"[3] Patrick T Reardon writing in the Chicago Tribune describes how the author brings this story to full life: "The best way to think of these novels is as a single 5,000-page book.

But it's the in-between times, the closely observed and meticulously recorded mundane moments of the story (and of the sea journey) that bring the novel to full life.

"[4] Paul D Colford, writing in the Los Angeles Times, cites a quote from the story as an example of the fine prose and painstaking research by the author that elevates this book, and the series to a higher level.

It's this kind of passing historical reference (to the 17th-Century landscape artist known for his rendering of light), as well as O'Brian's painstakingly researched details about 19th-Century life aboard ship, that elevates his tales into heady escapism.

[6] Crew members recruited from Shelmerston, the fictitious port on the west coast of England, report a large number of religious sects.

Maturin mentions the Viennese treatment for the pox (venereal diseases), saying it relies on murias hydrargi corrosivus, which is a corrosive compound of mercury.

O'Brian's publishers have equipped the book with a drawing of the Surprise, numbering 21 sails, from the flying jib to the mizzen topgallant staysail.

But that hardly prepares the unwary for Captain Aubrey and his crew's discussions of recondite items like cross-catharpins, dumb-chalders, side-trees, heel-pieces, side-fishes, cheeks, front-fish and cant-pieces.