The tenth Aubrey/Maturin novel sees O'Brian on top form, probably because the action never gets further from the sea than the top of Gibralter Rock and also because The Surprise is sailed into waters new to her, allowing novelty of description and incident.
O'Brian's unique style and depth of characterisation, along with convincing dialogue and wealth of detail are all present and mixed with a story that never gets be-calmed make this a book that easily transcends genre.

Only ten more volumes of the series to go....