Best 1981 Adventures (1)
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December 1, 2016
One in a series of 10 posts identifying Josh Glenn’s favorite 1981 adventure novels. Happy 35th anniversary!
Patrick O’Brian’s nautical/historical adventure The Ionian Mission.
In O’Brian’s eighth Aubrey–Maturin adventure, Jack Aubrey is now a senior captain commanding a second-rate ship of the line. Hounded by creditors, he cannot refuse when he’s sent on a routine, boring mission: to join the Royal Navy’s blockade of Toulon. His friend, ship’s surgeon Stephen Maturin, a British intelligence agent, is also needed in the Mediterranean. As part of England’e effort to counteract French influence in the East, Aubrey and Maturin embark a hazardous mission to the Greek Islands. A night incursion into enemy territory; a three-way political battle for control of the (fictional) Ionian port of Kutali; a battle at sea between Turkish frigates and Aubrey’s out-gunned ship; and a bloodthirsty pirate, Mustapha, make this one a winner.
Fun fact: “Although (they) were almost as unlike as men could be, unlike in nationality, religion, education, size, shape, profession, habit of mind, they were united in a deep love for music, and many and many an evening had they played together, violin answering cello or both singing together far into the night.”
Let me know if I’ve missed any 1981 adventures that you particularly admire.