H.M.S. Surprise cover art

H.M.S. Surprise

Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 3

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

H.M.S. Surprise

By: Patrick O'Brian
Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

H.M.S. Surprise, the third in O'Brian's acclaimed Aubrey-Maturin series, follows the variable fortunes of Captain Jack Aubrey's career in Nelson's navy, as he attempts to hold his ground against admirals, colleagues, and the enemy, and accepts a commission to convey a British ambassador to the East Indies. The voyage leads him and his friend Stephen Maturin to the strange sights and smells of the Indian subcontinent, and through the archipelago of Spice Islands where the French have a near-overwhelming local superiority.

Rarely has a novel managed to convey more vividly the fragility of a sailing ship in a wild sea. Rarely has a historical novelist combined action and lyricism of style in the way that O'Brian does. His superb sense of place, brilliant characterisation and a vigour and joy of writing lifts O'Brian above other writers in this genre.

©1973 Patrick O'Brian (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Action & Adventure Genre Fiction Historical Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Sea Adventures Thriller & Suspense Adventure Fiction Sailing

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Men-of-War: Life in Nelson’s Navy cover art
Mr Midshipman Hornblower cover art
The Iron Pirate cover art
Heart of Darkness: A Signature Performance by Kenneth Branagh cover art
The Mark of Zorro cover art
The Shores of Tripoli cover art
The Three Musketeers (AmazonClassics Edition) cover art
War and Peace cover art
For Whom the Bell Tolls cover art
A Morbid Taste For Bones cover art
Night Soldiers cover art
A Farewell to Arms cover art
Kydd cover art
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (AmazonClassics Edition) cover art
The Winds of War cover art
Deadly Nightshade cover art
All stars
Most relevant
The action with the convoy was enthralling and will be with me for a while.

Loved it!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I have live every book of this series, they are incredibly entertaining and captivating. They set the scene remarkably and keep the listener hooked throughout the narrative.

Excellent series

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Patrick O'Brien is a very good story teller and writes vividly. This book is excellent.

Jerrom does O'Brien proud

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Characters the focus of this 2nd book on the series - sets me up to read all. Far less action but the union between the captain & surgeon fascinating set up the series brilliantly.

Characters the focus of this 2nd book on the series - sets me up to read all

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Ric Jerrom deserves an oscar for narrating the complete Aubrey/Maturin works
There must be an English award for best narrating !

One of the best books in the series

Ric Jerrom deserves an oscar

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews