The Ionian Mission

Unabridged
Author: Patrick O’Brian
Narrator: Simon Vance
Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction
Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
Date: April 2005
Length: 12 hours
Ratings:
Formats:
  • CD
  • WMA

Overview

"Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, veterans of many battles, return in this novel to the seas where they first sailed as shipmates. But Jack is now a senior Captain commanding a line-of-battle ship sent out to reinforce the squadron blockading Toulon, and this is a longer, harder, colder war than the dashing frigate action of his early days.

A sudden turn of events takes him and Stephen off on a hazardous mission to the Greek islands. All his old skills of seamanship, and his proverbial luck when fighting against odds, come triumphantly into their own. The book ends with as fierce and thrilling an action as any in this magnificent series of novels."

Reviews (2)

A Key Story In The Series

Written by Martin Kunz on April 14th, 2007

  • Book Rating: 5/5

I loved this story. This story takes Jack and Stephen into the political side of war even further. I have heard nearly all the stories and this is one of my favorites.

Aubrey & Maturin at it Again

Written by Anonymous on November 2nd, 2005

  • Book Rating: 3/5

I love Patrick O'Brien's writing, but this is not one of his more outstanding novels. It is always good to hear about the adventures of Aubrey & Maturin, but I found myself yearning for some action out of this book.

Author Details

Author Details

Johnson, M.D., Spencer

"Spencer Johnson, M.D., is the author of several New York Times bestsellers, including The One Minute Manager, all in the entertaining style of a parable that contains useful information readers can use in their own lives. There are more than thirteen million copies of his books in print in over twenty-five languages.
Dr. Johnson's education includes a psychology degree from the University of Southern California, an M.D. from the Royal College of Surgeons and medical clerkships at Harvard Medical School and the Mayo Clinic."

Card, Orson Scott

Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is a prolific and best-selling author of numerous genres.

Card's launch in the publishing industry was with science fiction (Hot Sleep and Capitol) and later fantasy (Songmaster). He remains best known for the seminal Ender's Game, which has been among the most popular sci-fi novels ever since its publication in 1985. Both Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead were awarded both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award, making Card the first author to win both of sci-fi's top prizes in consecutive years.

He has since branched out into contemporary fiction, such as , Treasure Box and Enchantment. Other works demonstrating his versatility include the novelization of the James Cameron film The Abyss, the alternate histories The Tales of Alvin Maker and Pastwatch, and Robota, a collaboration with Star Wars artist Doug Chiang.

His writing is dominated by detailed characterization and moral issues. As Card says, "We care about moral issues, nobility, decency, happiness, goodness�the issues that matter in the real world, but which can only be addressed, in their purity, in fiction."

Some of his novels, for example Stone Tables, about the life of the Biblical prophet Moses; his Women of Genesis trilogy; The Folk Of The Fringe stories; and Saints, about Latter-day Saint pioneers, have explicit religious themes. In his other writings, the influence of his Mormon beliefs is less obvious; Card's Homecoming and Alvin Maker sagas are partly retellings of the Book of Mormon and the life of LDS founder Joseph Smith, Jr.

Card was born in Richland, Washington; raised in California, Arizona, and Utah; served an LDS mission in Brazil; graduated from Brigham Young University and the University of Utah; and now lives in Greensboro, North Carolina. He and his wife Kristine are the parents of five children: Geoffrey (a published author in his own right), Emily (who adapted his short story "A Sepulchre of Songs" to the stage in Posing as People), Charlie Ben, Zina Margaret, and Erin Louisa. The children are named for the authors Chaucer, Bront� and Dickinson, Dickens, Mitchell, and Alcott.

In addition to his novels and short stories, Card has had an active career as a nonfiction writer. During the 1980s he wrote many technical articles and columns, primarily for Compute!'s Gazette and Ahoy!, two magazines covering Commodore microcomputers. Shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks Card began to write a weekly "War Watch" (later renamed "World Watch") column for the Greensboro Rhino Times which is archived on Card's website.