This is the ninth book in the Aubrey/Maturin series and it stands as one of the best, in my opinion, and nearly a rival for "Desolation Island." With all due respect to most of the other reviews here, this book had me riveted and quite moved by the end. Maybe it has something to do with the main setting: Malta, Eqypt and the Red Sea. Some people may be bored by it. I felt the story played across the desert landscape quite beautifully. This is a gripping read, full of political and personal intrigue, great atmosphere, science (Stephen and that damned diving bell) and pitch-perfect characterizations, especially of the two principal protagonists. While Maturin is usually treated more three-dimensionally in the books, it is rare to see Aubrey as fully. Here you have him whole, and powerfully heroic.