Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World around Cape Horn is taken from the novel "Desolation Island", although the "Acheron" replaced the Dutch 74-gun warship "Waakzaamheid", the "Surprise" replaced the "Leopard", and in the book it is Aubrey who is being pursued around the Cape of Good Hope. The episode in which Aubrey deceives the enemy by means of a raft bearing lanterns is taken from "Master and Commander", and the episode in which Maturin directs the surgery on himself, while gritting his teeth in pain, to remove a bullet is taken from "HMS Surprise". Other incidents in the film come from other books in O'Brian's series.
The Far Side of the World wars in sequence, as the first six novels did. Patrick Reardon, writing in the "Chicago Tribune", reviewed this novel and the previous one, "Treason's Harbour", as paired, one two-volume novel. He notes that "O`Brian writes about people, not characters." Though there is action, there are battles, the author gives the reader "the everyday meat of life, about emotions that are deep and complex, and are more important than the plot," and he "writes historical novels without the swashbuckling." The marooned captain of the "Norfolk" reminds Aubrey of the Chesapeake–Leopard Affair, in which the British Navy captain acted badly toward a