The series takes place during The Napoleonic Wars , following the adventures of an English naval captain, Jack Aubrey, and his surgeon and particular friend, Stephen Maturin, who also works for Naval Intelligence.
O'Brian also wrote the first couple of chapters of a 21st book before his death, which have since been published, along with his notes about what happened afterward. The books start with Jack first meeting Stephen and getting his first command, and go on with no particular overriding plot, though there are several arcs carried through multiple books.
Their beginning, middle and end points are also arbitrary; they read something like one very big novel. The first novel, Master and Commander , was adapted for film in Novice readers are sometimes advised to start with the third book, H. Surprise , to acclimate themselves to the relatively laborious, jargon-laden prose style with a more action-y plot before they attempt to read the two earlier volumes.
Paper books don't have this feature yet. King's Harbors and High Seas can also be useful to the reader, as it includes all the necessary maps to keep track of where events happened during the series, as well as the state of the world at the time. It is important to note that it is entirely possible to read the series without these aids; they are useful, but as one of the two main characters' jobs in the series is to have the essential naval matters explained to him, even if the reader does not know exactly what a "waister" is, the action of the book will still make sense.
Nelson's Navy: The Ships, Men, and Organization, by Brian Lavery is also an excellent companion to the series, but rather pricey. A newer online companion, currently in progress, is the Patrick O'Brian Mapping Project , which uses Google Maps to trace, with surprising accuracy, the various comings and goings of both Aubrey and Maturin; it is about halfway done at last count, and progressing quite nicely.
