Aubrey-Maturin series reading order

A plan for the whole series

21 volumes, 7,070 pages, about 130 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 6 months.

Stages

7 stages, with 6 short books from outside the series between them. You finish around May 25, 2027, about 5 weeks later than in one go.

1. 1
   Stage 117 habout 3 weeksby November 21, 2026

   • 1. Master and Commander1969 · 416 pages · 8 h
   • 2. Post Captain1972 · 528 pages · 10 h
2. Short breakThe Fire Next Time · James Baldwin · 120 pp. · score 8.82 h, by November 25, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
3. 2
   Stage 219 habout 4 weeksby December 20, 2026

   • 3. HMS Surprise1973 · 362 pages · 7 h
   • 4. The Mauritius Command1977 · 352 pages · 6 h
   • 5. Desolation Island1978 · 325 pages · 6 h
4. BreakMaus · Art Spiegelman · 295 pp. · score 9.05 h, by December 30, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
5. 3
   Stage 320 habout 4 weeksby January 26, 2027

   • 6. The Fortune of War1979 · 329 pages · 6 h
   • 7. The Surgeon's Mate1980 · 400 pages · 7 h
   • 8. The Ionian Mission1981 · 378 pages · 7 h
6. BreakBorn a Crime · Trevor Noah · 304 pp. · score 8.96 h, by February 4, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
7. 4
   Stage 419 habout 4 weeksby March 1, 2027

   • 9. Treason's Harbour1983 · 368 pages · 7 h
   • 10. The Far Side of the World1984 · 368 pages · 7 h
   • 11. The Reverse of the Medal1986 · 287 pages · 5 h
8. Short breakThe Emperor's Soul · Brandon Sanderson · 96 pp. · score 8.82 h, by March 4, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
9. 5
   Stage 517 habout 3 weeksby March 27, 2027

   • 12. The Letter of Marque1988 · 288 pages · 5 h
   • 13. The Thirteen-Gun Salute1989 · 320 pages · 6 h
   • 14. The Nutmeg of Consolation1991 · 327 pages · 6 h
10. Short breakOn Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century · Timothy Snyder · 128 pp. · score 8.42 h, by March 31, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
11. 6
    Stage 618 habout 3 weeksby April 24, 2027

    • 15. Clarissa Oakes1992 · ≈ 337 pages · 6 h
    • 16. The Wine-Dark Sea1993 · 336 pages · 6 h
    • 17. The Commodore1995 · 303 pages · 6 h
12. Short breakTo Be Taught, If Fortunate · Becky Chambers · 153 pp. · score 8.33 h, by April 29, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
13. 7
    Stage 719 habout 4 weeksby May 25, 2027

    • 18. The Yellow Admiral1996 · 272 pages · 5 h
    • 19. The Hundred Days1998 · 358 pages · 7 h
    • 20. Blue at the Mizzen1999 · 272 pages · 5 h
    • 21. The Final Unfinished Voyage of Jack Aubrey2004 · 144 pages · 3 h
14. The end of the series

    May 25, 2027

We count 1.1 min per page, the pace of an average novel reader. Faster? Move the slider.

≈ next to a page count: a volume with no page count in our data is counted at this series’s average.

Does the series hold up

Shape of the series: even. Volume scores differ by at most 0.3 points. You get the same level from the first page to the last.

Best volume: The Mauritius Command (8.2, 71 ratings). Weakest: Master and Commander (8.0). The series is complete; you can read it start to finish with no waiting. The last volume (8.2) scores close to the series average or above it.