The Unknown Shore

Title: The Unknown Shore
Author: Patrick O'Brian
Pub Date: 1959
Genre: Historical Fiction
Nutshell: A good read for people who are already determined fans of O'Brian, but a bit long-winded otherwise


*Note: This review contains spoilers of the narrative, if you care about that sort of thing.
First, an admission. I have read all 21 of the books encompassing the adventures of Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin. I adore them. Jack is one of my favorite men in literature, and though we had our contretemps at times, and there were moments we stopped speaking (er, I threw down the book in anger), I have always loved him completely. Those books are some of the best-written, most wholly-engrossing works I have ever had the pleasure to experience, and Jack and Stephen are two of the best characters I have ever encountered. 
It was in that spirit that I came to this book, which is a prequel of sorts to the main event. The roots of Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are most obviously present in the characters of Jack Byron and Tobias Barrow, and for that alone it's entertaining for someone who has already met them as adults. There is also some naval language which, if you're already a confirmed O'Brian nerd, isn't the least bit difficult to comprehend. 
However, for a general audience or an O'Brien beginner, this is not really the best place to start, in my opinion. Oh, it starts well enough, and bits aboard the boats are always O'Brian's strongest suit. You get the feeling that the closed environment of a ship is his favorite milieu. But [spoiler alert] after the ship wrecks somewhere in the vicinity of the bottom of South America, things start to get a bit draggy at times. For O'Brian fans, it's sort of like Desolation Island only much grimmer and much, much longer. And you don't quite know your companions as well. 
I would recommend this book for an O'Brian junkie, if for no other reason than to see the prototypes of Jack and Stephen. But if you're thinking about getting into the stories for the first time, go ahead and start with Master and Commander. Jack and Toby just aren't nearly as fully-fleshed (which, how could they be in one book as opposed to 21?) and aren't quite as magnetic as their immediate descendants.