I have fallen in love with the series at last, although I haved a horrible habit of 'speed reading'...I have to go back and slow the eye down in order to pick up the more important things...and then sometimes it is like reading Shakespeare...it is so grounded in the language and social situations of the time period it is set, that I ahve trouble gaining an understanding of what they are saying. Still, after the second page of "Master and Commander" I knew that I would like Aubrey. Maturin is rather funny himself, and I love learning about life on a sailing ship. Its about as close to the sea as Id like to get without actually experiencing it! (Im a woodland forest kind of gal...)