I have in recent weeks read a few woefully bad novels set during the Age of Sail. I needed to cleanse my palate, and how better to do so than with Patrick O'Brian?

It has been some years since I read any of O'Brian's masterful Aubrey/Maturin novels, and several of them have gone unreviewed. So I pulled one from a shelf and dug in.

It's amazing how quickly my spirits brightened as I read his masterful handling of plot, dialogue and historical settings! Such a difference compared to a few books that recently lingered too long on my nightstand.

Much of this novel focuses on the surgeon Stephen Maturin's misadventures, from falling into the water between boats to walking on the ocean floor in a diving bell in his best dress shoes, and his awkward flirtations with a married woman who's also an unwilling French spy. Things turn more serious, however, as he tries to foil the machinations of French operatives in Malta, as well as what appears to be a duplicitous British agent.

Captain Jack Aubrey doesn't stand idle, either. His adventures include a desert march and several ship-to-ship actions, including a climactic engagement near the end aboard his beloved frigate HMS Surprise.

The action does not always move swiftly in Treason's Harbour, but the novel is never dull. O'Brian's characters are instantly familiar, whether they are old friends from previous books in the series or new additions to the cast. Anyone who enjoys historical fiction -- or quality writing in general -- can't go wrong with Patrick O'Brian, and I'm glad circumstances drove me to revisit his work after such a lengthy break.