The Ionian Mission

The Ionian Mission is the eighth historical novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1981. The story is set during the Napoleonic Wars. The plot begins with the marriage of Dr Maturin and Diana Villiers. Soon after, Captain Aubrey takes HMS Worcester on blockade duty around Toulon, France, until the ship is sent for refitting. With Worcester refitting, he is reassigned to HMS Surprise on which he, Maturin and Professor Graham seek a new ally among the pashas on the coast of the Ionian Sea. In reviews at the time of the 1991-92 reissue of this novel, one reviewer described Maturin's "hair-raising infiltration of the enemy coast" and then the mission of the title by Aubrey and Maturin, "to the Greek islands to tinker with the balance of power at the fringes of the Turkish empire", summing it up as "splendid adventures at a stately pace". Another finds that time aboard the old ship Worcester has little excitement, while tension rises when "Aubrey is caught in a complex net of Turkish politics and rivalries", in which the fleet Admiral would be just as happy if Aubrey failed.