I'm posting this in March, but I'm counting it as a February read since I actually finished it in February! The Surgeon's Mate is my latest Aubrey-Maturin read, and while I do continue with the general Aubrey-Maturin love, I have to admit I found this one a bit erratic in quality.

There's a subplot with Jack that I found simultaneously amusing and annoying--and it winds up getting resolved in a way that really leaves nothing for Aubrey to do but privately angst about it for a little while and not, as near as I can tell, actually gain much from the experience. (I'll have to see whether this is actually different in later novels.) Meanwhile, there's quite a bit of mileage with Stephen doing nifty spy things, which is far and away the more interesting part of the book. Also of quite a bit of interest is the romantic subplot involving Stephen, which was very nice to see dealt with after what happened with him on that front in earlier books.

I found that the book really didn't pick up for me until the final quarter or so, but that part definitely made it worth the read. So I'll give this one three stars.