AN: Just how did Jack get home after his accident? What was it that brought about Sophie’s increased sole control over Jack’s lands and people when he was away? When did Mr. Hinksey start to get under his skin?

He had no heart to look round the shut-up house - it was meaningless without Sophie in it - but he did make a quick tour of his garden - ( Read more... )

AN: Tom’s voyage must have been interesting.

A Time Apart
Not only the hands but the officers took the parting hard. Pullings was devoted to Jack and the others had the greatest respect for him; and although they attributed less importance to Aubrey’s private personal luck than did the foremost hands, it did not leave them indifferent by any means ( Read more... )

AN: I often wondered just how it was that Padeen came to be in the navy, and why he’s so devoted to Stephen, common nationality aside. Even in Far Side of the World, Padeen is protective of him, though they’d just met. Also, Stephen has black hair in this story because that’s how POB wrote him.

‘You have the Gaelic sir?’ cried Macdonald.

‘No, sir,’ ( Read more... )

AN: When Jack’s chelengk was missing, I felt so bad when I read the description of Killick turning over the desert to find it. Even before I read of the actual rediscovery, I had imagined a little scene in which Killick finds it again, perhaps tangled up in a tent flap or bag, and was relieved when POB had Stephen find it in the spy’s belongings. ( Read more... )

AN:  I think it is one of the greatest problems of conscientious parents that when they dictate to their children, they must be aware of their own hypocrisy; what parent has not made their own willful mistakes? I thought it slightly unfair of Jack to reproach himself for this in Ionian Mission, for it was not his fault he was so ill-educated.  As I ( Read more... )

AN: I felt so bad for Jack when he came home and his children didn’t recognize him. The scene with Jack and George at the end takes place before Jack leaves with Stephen later that day.

His heart gave him a most unaccustomed wring and he called out “Hey there.”

It was an entirely one-sided affection, however. Charlotte only glanced round and cried “ ( Read more... )

AN: As an American citizen, Fortune of War is perhaps one of my least favorite books in the series, and then only because of the last chapter. I know it’s historical events, but…sheesh. Still, I did have some sympathy for Phillip Broke, and thought he deserved a better conclusion, after all the buildup POB gave us concerning how much a victory ( Read more... )

AN: I loved Stephen for what he did for Jack in the last chapter. It seemed like just the sort of thing he would do. He’d never take any credit for himself, yet he can’t bear to see Jack be robbed of his just desserts. For that matter, what would Stephen want as a reward? Considering his relationship with Jack, and his distaste for material reward ( Read more... )

AN: Jack’s and Sophie’s ‘understanding’ is another scene POB doesn’t actually write. We only learn of it from Stephen reading their letters. (I always thought if funny that Jack’s letter likens Sophie to a 32-pound gun) But what exactly happened? This is my take on the scene, which would probably have been one of the more romantic in the whole ( Read more... )

AN: When I finished chapter eleven, I thought the beginning of chapter twelve would be when Jack and Stephen finally get their heads on straight and make things up between them. I’m sure most of you understand how disappointed I was when that is not what happened, and that POB had done it behind the scenes. I think this was the first serious let- ( Read more... )