Flying Colours vs Master and Commander: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Napoleonic wars, Naval History, Sea Stories, Fiction
Flying Colours
Hornblower faces charges of violating the laws of war and probable execution by Napoleon's French forces.
vs
Master and Commander
This is book 1 in the Aubrey/Maturin series. Here is the maiden voyage of O'Brian's acclaimed Aubrey-Maturin series, which follows the unique friendship between Captain Aubrey, R.N., and Stephen Maturin, ship's surgeon…
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Flying Colours is the quickest read — about 3 hours vs 8 for Master and Commander.
- Master and Commander has the widest readership — 65687 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Flying Colours | Master and Commander | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | — | 4.1 (65687) |
| Hardcover | 4.0 (36) | 4.0 (187) |
| Google Books | — | 5.0 (1) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (30) | 4.5 (471) |
Reception
| Flying Colours | Master and Commander | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 36 | 65687 |
| Editions | 42 | 47 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | — | 52761 |
| Pages | 192 | 448 |