Killick appears to be correct; the 19-page "prologue" appears immediately following the afterward at page 367. There's really no excuse for this on the publisher's part...simply sloppy work with little to no attention to a simple detail such as putting the pages in sequential order. Disappointing. I'll continue slogging through the series, even so, as I enjoy the period setting and (generally) have liked the author's other work.On the weird off chance that Mr. Lambdin ever cruises by here: please, for the love of God, sir, stop writing foreign accented English in phonetic pidgeon. I can only take so much stuff like, "He egsblains vhy de big ships vit rich gargoes do not appear...", before I start skipping whole sections of dialogue. All his foreign characters remind me of Fabio hawking margerine: "I conned beleev id snot bawtter".Gee, maybe I can be a professional writer too...

As a huge fan of this series, I was a bit disappointed in the last installment (Jester's Fortune) as I felt there was just not enough of the action or womanizing that made the first few novels so much fun. King's Captain also suffers a bit from this, but in place of the action we get to see Lewrie mature some. Rather than one novel after another in which the character stays the same but just rises in rank (which, considering how good the first books were, wouldn't be all that bad) Lambdin is showing Lewrie turning from his rakish former self into a family man, even if Alan does chafe a bit in the presence of his own children. I could wish for a bit more of the old ramcat in the future, but King's Captain did keep my interest, and I enjoyed seeing how Lewrie dealt with mutineers, and how he reacted to a bit of his past coming back to haunt him. Now that he's been made post, and has a new frigate to command, perhaps we will get to see Lewrie in a few more adventures that bring him the prize money he always seems to need.

While "Kings Captain" won't replace O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series for literary quality, it does rise towards the latter with its political intrigue. Lambdin has given the reader a fascinating look at what living conditions were like in England in 1797, and how they set the stage for the Royal Navy mutinies at Spithead and Nore. Newly promoted Captain Lewrie comes across as a younger, more earnest Jack Aubrey in this fine Napoleonic era yarn. Those who mourn O'Brian's passing and seek new naval adventures may not be disappointed at all in the latest installment in the Alan Lewrie naval adventure series.

Look for the first 20-40 pages of the novel just after the epilogue.For those of you familiar with the series, it will make a lot more sense if you find this piece right away.