Nominations please.

[gwhite]

Can we have nominations for the best piece of sustained writing and this should include the reasons for your choice.

I'd like to kick off by nominating Patrick O'Brian for his Aubrey/Maturin series.
I regard this a being of the highest quality in that it encompasses great insight into human nature along with a detailed study of the mores, habits, modes of speech and appetites of Royal Navy seamen in the 18th/19th centuries. I'm aware that this sound dull but the opposite is true, in that it's hard to beat in terms of sheer excitement and adventure, the humour is such that I still burst out laughing even after re-reading the series countless times.