Cindy Vallar's Blog, page 39

Belerion Odyssey by William H. Russeth Review

Belerion Odyssey by William H. Russeth

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Sixteen-year-old Doros Alastor Papalos lives in the mountains, where he tends sheep. He likes the peaceful solitude, but it is a lonely life, one he has endured since the age of eleven. At least it keeps him safe from his Spartan master, who wants him to become a soldier. But the life he knows comes to an abrupt end one night when several Spartan lads come to slay him as a rite of passage. He kills the intruders, but knows he must flee. He is a slave, and he will be executed if he’s caught. But where can he go?

Advice from an old man suggests the safest place to go is the sea, so Doros heads for Pylos to find a ship and a captain willing to teach him the ropes. But Doros doesn’t know the dangers of a port city, and the temptress who offers him a drink sells him to pirates. Nor is he the only one she dupes. When Doros awakens, he discovers that Lykaon, the Spartan warrior sent to track down the murderer, has also been shanghaied.

Daidalos, the captain of the pirate ship, pays dearly for Doros and, wanting to get the best value for the cost, he teaches Doros about ships and sailing. Since he climbs the mast like a monkey, Doros soon earns the nickname “Monkey Boy,” a moniker he despises. Since he knows how to swim, he is tasked with diving to the ocean floor to recover sunken treasure. While underwater, he pockets a large medallion as well as a small, green vial with a sparkling gold lump inside.

Soon after they recover the treasure, a storm overcomes the pirate ship and Doros, Lykaon, and Daidalos are the only survivors. All three are picked up by a passing trireme on its way fight the Persian navy. Since Lykaon is a warrior, he isn’t forced to work the oars that propel the warship, but Doros and Daidalos are. None, however, wish to fight in the upcoming battle, and they make their escape when the trireme sinks.

Upon washing ashore, they encounter Aella, who is running away from a cruel master. She will help them steal a boat and escape pursuit if they take her with them. Once back at sea, Doros finally has a chance to examine the vial’s contents and the medallion. With the others’ help, he comes to believe the markings on the medallion are a map to the location of Jason’s Golden Fleece. Tto make that journey, they need a bigger ship and more men. Not to mention money to buy supplies for the long journey from the Mediterranean to the island called Albion.

Belerion Odyssey takes place in 480 BC, a time when the Greek city-states and Persia are at war. The story begins with Monkey Boy being kicked over the side of the pirate ship to locate the treasure, dropping readers right into the action. What is a bit disconcerting in this first-person historical novel is that the storm approaches at the end of one chapter and the next takes place when Doros is eleven. The pirate story resumes in chapter seven. Only later do readers learn what happened when the storm overtakes the pirate ship.

Mutiny, kidnapping, betrayal, revenge, witchery, jealousy, and a dragon are just some of the elements that enliven this action-packed tale. It’s not the usual fare for a pirate adventure, but it’s a fresh change of pace from the more common Caribbean ones. Russeth skillfully interweaves myth, history and pirates to transport readers back to ancient times. Belerion Odyssey is a grand quest with an exotic flare that is sure to satisfy readers of historical fiction and pirate fans alike.




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The King's Scarlet

The King's Scarlet by John M. Danielski

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Compromise his mission and duty as a Royal Marine, or sacrifice his honor and duty as a gentleman? That is the dilemma Captain Thomas Pennywhistle faces in July 1812 when he encounters a band of French soldiers about to attack a Spanish girl. Protecting an innocent from torture and death may be militarily wrong, but morally right, so he intervenes with the aid of his two companions.

The dispatches and secret message he carries are vital to the Duke of Wellington, but his duplicitous guide has already led him far astray behind enemy lines. Having Juanita join his band, if only temporarily, delays him further, but she can lead him to a mountain village where Spanish guerillas will assist him in locating the British Army, which is constantly on the move maneuvering against the French. On the way, a Spanish soldier wanders into their encampment. Sergeant Juan Morales is the lone survivor of an ambush by French Hussars, but Pennywhistle questions why this elite cavalry would attack a minor garrison in an obscure place. The more he considers this, the more he suspects that perhaps the French are hunting him and that either his guide was really a collaborator or one of the staff officers back in Lisbon is a traitor.

Set in the days leading up to the Battle of Salamanca during the Peninsular War, The King’s Scarlet is a rousing, nail-biting adventure. Reminiscent of swashbuckling tales of yore, this book combines tense action and daring escapes with a touch of romance and a dash of forgiveness. Although there are some misspellings and missing words, the escalating series of perils pins readers to the edge of their seats until the turn of the last page. This second installment in the Pennywhistle series will garner new fans and old ones will enjoy renewing their acquaintance with this stalwart hero.




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The Lost Story of the William & Mary

The Lost Story of the William and Mary: The Cowardice of Captain Stinson by Gill Hoffs

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


In the years leading up to 1853, successive bad harvests and epidemics struck Europe. Particularly hard hit was Ireland, where a potato blight led to mass starvation and death. Working conditions were deplorable and the amount earned for doing those jobs was abysmal. One of the few avenues to offer some hope for escape was emigration. As an essay in the 23 October 1852 edition of the Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette explained:

America is to modern Europe . . . the land of aspirations and dreams, the country of daring enterprise and the asylum of misfortune, which receives alike the exile and the adventurer, the discontented and the aspiring and promises to all a freer life and a fresher nature. (1)

Why the United States? It was too far, and hence more costly, to go to Australia. Canadian winters were too severe and there were too many hoops to jump through to get past customs. On the other hand, the United States seemed more welcoming to newcomers, wasn’t so far away, and didn’t require as much money. Within the pages of this book, Gill Hoffs shares the story of one particular voyage and what happened to those moving to America to start life anew.

On 23 March 1853, the William and Mary left Liverpool, England bound for America with over 200 Europeans, who had managed to accumulate sufficient funds to pay for their passage. Recently constructed in Maine and just having completed her first transoceanic voyage, the three-masted barque was a merchant ship that could carry up to 512 tons. But once her cargo was unloaded, she was refitted to carry passengers on the return trip. Her captain, Timothy Reirdan Stinson, was thirty-two and married to the daughter of one of the ship’s owners. Serving under him was a crew of fourteen. After weighing anchor, the ship headed for New Orleans where the passengers would disembark and secure other means of getting to their final destinations.

Many passengers came from Ireland, but the barque also carried 91 settlers from Friesland in the Netherlands. Bound for Iowa to establish a new town, these men, women, and children were led by Oepke Bonnema, a grain merchant who paid their way on condition that they work for him. They were supposed to travel to America on a different ship, but by the time they reached Liverpool, that steamship already carried a full complement of emigrants. Among their group were two people who would prove invaluable to all the passengers – a midwife and Johannes van der Veer, a fifty-six-year-old doctor.

Although the journey began on a beautiful day and they welcomed a new baby into their midst on the next, the promising start failed to carry through the entire voyage. In addition to the crockery stowed in her hull, the William and Mary carried iron freight that made her roll so badly it wasn’t safe to be on deck in foul weather. Kept mostly below deck the passengers endured air and conditions that were far from healthy; fourteen died, and their deaths and burials left vivid impressions on those left behind. Insufficient provisions meant severe rationing and a meager diet of hard biscuit, dry rice, and boiled peas. Rats provided the only meat available to passengers and crew alike. By later April and early May, conditions were such that violence simmered just below the surface, waiting for just the right spark.

Another complication was the barque’s location; she sailed in shark-infested waters around the low-lying Bahamas where hidden dangers lurked. During a storm on 3 May, the William and Mary became impaled on a rock and water began to flow into her hold. With only five boats on board, none of which had been used during the voyage, not everyone would escape. What the passengers did not expect was to see the captain and most of the crew escape with only a handful of travelers. The only reason any of the remaining emigrants survived was because a heroic wrecker placed a higher value on their lives than on salvaging the wreckage. But perhaps even more astounding is that no investigation was conducted and no one faced any charges or paid any price for what happened.

Each chapter opens with a quoted passage, from various sources, that pertain to some relevant aspect of the journey. The passage of time is also clearly identified, making it easier to keep track of what happened when. The first chapter sets the stage, providing readers with necessary background to fully grasp the situation. Footnotes are included where the material is most pertinent, rather than requiring the reader to look up the marked passage in end notes at the back of the book. There is a center section of black and white cartoons, newspaper illustrations, advertisements, and a map. One image is the only surviving one of the William and Mary, and several pages of photographs allow readers to put names to faces. The appendix includes a list of the passengers, although not all details about these people are complete. Hoffs does provide an e-mail address so that anyone who can provide missing information may contact her. A bibliography and index are also included.

In the accounts shared, Hoffs keenly shows the difference in value placed on human life versus that of livestock. She crafts a heart-wrenching and vivid tale composed primarily from firsthand accounts that allows readers to envision the terrifying journey these people endured. She also shares what happened to those survivors whom she could track through a variety of sources including contemporary newspapers, survivors’ stories, later articles on the disaster, and family histories. Instead of simply names on the page, these people come alive.

But this book is far more than just the story of this ship and those aboard her. Hoffs enriches the story with accounts from other passages and descriptions to provide readers with a fuller understanding of conditions that led to emigration, what such journeys were really like, and what occurred in the aftermath of the accident and the shameful behavior of those who escaped unscathed. In doing so readers gain a better appreciation for the dangers their own ancestors may have faced to make a new life in a new land.




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The Pirate Next Door

The Pirate Next Door: The Untold Story of Eighteenth Century Pirates' Wives, Families and Communities by Daphne Palmer Geanacopoulos

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Video and print provide readers with a one-dimensional view of pirates. They are portrayed as single, idle, uneducated, and poor seamen who distanced themselves from society. They cared only for themselves and their ill-gotten gains. Geanacopoulos’s research, however, shows the opposite is true. They possessed strong family ties and some degree of education; they also came from families with varying degrees of status. They were criminals, but sometimes economic restrictions, such as the Navigation Acts, and cultural factors, such as downsizing in times of peace, provided greater impetus to go on the account than simply to plunder. In digging deeper for the truth, she discovered that government propaganda and dubious sources have led us to believe in this one-dimensional portrayal.

Of the eighty married pirates, this book delves into the lives of four specific captains to prove how wrong our misconceptions are. In doing so, she shows how women played far greater roles in their lives than originally thought. She focuses on men whose exploits occurred between 1695 and 1720 and who were connected to New England, a region with close ties to piracy. While each chapter discusses their personal lives, their ties to community (both in society and among the brethren of the coast), and the women they loved, each one also focuses on a specific aspect that the women in their lives best demonstrates.

Samuel Bellamy – “Black Sam” and His Lady on the Shore
Paulsgrave Williams – Deep Roots and Family Ties
William Kidd – The Woman Behind the Pirate
Samuel Burgess – Window into the Private Lives of Pirates

Maps and illustrations are included, as are end notes, a bibliography, and an index. The book begins with a summary of Caribbean piracy and the time period, but contains one misstatement pertaining to Bellamy’s marital status. He never married Maria Hallett, but the desire to do so was a motivating factor in his leaving Cape Cod. In spite of this, Geanacopoulos’s introduction is easy to read and quite interesting in its own right. Her explanation on how she reconstructed the pirates’ lives is equally enlightening and fascinating since historical documents provide far more information than we’ve been led to believe.

Recent research into Maria Hallett hints that there may be more truth than fiction in the enduring legend – delightful news for romantics. Equally compelling is the bewildered stranger who stopped at a tavern soon after the wreck of the Whydah, a tidbit often omitted in histories on Bellamy. The chapter on Williams is a welcome addition to pirate lore, since his story is often eclipsed by Bellamy and the shipwreck. Sarah Kidd’s story perhaps best demonstrates the flipside of the pirate. Equally fascinating is Burgess’s chapter, not because he was a pirate – which he once was – but because he rendered an invaluable service to pirates and their families. The letters shared within these pages provide strong evidence that at least some “enemies of all mankind” were really human beings who cared about loved ones left behind.

At no time, however, does Geanacopoulos romanticize these men’s chosen profession. She merely shows that, as with any criminal, there is more to them than just their nefarious deeds. The Pirate Next Door is an engaging and compelling window into four real pirates. This work also an invaluable resource that ably contradicts many misconceptions we have about pirates. It is a must read for anyone who wants to know the whole truth.




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Pirates: Truth and Tales

Pirates in Truth and Tale by Helen Hollick

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


One might ask why we need another book that focuses on the ‘Golden Age’ of piracy – you know the one that takes place mostly in the Caribbean between 1713 and 1730 – but Hollick’s examination is far more than simply about those swashbuckling scoundrels. She sets the stage in her foreword, summarizing several key points:

a. real pirates versus their fictional counterparts;
b. society’s changing attitudes toward them, as well as its fascination with them;
c. definitions for all the various terms that denote pirates;
d. piracy through the ages; and
e. reality vs romanticism.

To emphasize these points her first chapter discusses “What We Think We Know about Pirates,” while the second focuses on “What We Ought to Know” and includes the caveat “(Skip This Chapter If You Don’t Want To Be Disillusioned).”

Within the 328 pages, she introduces us to a wide array of pirates, including some who rarely show up in other history books. Aside from the usual suspects (in no particular order) – Henry Jennings, Charles Vane, Samuel Bellamy, William Dampier, Bartholomew Roberts, Blackbeard, Jack Rackham, and William Kidd to name only a few – we also meet Daniel Montbars, Jan Baert, and Ignatius Pell (only a sampling). In addition, you’ll find a handful of governors, including Thomas Modyford, Alexander Spotswood, and Woodes Rogers. There are chapters on the 1715 wreck of the Spanish treasure fleet, medicine, ships, weaponry, clothing, and safe havens, not to mention interesting tidbits like the pirate plunder that funded a college.

Don’t fear though! Women get a fair shake, too. In addition to Anne Bonny and Mary Read, you’ll learn about Jeanne de Clisson, Elise Eskilsdotter, Ladies Mary and Elizabeth Killigrew, Jacquotte Delahaye, Anne Dieu-le-Veut, Jeanne Baret, Rachel Wall, and Grace O’Malley. What you might not expect are the other women who went to sea, such as Jeanne Baret, Hannah Snell, and Mary Lacy. Or the fact that a number of sea-songs concern females who donned male attire, joined the Royal Navy, and then were unmasked.

Nor is piracy the only topic explored within this book, although these are all related in some way. Since many pirates began life either as naval personnel or merchant marines, and because they rarely left behind detailed notes on the mundane details of their daily lives, Hollick discusses the tobacco and slave trades, indenture, fidelity, tattooing, shipboard life and navigation, and superstitions.

But wait! If you think that’s all, there’s still more. After all, the subtitle of this book is “Truth and Tales.” Not only does Hollick examine fictional pirates in print and film, she talks about writing from her own perspective as the author of the Sea Witch adventures, which star Captain Jesamiah Acorne, and she treats us to excerpts from some of his piratical adventures, as well as from Celia Reese’s Pirates! and James L. Nelson’s The Only Life That Mattered. Among the pirates of fiction you’ll find Captains Hook and Sparrow, Long John Silver, and Black Sails. As for Pirates of the Caribbean, she also shares the impact this series of movies has had on people’s lives. While she shares what books and movies get right and wrong, she also makes a great observation:

The limitless realm of the imagination when telling stories or writing fiction gives us leave to plunder reality as blatantly as those rascal scallywags plundered treasure. (29)

In addition to all this information, the book also includes a timeline that begins in 1492 with Columbus’s “discovery” of the Caribbean and Americas, and ends with the death of Governor Spotswood in 1740. There are a Glossary of Terms – more varied than often seen in nautical books – and Nautical Measurements, which come before the bibliography. There is no index, but scattered throughout the book are color photographs with interesting captions.

Another item that Hollick addresses pertains to an often-asked question: What about a pirate named so-and-so? To reinforce the fact that the majority of pirates are simply unknown or merely names in a document, she lists the crews of Stede Bonnet, Blackbeard, Edward Lowe, George Lowther, and Charles Vane. Most simply provide the person’s name and the trial’s outcome – all that is known about them. Only a few include additional information.

The book consists of fifty-three chapters, each two to thirteen pages long with the majority falling somewhere in between. Her explanation of the War of the Spanish Succession is concise and easy to understand, one of the best I’ve encountered. Much of the information on sea shanties and tattooing, which predominantly covers the time period after the Golden Age, pertains to sailors in general. The same is true about prisons and punishments, but all four subjects are enlightening. On occasion it’s difficult to distinguish what’s more myth than fact – good examples being Blackbeard’s many wives and pirate flags – since there are no footnotes or endnotes and myths are one topic she doesn’t cover.

The statement that the skill of smuggling led to the Revolutionary War and American Independence is an oversimplification. Gory details are explicit, but the book is geared toward adults and mature readers, just like her Jesamiah Acorne stories. There are enough misspelled words – not including the differences in spelling between British and American English – and missing words that readers will notice. But there is far more to recommend this book than these minor problems.

There are also two chapters that deserve special mention. The first is highly helpful for those who wish to mimic the way pirates spoke on Talk Like a Pirate Day. Hollick lives in the West Country, the region where many seamen and pirates hailed from in the past, so she offers her expertise so you can learn some Devonish and speak it with a West Country accent.

At least for me, the most intriguing chapter concerns the real identity of Captain Charles Johnson, the mysterious author who wrote A General History of the Pyrates. She talks about the two current likely candidates – Nathaniel Mist and Daniel Defoe – and provides plausible reasons why neither choice is convincing. She puts forth her own contender– and no, I cannot even be tortured into sharing who that person is – which makes perfect sense, even if there’s no hard evidence to support this possibility. Even the reason for using the pseudonym of Charles Johnson works.

Don’t be fooled. This pirate book is unlike any other one. It resembles a scavenger hunt, and you’re never quite certain where the trail will lead next. Yet Pirates is entertaining and enlightening, with a good mix of facts and fiction. At times tongue-in-cheek, Hollick’s narrative holds your interest and keeps the pages turning. The inclusion of details outside the narrower scope of piracy provides a global perspective, rather than simply viewing the Golden Age marauders in isolation. Two additional strengths are the inclusion of lesser-known facts and general information that can’t be found in other piratical volumes. The questions she poses make you think and question what you’ve read in other books on piracy.

But this book may not be for everyone. Those who seek serious pirate history will probably want to look elsewhere. Pirates is geared toward readers seeking general information spiced with an entertaining cornucopia of fact and fiction that makes the book a tremendous resource for a pirate trivia game.




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Arizona Moon

Arizona Moon: A Novel of Vietnam by J.M. Graham

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


In October 1967, Marine Corporal Raymond “Reach” Strader leads his squad, part of Golf Company’s 1st Platoon, through the Arizona Territory. The 20th Viet Cong Battalion controls this section of Vietnam, but for five days, no one has encountered a single enemy in this heavily mined region – and that’s not a good sign. Since every step taken might be his last, Reach tries hard not to think about the fact that he is only “three days and a wake-up” from going home. Which is why the lieutenant tells him to get aboard the supply chopper for a flight back to An Hoa base. Reach doesn’t want to abandon his men, but Lt. Diehl offers him a choice – get on board, or Chief will shoot him – and while he doesn’t believe Diehl would follow through on the order, Reach isn’t quite sure about Chief.

Lance Corporal Noche “Moon” Gonshayee is a Chiricahua Apache. A few men in the squad think he might be crazy, but so far he’s not actually attacked anyone but the enemy even though they insist on calling him “Chief,” a name he despises. After Reach flies away, the platoon continues their patrol until they arrive at a spot to rest for the night. Moon, another man, and one of the new replacements from the chopper are posted as sentries farther ahead in case the Viet Cong decide to attack.

Higher on the mountain, Nguyen Xian Tho leads his unit on a special mission. They must avoid the enemy at all costs and deliver the weapons and ammunition they carry to a designated rendezvous before the Lunar New Year Tet celebration. Most of his men have been with him a long time, but two new members are students who left university to fight the enemy. One is Truang, who loves to read and always cheers for the Indians in the Zane Gray westerns he carries with him. Nguyen soon realizes the Americans have strayed too near to where he and his men presently rest. They can’t move without being heard, but to wait until morning guarantees a fight. There is only one option, one that is extremely dangerous with little chance of success, and so he entrusts several of his most experienced men with the assignment.

In the morning, after one of his men hears a noise, Lt. Diehl sends a squad to check on the sentry post. They find two Marines dead and Moon badly wounded. The position of a broken rifle suggests that he killed his companions. A call goes out for a medevac and guard to collect the dead and wounded. Unfortunately, Reach is in the wrong place at the right time and is ordered to accompany the chopper and bring back the prisoner; but he’s not permitted to properly gear up before taking off. On the return flight, enemy fire hits the chopper and it goes down. Reach and Moon are the only ones who escape, but with the enemy in pursuit the only place to go is deeper into the Arizona Territory. Hampered by the severity of his wound, Moon urges Reach to backtrack to where rescue troops will land near the downed chopper, and Reach reluctantly agrees. But the closer he gets to possible rescue, the more the Corps’ motto of leaving no Marine behind forces him to turn back, only to discover Moon is no longer there.

This novel allows readers to view the war from both perspectives, and the two sides unfold individually until circumstances bring them closer and closer together to the inevitable point where they clash. The mix of three cultures makes the characters more human, more realistic, rather than simply letters printed on the page. The author pulls no punches, never once glorifies war, and unveils it in all its stark reality and horror. It is an experience that leaves a subtle scar on us, one that is recalled long after the story ends. But as gritty as this novel is, there is also a ray of hope that provides an unexpected ending.

From first page to last, Arizona Moon is a powerful and gripping tale that takes place a few months before North Vietnamese forces launched the Tet Offensive. Graham vividly recreates the time and place, drawing on his own experiences as a combat corpsman with the Marines during the Vietnam War. His words and the cohesiveness of the platoon are so intricately woven together that they subtly draw us into the story without our being aware of the fact that we no longer sit in our comfortable living rooms, but are in the jungle carefully following in the footsteps of the men who walk before us. While Arizona Moon provides us with only a glimpse of what the men and women in Vietnam experienced, the story leaves us with a better understanding of what they endured.




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Summon the Queen

Summon the Queen by Jodi McIsaac

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Once a member of the paramilitary Provisional Irish Republican Army, Nora O’Reilly wishes she could go back and change the past. That way her brother might still live, rather than be caught up in the Troubles of Northern Ireland. She gets her wish with the help of Brigid, both an ancient goddess and a Catholic saint, after she dreams of a man calling out for help.

Cursed with eternal life, Fionn mac Cumhaill has wandered through time for centuries. Once a legendary warrior, he is now just a man, who lives with the agony of watching those he loves grow old and die while he remains forever young. The only way to break the curse is to free Ireland from her enemies – a task he’s attempted over and over again without success. Now Nora offers him hope that he might achieve this goal and, in the process, restore her brother to life and reunite with his loved ones who have passed.

But their first attempt during the Irish Civil War failed, and now they find themselves traveling back to 1592 to find the pirate queen Granuaile. But things never go quite according to plan, and they arrive five years too early and a long way from her home in County Mayo. They also “land” amidst the ruins of a church and a band of men, returning from a raid on the English. Nora shoots one rebel in a confrontation, but his partner recognizes Fionn as a friend and they are left alone to continue their arduous journey.

After a brief respite in Fionn’s home – the one in which his 16th century persona, Robert O’Hanlon, lived – they ride to Dublin to find a ship willing to take them to Galway. Gold assuages the sea captain’s qualms about putting to sea with a woman aboard. Just as Fionn and Nora kiss, Spanish pirates attack and he hastily disguises her as a man to protect her. After the pirates leave with their booty, the crew blames Nora for their bad luck. The only way to save herself is to keep the wounded captain from dying as Fionn and the crew try to reach Cork to repair the damaged ship.

Any hope of finding assistance there proves fruitless since the plague has struck the town. It’s a four-day ride to Galway, but Fionn and Nora have little choice. To remain is more dangerous than venturing through a burned-and-slashed countryside populated by desperate, starving people. Once they reach the city, Fionn goes to the docks to learn what he can about where Granuaile might be. But Galway is a dangerous place, and Nora’s innocent questions soon get her arrested. Sir Richard Bingham, the Governor of Connacht, believes her to be in league with Granuaile, his arch enemy, and Nora is imprisoned just as Granuaile is being taken to the gallows. Then Nora is whisked away to an Irish castle whose earl has been raised in the English court, and his methods of finding out the truth are far more subtle and dangerous than Bingham’s. Nora’s only hope is to escape, but how? Once free, how will she ever find Fionn so they can convince the distrusting clans to unite against their common enemy, the English?

Summon the Queen is the second book in Jodi McIsaac’s The Revolution series, and ’tis a grand tale indeed. Nora’s feistiness, determination, and caring heart make her a character readers easily connect with, although she has the annoying habit of often saying “ta” when answering questions. Deftly portrayed as a legendary-hero-turned-ordinary-man, Fionn is equally captivating and his reticence to form attachments that will only cause more heartache is a trait with which most of us can identify. Granuaile steps from the curtains of history to come to life and her exploits are dramatically portrayed, be it when she tells a story about her favorite son or risks everything to meet Queen Elizabeth herself. Whether depicting a starving woman or the banded corpse of a pirate on display as a warning to others, McIsaac vividly recreates sixteenth-century Ireland. Her skill at interweaving history with romance is reminiscent of Irish bards who mesmerized listeners with adventurous stories fraught with danger and intrigue, where each peril is more heart-stopping than the last.




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Quest for Blackbeard

Quest for Blackbeard: The True Story of Edward Thache and His World by Baylus C. Brooks

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Who was Blackbeard? The answer to this is far from simple, because many legends surround this elusive person. In Quest for Blackbeard, Brooks sifts through genealogical and historical records to provide a fact-based response to this question. His use of these primary documents, some of which haven’t been seen before, allow him to distill facts from fiction. He does refer to secondary sources, but only to highlight how these narratives diverge from or defend his findings.

Since 1724 and written six years after Blackbeard’s death, a main source on pirates, including Blackbeard, has been Captain Charles Johnson’s A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates ever. Its author was a contemporary, familiar with the political and social constraints of the early eighteenth century. His true identity remains unknown, although Daniel Defoe and Nathaniel Mist are two candidates for this person. Brooks sides with historian Arne Bialuschewski, who makes a good case for the latter being Johnson, and this becomes evident as readers delve into the pages of Quest for Blackbeard. Over time, however, historians have come to recognize that Johnson blurred true history with fiction, so A General History is more semi-biographical in nature. This is why Brooks seeks information from more reliable resources to uncover the truth about Edward Teach, alias Blackbeard the pirate.

While Blackbeard’s piratical career is known, his origins are mired in mystery. Brooks, with assistance from other researchers and genealogists, has uncovered documentary evidence in Jamaica that sheds light on this quandary. Blackbeard’s real name was Edward Thache, although through the years it has been spelled Teach, Thatch, Theach, and Tach – a byproduct of an era when spelling wasn’t uniform. He was probably born in the environs of Bristol, England, and immigrated to Jamaica as a young lad with his parents and sister. His family had wealth and social standing in the island’s capital of Spanish Town (St. Jago de la Vega). During Queen Anne’s War (known as the War of the Spanish Succession in Europe), he served aboard HMS Windsor. While no ship’s logs or muster books support this – and Brooks provides good reasons why this might be – a Jamaican deed provides this information.

History has often been taught in a vacuum, so our understanding of events doesn’t always include the whole picture. In order to truly understand Thache, it’s important to view him from the perspective of the world in which he lived and through the eyes of those who either knew him or were impacted by him. Brooks ably provides this historical context, sometimes diverting from the straight and narrow, but he always brings the focus back to Thache. For this reason, readers simply seeking a book just about Blackbeard won’t find it within these pages. Instead, we are treated to a treasure trove of information that gives a better understanding of Thache’s world, piracy in general, and how politics, the media, and changing attitudes influence how he was and is viewed.

Brooks touches on a wide variety of interconnected topics that may have influenced Blackbeard in varying degrees. These include Jacobites, class, and religion, as well as locations such as Jamaica, the Bahamas, and the Carolinas. Among the many pirates discussed are Elizabethan Sea Dogs, Benjamin Hornigold, Henry Avery, Robert Searle, Charles Vane, Henry Jennings, Samuel Bellamy, and Stede Bonnet. Brooks also spotlights men who either supported or worked against pirates, such as Sir Thomas Modyford, Nicholas Trott, Charles Eden, Tobias Knight, William Rhett, and Alexander Spotswood. By examining all these people within the proper historical context, Brooks suggests we need to revisit and revise our “general modern view of dirty, poor, and destitute pirates, at least their leaders.” (9)

Throughout the 651 pages of this book Brooks shares what other historians and authors have written about Blackbeard. Among these are Peter Earle, Colin Woodard, Marcus Rediker, Mark Hanna, Robert E. Lee, and David Cordingly – names many readers familiar with pirate histories readily recognize. While Brooks agrees with some, he disagrees with others. Authors’ personal biases and agendas influence their writing, and readers should understand these while reading non-fiction. Brooks certainly recognizes this and, for the most part, his presentation is equally weighted; however, his discussions on armchair historians (those with no formal training in historical research) and those who “adopted” Thache as a North Carolinian demonstrate his own biases because the arguments come across more as rants than impartial evaluations.

While revising our understanding of pirates is one of Brooks’ goals in writing Quest for Blackbeard, he states two others. One pertains to corrupt private colonies and the need for “central government control for any progress to commence once . . . Britain dominated in America.” (9) The second pinpoints an epicenter for the dawning of the Golden Age of Piracy: the July 1715 hurricane that resulted in the catastrophic wreck of eleven of Spain’s treasure ships. The information he puts forth in this narrative masterfully supports these goals.

Each of the fifteen chapters begins with a quotation and has numerous subheadings. Footnotes are provided on pages where the source is referred to, but there is no bibliography. This requires readers, who are interested in locating the resource, to find its original footnote for the full citation. Figures (illustrations, maps, family trees, timelines, and charts) are renumbered with each chapter and no master list with page numbers is provided for easy reference. Nor are they always referred to within the narrative. There are three appendices, although the references to them within the narrative aren’t uniformly indicated. (The print in Appendix C is small and may require a magnifying glass to read.) The extensive index, however, mitigates these oversights to some degree.

Quest for Blackbeard is an absorbing account of Brooks’ quest to learn the history behind the legend. He admits that genealogy involves assumptions and identifies where he speculates on some aspects of Thache’s life and his contemporaries. This is why readers will encounter words such as likely, probably, and possibly throughout their reading. But these suppositions don’t detract from the importance of his research. The book is an invaluable addition to any pirate collection, and the “new” historical evidence and thought-provoking conclusions provide stimulating areas for future research and conversation.




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Daughter of the Pirate King

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Pretending to be someone she’s not and hiding skills that could free her are difficult for Alosa, but to succeed in her mission, she has no other choice. She just can’t make her capture seem too easy for Captain Draxen and the rest of the pirates of Night Farer. She also wants to make certain her crew gets away unharmed . . . well, at least the three she trusts who are true members of her real crew. Her father handpicked the rest from among the debtors, thieves, and disobeyers who come to his attention.

Once he boards her ship, Draxen reveals that he knows exactly who she is: Princess Alosa, daughter of Kalligan, the Pirate King. When she attempts to negotiate her surrender, a battle of wits ensues. An accord is finally reached, but not without shedding blood, and his crew puts her crew in longboats and tells them it will take them 2 ½ days to reach the nearest port. Once there they are to deliver his ransom note to the Pirate King. Then Draxen sinks their ship.

Furious at losing face in front of his men, Draxen threatens Alosa before locking her in a cell. Getting out isn’t a problem; she’s quit adept at picking locks and well-trained by her father, but sneaking out must wait until the pirates are asleep. Only then will it be a tad safer to search Night Farer to complete her mission.

Many years ago a map was torn into sections and given to three pirate lords. These pieces have been handed down from father to son through generations. Her father has one. The second was held by Draxen’s father, but he’s dead now, which means Draxen may or may not have the map. In fact, he may not even know about it. It’s her job to find it; only then can she set in motion the rest of her father’s plan. Once he has all three sections and reassembles the map, it will lead him to the Isla de Canta – an island filled with treasure and protected by magical sirens.

Draxen’s brother Riden is tasked with interrogating Alosa to discover the exact location of Kalligan’s hideaway. While he’s out searching for herhter, Draxen will sail to the hideaway and lay an ambush. The Pirate King introduced the concept of honesty to make deals and negotiate with rival lords. Draxen prefers the old ways and being honest goes against the grain of many pirates. Hence his reason for capturing Alosa.

Having been raised by a vicious father, Riden has seen the crueler side of life. He doesn’t want to see Alosa hurt, but he’s not against allowing others to hurt her if she fails to answer his questions. Almost from the start, she recognizes Riden feels responsible for some situation. She just doesn’t know what or why. But she does understand that all he truly wants is to be loved and accepted.

Riden has a special skill, one that allows him to elicit information without others knowing this is what he’s doing. His technique differs from usual interrogations, and Alosa enjoys their cat-and-mouse game. Until she realizes she has shared some secrets, such as her willingness to do whatever her father asks just to please him. Riden also senses Alosa keeps a more important secret . . . but it’s one she can’t afford to reveal to him or anyone else.

From first sentence to last, Alosa weaves a magical web filled with powerful emotions that compel you to keep turning pages. She drops hints throughout her tale, but never reveals the truth until the exact moment you need to know. Levenseller deftly melds fantasy with pirate lore and betrayal. Just when you think you know what comes next, she inserts an unexpected twist that heightens the tension and sends you plummeting. The intended audience may be young adults, but anyone will enjoy this story because it touches on themes we all can relate to: the need for acceptance, a desire to be loved, and trying to please one’s parents no matter how high they set the bar.

Daughter of the Pirate King is a great fantasy made even better with the promise of a sequel. After all, there’s still one piece of map to find.




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The Golden Age of Piracy

The Golden Age of Piracy: The Truth Behind Pirate Myths by Benerson Little

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A pirate with an eye patch, and perhaps a wooden leg, wearing tall boots and an earring, with a parrot on his shoulder, and armed with cutlass and pistols. He, or she, drinks rum, might sport a tattoo, and curses up a storm when he’s not saying, “Arr!” This is the quintessential swashbuckling buccaneer of yore . . . or is it?

Most people recognize at least some of this description isn’t true. It’s Hollywood’s version or how writers portray pirates in their novels. Within the pages of this fascinating book, Benerson Little explores the myths associated with piracy and then delves into primary accounts to distinguish between fact and myth. He also explores how these myths may have originated, as well as why real pirates didn’t act as they do on screen and in print.

The book is divided into two parts. Six chapters address myths dealing with pirate violence in “For Some Body Must Be Beaten.” The remaining six chapters focus on pirate society in “The Custom of the Coast.” This study concerns the pirates who lived and preyed between 1655 and 1725. The topics covered are pirate flags and symbols on them; “false optics” and two famous pirates – Blackbeard and Bartholomew Roberts – who employed these techniques; pirate ships and those upon which they prey; techniques and torture used to gain information from prisoners; sea fights and attacks; duels and weapons; pirates and slaves; women pirates and pirates of color; pirates as revolutionaries and rebels; pirate democracy and utopias; and treasure.

Each chapter opens with a summary narrative that explores an episode from history related to the topic being discussed. The endnotes include the sources used in these condensations. Three examples of such events are Blackbeard’s blockade of Charlestown, the buccaneers crossing the Isthmus of Darien, and the capture of Calico Jack Rackham and his crew. Next Little discusses the myths pertaining to each episode before examining how they became myths and what facts led to this false picture of Golden Age pirates.

Unfamiliar terms are explained in context, and Little clearly identifies whether his conclusions are drawn from known facts or are educated hypotheses based on what period documentation shows. The source material listed in the extensive bibliography reveals not only the depth of his research, but also the numerous archival material and primary documents he consulted. The book includes a center section of illustrations, endnotes, and an index.

While a few other volumes discuss pirate myths, The Golden Age of Piracy goes far beyond these. Little sifts through the popular mythology and purposeful ideological speculation to introduce readers to the real pirates without turning a blind eye to their cruelty and crimes. That he does so in language that any reader will understand makes this a valuable resource and worthwhile addition to any pirate aficionado’s or historian’s library




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