Orphan Pirates of the Spanish Main

Stan #2

by Dennis Danvers

Orphan Pirates of the Spanish Main by Dennis Danvers is a science-fiction novelette that follows Stan and his brother Ollie, children of alien (or crazy) parents who receive a mysterious postcard from their father, who with their mother, disappeared decades earlier into the “Abyss” in New Mexico.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Aliens

35 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 25, 2016

Reviews

[Ron]

“Our parents were strange, out of step with their culture, and maybe they didn’t prepare us for life in the real world, but I’ve made my peace with them.”

A fun and funny fantasy about life and love and parents. Short and pithy.

“I’ve come to believe all times are good times, each moment wondrous. Everything happens when it should. Even me and my big mouth.”

The coarse language is unnecessary. Lost a star for it.

“Nothing lasts.”

[Amy (Other Amy)]

“... C’mon Bill. We connected. She saved my life. I was headed for the abyss, and she turned me around. It’s a small thing, to make their lives easier. They’ll have a place to live and a tidy sum when I’m gone.”

“You make it sound like it’s next week.”

“It’s always next week, next minute. You have to live now. You can’t wait around until you’re a better person to do the right thing. ..."

So, I was going through old reviews when I noticed that one of my favorite Tor short stories, "Adult Children of Alien Beings," is actually part of a series. More of this alien not alien and his cranky brother and their legendary parents? A chance to find out how it's going with the trainwreck love interest? Yes, please!

I was expecting it to be good. I wasn't expecting it to be wonderfully, breathtakingly good. Don't come in here expecting a plot. There is a plot. It's a magical realism kind of plot, but it's in there. No one should care about the plot. Come for the extended, rambling, intertwined meditation on family, on what it means to be a brother, or a son, or a mother, or a father. On impotence and power and love. On faith and God and truth and stories. On what we really need.

Are these brothers really aliens, or are they delusional? Who cares. Read these stories.

Available free online at Tor.com.

[Kieran McAndrew]

Stan and his brother Ollie return to the abyss to try and receive a message from beyond the grave.

A fun little story, with such an element of wonder and joie de vivre that you should be smiling at the end.

[Sassy Sarah Reads]

Orphan Pirates of the Spanish Main by Dennis Danvers

1.5 stars

This Tor Short is super weird. I like weird and most of the time bask in the strange, but this weird plot line has no concrete path. This story follows two brothers who are very old in age; what should be the weirdest thing is that their parents were aliens, but these two plan on going to the abyss- the place their parents died. The premise is promising because alien parents sound awesome, but the writing is choppy and doesn't leave me wanting more. In fact, I wanted this super short read to be quickly over because it was doing nothing for me. This sadly isn't a Tor Short I'm quick to recommend.

Whimsical Writing Scale: 1.5

Plotastic Scale: 1.25

Cover Thoughts: I love the design of the cover, but it's the only thing this short has to offer.

[Nadine in NY Jones]

This is no easy journey we’ve undertaken, and I’m not talking about the train.

This is a sort of sequel to Danvers' fantastic short, Adult Children of Alien Beings. I really loved that one so I had high expectations for the follow up, but they were not met. This one is .... okay. It's the same fun chatty style, the same "did that really happen or are they all insane?" plot, but this one was somehow missing the magic. Even though it ended on an upbeat note, it was kind of depressing.

Read it here: http://www.tor.com/2016/05/25/orphan-...

[Alex Sheldon]

A short follow-up to the other short Adult Children of Alien Beings, but slightly underwhelming in comparison.
Possibly due to it not quite picking up until halfway through and ending rather abruptly and too conveniently, but still retains the same uplifting and humorous writing style that enjoyed so much the first time round.

[Tom Loock]

See some (brief) notes for parts 1-3 with the last one 'Once More Into the Abyss'.

I suggest to NOT read the brief descriptions of parts 2 and 3 on Goodreads because the text is so short, it does contain spoilers.

[Katherine]

The second in a series of novellas about a pair of brothers who might be the children of aliens, this one is more of a middle child, a little neither here nor there. I still enjoyed it, and the interplay between the two siblings.

[Barry]

An unusually lovely story. Highly recommended.

[Marco]

Orphan Pirates of the Spanish Main is the second installment of the "Stan" series, started with Adult Children of Alien Beings. As for the previous book, while this is a science fiction novelette, the sci-fi element seems to be more a narrative expedient, or a delusion of the main character. But while the first story is very original, adroitly written, and often funny, and touching, this second installment is much less so: a lot of the unique magic and incredible nuances of the characters are gone. Despite that, it is still a quite enjoyable story.
In this book Stan and his brother Ollie, the children of alien (or just crazy human) parents, receive a mysterious postcard from their father, who with their mother, disappeared decades earlier into the "Abyss" in New Mexico. Along with Stan's new wife, they decide to travel again to the abyss, looking for them.

[Maggie Gordon]

Orphan Pirates is the follow-up to an earlier story about two boys and their possible alien parents. What made the first story so intriguing was how readers were never really quite sure how much of the alien story line was completely made up, a fairy tale to make the narrator feel better. Well, the sequel doesn't really add to this, even though what happened to the parents stays ambiguous. It's a surprisingly pedestrian narrative with very little SF. Also, the minor plot line about the protagonist and his sexual feelings towards his substantially younger wife he married to protect her kid... that was pretty unnecessary and uncomfortable. Bleh.

[Jennifer]

It feels so familiar, like I've read something similar before, but I just can't place it.