The Brethren Prince by Ira David Smith might well be one of the definitive novels of piracy and privateering in the Caribbean. Following the life of James Ketcham, it shows us historically accurate life among the buccaneers of Hispaniola, in the famous pirate haven of Tortuga and in several other historical locations on the islands and on the mainland. The novel certainly has some drawbacks, but they are outweighed by the good parts.
The Blast that Tears the Skies is the third novel in J.D. Davies' The Journals of Matthew Quinton series. It is a historical naval fiction series set in the 17th century that has, until now, spent most of its time on land, dealing with the protagonist's family mysteries. The third part finally brings the family mystery to its conclusion and also describes one of the major naval battles of the era, the Battle of Lowestoft, where the Royal Navy have to forget their differences in order to beat the Dutch Navy.
I'd better get this straight right from the start: Patrick O'Brian is my absolute favourite author. More specifically, I love his Aubrey/Maturin novels for how they transport me to another place and time so completely. I've read the series through twice and finished reading the first novel, Master and Commander, for the third time a few days ago, which led me to write this review love letter.
The Admiral (2015) tells a story of Michiel de Ruyter (1607-1676), a famous Dutch admiral who managed to put up a decent fight against the naval might of England during the Anglo-Dutch wars. Rather than telling the full story of his rise to fame in the Caribbean and elsewhere, the film focusses on the c. ten last years of de Ruyter's career when he was chosen to lead the confederate fleet. For me, this is a bit of an unknown topic - for some reason my knowledge of Dutch history and naval power has pretty much been limited to the powerful East India Company, so my commentary on historical accuracy is somewhat limited in this review.
The Mountain of Gold is the second novel in the The Journals of Matthew Quinton series by J.D. Davies. It is historical naval fiction, but unlike most other novels set in the Age of Sail, Matthew Quinton lives in the 17th century, in post-Civil War era England where the king's power is still shaky and many wish that the Civil War had ended differently. The first novel was somewhat light on the naval adventure side, most action taking place on land, and the sequel has the same problem, if you wish to call it that. But, overall, it is rather a good read of the period.
There have been numerous authors trying their hand in the same genre with Patrick O'Brian, but no one has truly been able to match the quality of his naval historical fiction. J.D. Davies' Gentleman Captain, is a fine entry to the genre, however, and manages to make itself different enough from those who have gone before. One of the main differences is the era. The novel is set in the latter half of the 17th century and offers a nice view of the post Civil War England.
The late George MacDonald Fraser is perhaps best known for his hilarious Flashman stories, one of which was also turned into rather a funny film, starring Malcolm McDowell. Towards the end of his career, he wrote two somewhat different comical novels, the first of which is The Pyrates. In his afterword he describes his love for golden era pirate films and novels and therefore it is with great expectations that a reader begins to read the first pages.
Rima Jean's The Noble Pirates is a tale of a woman participating on a booze cruise with her friends when a sudden storm removes her from her own time of 2011 and throws her through time in to the year of 1719 and into the hands of pirates. I did not expect much from a time travel pirate novel, which sounded suspiciously too much like a romance novel to boot, but I was very pleasantly surprised by what it turned out to be.
An interesting research project is taking place in Sweden at the moment, as researchers have recreated a 17th century cannon and are test firing it at wooden constructions, modelled after period ships, in order to find out how cannons were used in sea battles: the distances used, how powerful they were and what kind of damage they caused.
Dudley Pope’s Buccaneer shows promise on the surface, but doesn’t really deliver as a novel. Set in the 17th century, it tells the story of a royalist plantation owner in Barbados who finds that he will have to flee the island or face the Roundheads whose fleet is coming over from England to subdue the Caribbean settlements. The protagonist, Ned Yorke, snatches his neighbour’s wife and makes his escape only to find that it is not so easy to decide what to do afterwards.
El Cazador is one of the rare pirate themed graphic novels that I have had the luck of getting my hands on. It is also one of the best depictions of the golden era of piracy that I've had the honour of reading. It's only downside? The story was never finished.
