Customer Reviews

The Fox and the Fury

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Patrick Dalton sails again in The Fox and the Fury with no friends except his faithful crew. Still loyal to the king despite being wrongly accused of treason, he is pursued by the Royal Navy, the British Army and a British lawman (a sort of English Inspector Javert). Fair game for colonial (whig) privateers and navy, he is also hunted by loyalist (tory) raiders because of his cargo. As if that's not enough, he runs afoul of Spanish pirates whose insane captain makes Dalton's destruction a personal project. Plenty of action, as you can imagine. Of course, setting up all these conflicts makes for a long exposition and it is 100+ pages before Dalton and his crew are afloat. Be sure to read the The Fox and the Faith first, or this may not hold your interest. Once Dalton raises his sails, however, the action is lively and carries the reader without pause to the end of the book.

Parkinson give more rein to his humor than in the first book of the series, to great effect. Sometimes it's just a phrase that brings a smile ("Constance has a whim of iron."), but Parkinson also sets up extended tropes that create several charming "who's on first" moments. The sailmaker is a ringer for Benjamin Franklin and no colonial can be dissuaded from believing that is his identity, to the bewilderment of all Britishers. The language games are endless and hilarious. There are two Indians aboard who speak broad Cockney, which only one crew member, a Londoner, can understand. There is only one man who can speak German with the five Hessian deserters who serve as marines. Mix in the Spanish pirates and some French non-combatants and we get wonderful misunderstandings and translations of translations that play out like a game of telephone.

After a slow start, TFATFury is a cracking good read with hold-your-breath action and wry humor. Read it.

Set in the 1770's, this book continues the story of a young Irish sailor named Patrick Dalton, an ex RN Lieutenant, attempting to maintain his association with the sea following accusations of treason against him by his former employers; details of which can be found in Dan Parkinson's previous book, "The Fox and the Faith".

Patrick and his rag tag motley crew, some of whom sailed with him on his earlier adventures, have found and restored a trading ketch, a casualty of the naval confusion between the many ships of convenience that sailed the east coast of the American Colonies at that time.

Outfitting at the same time as Patrick's ketch, is a patriot owned, purpose built vessel intended for privateering. It is a fine ship, but before it can be completed the Redcoats are reported in the district. Consequently it is forced to sail with an incomplete crew. Patrick in the meantime has been able to obtain a somewhat illegal cargo for his ship from John Ramsay, who has also agreed to support Patrick with his outfitting. Squire Ramsay is the father of Constance who had been an 'accidental' sailor with Patrick Dalton on his previous command, the "Faith".

The story continues with Patrick, and his now augmented crew, adventuring their way out of the Chesapeake to points south. As with any story like this, they do it with skill and determination, against all the odds that fate throws at them. You can almost smell the salt as they take their ship from one exploit to another.

Dan Parkinson's descriptions of the various ships is creditable evoking an understanding of the differences between the many types of vessels then afloat, and of the problems that his characters undergo and attempt to solve as they endeavour to achieve their aims. He uses all the necessary nautical terms, but they are not overpowering to one who may not know them.

Parkinson's references to adventures that occurred in his earlier book about Patrick are not excessive, there are enough to enable you to read this book on its own, and still enjoy the earlier one.

As an enthusiastic reader of 'Age of Sail', it is a pleasant change to read about the smaller ships which probably had a greater effect on the events of the day than most people might believe.

After "The Fox and the Faith", this one was disappointing. The author did little to develop Dalton's character, the story wasn't compelling, and there was little progression as one would hope to see in a series. Still, it did have some good points. Those were in the form of two American Indians who learned Cockney English. Their presence was hilarious, and helped save the book. As I've already purchased the next volume, my hope is that it is an improvement.

I haven't read the first of the series 'Faith', but I definitely will after reading the "Fury'.
Much like O'Brien in the running undercurrent of humour; the 'cockney' Indians; the O'Riley brothers; the Hessian Marines & Dr. Franklin remind one of the hoary joke of the 'cur-tailed dog-watch' and "not a monent to lose!" in their pantomime predictability.

Very enjoyable, well-written and informative to one who knows very little of the Colonial Wars (not something we Brits talk about!). This covers the same period as James Nelson's 'Revolution at Sea' saga, although I think that Mr.Parkinson has made more use of fiction here, but to good effect - none of it is beyond the realms of reality. Moreover, he has a good grasp of seamanship and conveys it well (although a map would have been useful to those not familiar with the Chesapeake Bay geography), with vivid descriptions of encounters, plus detailed navigational sequences and sail evolutions.

One thing that puzzles... we are given a sketchy background to Dalton's stubborn allegiance to the throne, but it seems to me that an Irishman, falsely accused of treason (amongst other crimes) should have no qualms about fighting the British - I would have expected him to throw in his lot with the Colonials long before now.

Well worth reading.****