Customer Reviews

Isle of Swords

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
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All hands on Deck for this wonderful new Pirate adventure from Christian Fantasy author: WAyne Thomas Batson. Now, pretty colors and fancy packaging are no replacement for a great story--which this is, but I have to say "This book even LOOKS great!" I couldn't resist it when I saw it on the book store shelf. It's the kind of hardcover novel you want to keep around for your kids...Anyway...How is the story?

Let me say that WAyne Batson keeps the action coming and the suspense as well. Every chapter ending made me have to keep turning pages--even when I knew I just had to get in bed! The story centers upon the pirate ship: William Wallace and its captain Declan Ross. The captain and crew, along with Ross' spirited teenage daughter, finds a young man who has been beaten and left for dead. The young man has amnesia and his subplot trying to recover his identity runs parallel with the action as the William WAllace eludes the British Navy and the fiercest pirate captain you're likely to read about any time soon. Bartholomew Thorne is searching for the famed treasure of Constantine on the Isle of Swords and he'll do anything (literally) to get it.

This action packed adventure has a visceral intensity to it that wasn't even found in Wayne's previous series: The Door Within (and I loved that series!) Isle of Swords sets sail into dangerous waters and never lets up for a minute. There are many fun characters and every one of them is fleshed out. Mr. Batson's high seas discriptions of life onboard these pirate vessels made me feel like I was there and that is exactly how a great story should make you feel. By the time you finish the last page of Isle of Swords, you will be glad you joined the crew of the William Wallace on this adventure, but you'll be sad that the sequel isn't out yet!--James Somers, author: The Chronicles of Soone.

I always approach a Wayne Thomas Batson book with a sense of adventure. This one was no exception. Declan Ross didn't choose to be a pirate, but his daughter, Anne, is hooked by the lifestyle. With a disposition to match her fiery red hair, Anne knows how her father feels, but she loves the pirate life too much to give it up.

Her father's ship, the William Wallace, puts to shore in a bay claimed by Bartholomew Thorn, the most detested, brutal pirate of their time, and Anne finds a young man, beaten half to death. He doesn't know who he is or how he came to be there. Declan names him Cat. Then Declan agrees to help Padre Dominguez search for the treasure of Constantine, and Cat begins to remember his past. To add to their troubles, Bartholomew Thorne is hot on their trail.

Batson's books are packed full of excitement. Fans of all ages will enjoy his heartstopping adventure with a clear message of right and wrong. His memorable characters make the action extremely realistic. Recommended.

Who is he? Where did he come from? Captain Declan Ross finds a young man nearly beaten to death on the beach clutching a bag containing a green jewel. Does he dare take him on board the William Wallace or is he a crew member of the infamous pirate Bartholomew Thorne, the Captain's enemy?

Within the pages of The Isle of Swords, Wayne Thomas Batson creates a tale of intrigue, danger and adventure. Though the character of the Captain's daughter, Anne, is a little hard to believe, this story is one where the reader can feel the creaking of the ship, taste the salt of the sea spray and hear the wind whistling in the sails. This book will entice readers of all ages who love a good pirate story!

This book is amazing, no doubt about it. But what makes it so?

1. Captivating beginning. It has a beginning that will make you wonder and want to read more.
2. A book with movement. This book will carry you away with action and adventure. It has a plot that moves, not one that feels like it stops every chapter and just drags on and on...
3. It's a clean read. Are you worried about a book every time you turn the page, whether or not it will be OK? Worry no longer! If this was a movie, I would give a PG rating because of the intensity. But there is no reason to worry about language or any inappropriate scenes.
4. Great characters. These are characters you'll begin to know and love. At the end, I really wished I could meet them!
5. Its a classic. Seriously, it is. Its on my top 10 list.
6. It has an ending that will make you want to read the sequel. Have you ever read a book where the ending is kind of lame? Well... THIS IS NOT THAT KIND OF BOOK! Make sure you have the sequel ready to read when you finish this book. You'll be dying to know what happens.

Please don't ignore this book! You'd really miss out on a great book. And for the people out there who have read this book already, they would agree completely with me.

Isle of Swords is a remarkable book that takes you on a journey through the high seas with excitement at every turn. With adventure at your side and an outstanding, unforgettable plot, you'll be thrust into a book that you won't want to put down!

Incredible book! Mr. Batson, with his simple, yet fast-paced writing style, knows how to spin an amazing tale! Whipped half to death, a teen wakes on an island with no memory of who he is and how he got there. A pouch he clutches holds a shock of hair, a small cross, and a rare green diamond pirates would kill for (and do). Declan Ross, captain of the Wallace, and later the Bruce (and what a battle it was!), wants to free himself and his somewhat annoying and headstrong daughter Anne from the piracy business forever. But when he crosses with the notorious, blood-thirsty pirate Bartholomew Thorne, things get ugly for him and a friendly order of monks who hold the last (um... maybe not) map to the long lost treasure of Constantine located on the volcanic Isle of Swords. Absolutely incredible!

When Isle of Swords came onto the shelves at Christian Supply, I picked it up and bought it based off of the cover alone. Of course I read the back, made sure it sounded like a good story, and took it home and finished the next day. Wayne Thomas Batson had tapped into a story idea that a lot of teens are really interested in: pirates.

The story starts out incredibly: we have a marooned 16-year old, a huge ship battle at sea, a mysterious island of monks who hold the key to the lost treasure of Constantine, and a rather nasty pirate captain, Bartholomew Thorne. Captain Ross and his daughter Anne are looking for an escape from the pirate life -- a way to pay off all their debts and blend back into normal society. Especially since Captain Ross has been feeling more and more uneasy about all the stealing that he has done as a pirate. Pretty soon, he's off on a treasure hunt for one of the biggest treasures ever that will take him through dormant volcanoes, dangerous seas, and something that slithers along the deeps...

I did have some concerns going in to the book -- how would God play into the whole story? Can there be a "Christian pirate"? I was very satisfied with the answers that Batson gives in the end. While his characters do not begin the story as believers, a couple of the main ones do find Jesus in the end of the story. The main message that Batson sends all along the way is faith. Choosing to believe in the Lord rather than in man or what men can do.

It should be noted, however, that parents be cautious in allowing their younger children to read this story. There are some very intense moments in sword and sea battles that could be a little too much for some. There are a couple of violent moments that aren't specifically seen in the story, but we know what happened -- most of these involve someone being eaten by a sea animal (not seen, but implied), a man is tortured (also unseen, but implied), a girl is threatened by the evil pirate captain Thorne, etc. These moments are a bit intense for some readers, and should be considered by parents first.

All said, Isle of Swords is a great read for teen boys especially looking for a good alternative to stories such as The Pirates of the Caribbean. Definitely worth a day to read.

I approached this book with some hesitation, but was pleasantly surprised. It is an excellent teen fantasy. I have to admit that I did not realize when I started it that it was considered a "Christian Fantasy" or I might not have given it a try. It is a comfortable read and can be read strictly as pure fantasy, though those looking for connections will find them. I do hope that the Christian label does not stop people from reading it. And NO I am not anti-christian, just that sometimes labeling does a dis-service.

Mr. Batson is not being presumptuous when he compares this book with the Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl because the basic ingredients are the same: a pair of young people thrown together by circumstances, a freedom-loving, ship-loving, too-soft-hearted-for-his-own-good pirate captain and his crew of miscreants, another pirate captain and his crew as monstrously evil as any you've ever heard of, a relentlessly pursuing pirate-hunting British commodore chasing hard after them all, and a huge, mysterious treasure. However, Mr. Batson has shaken these basic elements up considerably and combined them with a twisting, turning, pageturner of a plot that sends our heroes ping-ponging all around the Caribbean before the wild climax at the title location.

Declan Ross is a Scottish-born pirate captain with a host of problems. First, between a reluctance to kill unless it is truly necessary and a "Never leave a man behind!" policy that would make the USMC stand up and salute, he's just been too soft-hearted to have acquired the pile of loot necessary for him and his understandably extremely loyal crew to retire from piracy as he'd planned. (Most had gone into piracy in the first place only to avoid starvation after long peace had put so many privateers on the beach.) Second, his headstrong 16-year-old daughter, Anne, is becoming increasingly vociferous in her demands to be allowed to officially join the crew. (When after his latest refusal Anne is heard to mutter, "I'd be a better pirate than you are," Captain Ross replies to himself, "That's what I'm afraid of, Anne. That's what I'm afraid of.") However, his most pressing problem is that his aging brigantine, the "William Wallace", is running short of rations and leaking so badly that it if it isn't beached, careened, and repaired soon, it is going to sink...

in less than a week.

The trouble is that the only place suitable for their purposes they can possibly reach within that time is a group of cays that just happen to be off limits to them, part of the territory exclusively claimed by a fearsome brutal monster of a pirate and leader of his own fleet: Bartholomew Thorne.

Captain Ross' only possible choice kicks off a cascade of events that soon brings him into contact with Cat, a badly wounded 16-year-old boy of an amnesiac who is somehow involved in all of this but cannot now remember just how, and puts him on the run from both Thorne and the British as he is "commissioned" as it were to recover a legendary lost treasure: the Treasure of the Emperor Constantine... before Thorne does.

I found the going a bit slow to start as the characters were introduced and some seemed a bit too comical to believe, but soon Mr. Batson was running before the wind, and as each chapter ended I raced into the next one. He keeps the tension wound to the highest pitch, and though he drives his characters by narrowing down their choices, their ultimate decisions make perfect sense for the characters.

The only negative I can think of is the minor nit that the contrast of dark brown letters on light brown pages might be hard on some older eyes, like mine.

Finally, unless you have an allergy to all things Christian approaching that of the Undead (or Madalyn Murray O'Hair), there is nothing to offend in here. There is little that could be called preaching, and nothing that can be called preachy. It is just that unlike most popular entertainment Isle of Swords takes place in a universe in which Christianity exists and its existence matters...

thus making it a lot more like the REAL world.

Note: The story continues (and continues well!) here: Isle of Fire.

Set sail on a rip roaring adventure on the high seas! From the blue Caribbean to the wild North Atlantic, follow Captain Declan Ross and the fierce (but loveable) crew of the William Wallace. Originally forced to turn to piracy, Declan Ross seeks enough wealth to leave behind the so called "sweet trade" and settle down ashore with his daughter Anne.

Anne, however, does not share her father's desire. To top it all off, the Wallace is short of supplies, leaking water, and caught in the hunting grounds of the worst pirate in history: Bartholomew Thorne. It couldn't get much worse, right?

Until the discovery of a brutally beaten lad abandoned on an island, a fateful fight against Thorne's second in command and a strange meeting with an even stranger Priest result in Declan Ross and the Wallace ranking number one on Thorne's most wanted list. A desperate race to find the legendary treasure of Constantine could give Ross the wealth he seeks. If Thorne doesn't find it first...

When Wayne Thomas Batson's book Isle of Swords came out several years ago, I literally devoured it. Flipping from page to page as fast and as long as I could! So, I figured it was high time I wrote a review.

True to form, Isle of Swords opens with a bang. Writers often talk about putting their characters into the worst possible situations and letting them work their way out again. Batson leaves nothing to be desired in this respect. From the start, there is absolutely no doubt as to what is at stake.

Batson's characters fairly jump off the page. Determined Declan Ross, headstrong Ann, and poor Cat who can't even remember his own name! Not to mention the fierce Red Eye who can't seem to collect enough weapons or Nubby (named for the stump of his missing arm) who serves as the Wallace's cook and whose favorite dish is Iguana Stew.

Isle of Swords is a story full of color and spice that will whisk you out of your chair and transport you to the swaying deck of a ship or drop you into the overarching palms and thick underbrush of a muggy jungle. Quick paced action, vivid settings, and characters you can't help but love, make Isle of Swords a story well worth reading. Due to violent content and evil pirates who are sometimes disturbingly cruel, I recommend Isle of Sword for readers 12+.