Customer Reviews

By The Mast Divided

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

David Donachie has begun a new series with this book. It continues with #2 "A Shot Rolling Ship" and #3 "An Awkward Commission" with possibly others to follow. "By the Mast Divided" sets up the characters and begins dual story lines following the lives of John Pearce and Ralph Barclay (Pearce's enemy). This book and the second end in cliff-hangers, so be prepared to read further. Once the series begins, the action is fast and well paced. Donachie has written other Age of Sail series that I enjoyed, notably the Privateerman Mystery (Harry Ludlow) series of 6 books and the fictional history of Lord Nelson and Emma Hamilton. Worth a read.

I enjoyed Donachie's "Privateersman" series, and the new "John Pearce" series does not dissapoint. There are a lot of characters and backstories, amd the books tend to end with cliffhangers, but the story is interesting and different enough from many of the other nautical fiction books I have read. A good start to a new series.

At first I only ordered volume one of this series,to test the "waters" so to speak, but about a third of the way through the first story I ordered the remaining books. The author is adept at story telling and can make you believe you are in the same time era and situations as the main characters. I only hope there are more stories yet to come, I am hooked !

Though this book seems to be slow of pace the rich detail makes it very interesting. I look forward to reading more books by this author. The characters are fascinating!

Young Pierce is on a secret mission for his ailing father to London when he is pressed into the navy along with several locals. Pierce, soon singled out by the captain as a troublemaker, finds himself attracted to the Captain's young wife Emily and eventually becomes the default leader of his motley band. Will Pierce escape the navy and save his father or will he be just another sailor lost at sea?

I really enjoyed this novel. Although at times a bit of a Mary Sue, Pierce was an entertaining character and one I could easily identify with. The narrator does an excellent job with accents, making each character distinctive and fun.

If you like O'brian's work, you will like this. It was a fun and enjoyable nautical adventure.

I love historical novels, especially the novels of C.S. Forester, Patrick O'Brien and Bernard Cornwell. Add Samuel Shellabarger and Kenneth Roberts to the list. I'm always looking for new authors, but Donachie won't be going on the list. I made it through the first 94 pages of "By the Mast Divided." There was a lot of yada yada, but only one incident that really moved the story forward. The author also introduced 20+ characters, gave each a backstory and started several possible plot lines, but not much else happened. It felt like the author was trying to set the stage for a whole series of novels. Meanwhile the first book went nowhere. If you make it through this novel you're more determined than this reader.