Customer Reviews

Pirate Curse (The Wave Walkers Book One)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you love Pirates of the Caribbean the movie and just pirates in general then you'll love this book. If you read the first page and like how it starts then you'll love the rest. This book is packed with thrilling adventures that will send your imagination for a ride. The main charcher is Jolly, a girl who is about 14. She loves the sea and can never go a long time with out seeing it or being on it. Munk, who is the same age, is a boy who wants to be a pirate or at least wants to see one. His dream starts coming true when he mets Jolly(who is a pirate). They are two of a kind, if you can beleive that. They are in great danger when an evil comes for them. I don't want to give away the story but I will tell you that this is a book worth reading and I don't read that much.

Jolly has an unusual life for a 14-year-old girl. Her name comes from the Jolly Roger, the flag flown by pirates. She lives aboard a sailing ship, with her adopted family of pirates. She doesn't attend a traditional school, learning instead day by day how to further her career --- as a pirate! And that's not all that makes Jolly unusual; even more so is her rare ability to walk on water. Jolly is a Polliwog and believes she's the only Polliwog left alive. But she's mistaken.

Fourteen-year-old Munk is a Polliwog, and he also believes he's the only one left. Munk lives a sheltered life on a secluded island with only his parents and their staff of ghost workers. His parents forbid him to use his Polliwog talents in fear that he'll be kidnapped or killed. So Munk keeps busy working on the family plantation. Unfortunately, Munk doesn't hold much interest in the plantation business; he'd much rather follow his daydreams of becoming a pirate.

But Jolly and Munk's lives soon turn upside down and spin way out of control. An unknown enemy lures Jolly's ship into a trap, with only Jolly managing to escape and believing the rest of the crew dead. She washes ashore on Munk's island, and they quickly learn of each other's secret. But the amazement of finding another Polliwog in existence immediately vanishes when the enemy follows Jolly to the island and destroys Munk's parents. Jolly and Munk run for their lives with the help of a man known as the Ghost Trader. He explains that the gate to another world is crumbling away, inviting dangerous creatures intent on death and destruction. Jolly and Munk set sail on an amazing adventure to save the world.

THE PIRATE CURSE offers a non-stop, action-packed thrill of a read. Each page introduces incredible adventures involving magic, pirates, strange creatures, dangerous missions, and even a bit of humor to lighten the load. German author Kai Meyer has quite a bit of writing experience under his belt, and he proves his talents over and over with his imaginative details and knowledgeable descriptions of sailing ships, the open sea and the beautiful Caribbean. THE PIRATE CURSE will leave readers eager and impatient for the promised sequel.

--- Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman, author of FINDING MY LIGHT and THE BLACK POND

On page 31 of the hardcover edition there is a scene where a passed out female has the words "enter here" tattooed on her butt by a young boy.

Later in the book there are depictions of prostitution and women (some prostitutes, some not) are called whores.

There is plenty of adventure, magic and swashbuckling, and this is probably a fine book for young adults. I do, however, object to it being marketed to 10 year olds. The library copy we picked up said it was for 10-14 year olds on the inside flap.

Maybe other 10 year olds are ready to read about suggestions of forced sodomy on a passed out girl, maybe some are mature enough to process the concept of prostitution or the disrespect that leads to calling women whores (Don Imus, might have some wisdom on this point), but I think for most 10 year olds this is inappropriate.

I don't believe in censorship, but as a parent, I would have appreciated some sort of heads-up about this content. I don't think it should be in the juvenile section at the bookstore or the library.

I liked this book. If I didn't like it I wouldn't give it so many stars.

It starts with a big battle between two ships. Jolly is the one that is running. She is running on the water. She is a Polliwiggle!

My brother's favorite character is the Hexhermetic Shipworm. He is a bit silly. He thinks he's a great poet, but nobody really listens. He's just a worm that eats wood.

I thought the story was exciting. Jolly meets another Polliwiggle named Monk. He lives on an island and they have to go off together. Something happens to them, but I won't tell you what! (He, he, he, he...)

I like to read a lot of fantasy books. I like the Mistmantle Chronicles and Varjak Paw books and Catwings books and Dragonrider and The Tale of Despereaux. I liked this too. I recommend that you try it.

In this outstanding book by Kai Meyer, Jolly, a 14 year-old pirate, has been blessed- or cursed?- with the ability to walk on water. She and her pirate crew, who are the only family she knows, roam the seas, until one terrible day, when they are tricked onboared a vessel that has been rigged to kill them. (Supposedly?) every single one of them dies, except Jolly. She washes up on an island, and to her suprise, meets another "polliwog" or another person who can walk on water. She and Munk, the other polliwog, meet the Ghost Trader, a strange man who is surrounded by secrets. After a horrible ordeal conserning Munk's family, both children join the Ghost Trader on a mission to save the world. But Jolly isnt bought by all this, the only thing she wants is to find her pirates and the person who set out to destroy them. On their incredible journey toward Allenium, a place as strange as the Ghost Trader, they meet new friends-and some non-friends- and experiance wierd and exciting places, jounying to the unknown in search of answers.
But then the unthinkable happens...

Jolly has been able to walk on water since she was born. She was raised by a pirate. When her ship goes down, Jolly discovers a boy who can also walk on water. A ghost trader hopes to use the children to stop the Maelstrom, a power that can destroy the world. This story has pirates, deadly spiders, a floating city, and horrific, deadly power. A great adventure story that is book one in the Wave Walkers series.

Bought these for my 13 year old son and he liked the first one (Pirate Curse) the best, the second one (Pirate Emperor) was still pretty good, but "was confusing in the way it linked from the first book to the second book." The third book (Pirate Wars) was better than the second book in its storyline, but "the setting and many details were just plain out there." Overall, he would recommend them, but they were not his favorite series.

One thing about Meyer is that he certainly know how to create an original fantasy with odd and exciting elements that no one has ever seen or experienced before. There's always a twinge of darkness that creeps into the heroes, making them questionable as to whether they are good or bad. With this series, there is no exception. The exotic aand mysterious setting of the Caribbean and pirates, ghosts, men with dog heads, giant maelstroms that release magic and try to take over the world, as well as the fact that the main characters have the ability to walk on water as if it were normal makes these books fun and engaging to read.

-Lindsey Miller, lindseyslibrary

Surviving an attack on her guardian's ship, a fourteen-year-old girl named Jolly washes ashore on an island inhabited by a boy named Munk, also fourteen, and his parents. Prior to meeting, each had believed they were the only remaining polliwog, that is, water walker. The two team up after a tragedy and head to New Providence where Jolly hopes to find Kendrick, king of the pirates, and enlist his help in locating her former crewmates, missing and presumed dead. Enter several other characters (Soledad the scarab princess, a spider expert, Jolly's old friend Griffin, and a pirate ship captain named Walker), some bad entities (sea creatures called Kobalins, the Acherus, wraiths), a harmless hexidecimal worm more annoying than Jar Jar, and throw in a few battles and some unnecessarily naughty words and themes (prostitution). Tie them all together with a disjointed plot that does little more than set things up for the rest of the books in the series and you have it: Pirate Curse. Beyond the bad plot, the writing is awful, causing one to wonder whether the problems existed in the original story or was ruined during translation. Names chosen make no sense (ships named Carfax and Skinny Maddy, a boy named Munk, "mussel" magic and a ghost trader named...Ghost Trader), difficult words are used when easier ones would suffice, and certain words are used over and over to the point of distraction (grim, silhouette, etc.). Beyond issues with the plot and writing, Pirate Curse is totally inappropriate for 9 to 12 year olds with its slew of curse words inclusion of: a person who threatens a man with a knife to his fly, a kick to the same area, much discussion of prostitution using a less euphemistic word, the death of certain key adult characters, and a main character in her youth (six years old) who tattoos (p 31) "Please enter" on a woman's behind. In summary, a poorly written, poorly plotted story inappropriate for preteens. Although much shorter and simpler, younger kids might want to try the Jack Sparrow series by Robb King or the Pirate School series by Brian James.

For me to find a book that i can really read is hard but this book i read it in 3 days. Its adventure and fantasy so cant stop reading. I hate reading but that book made me feel like i wasn't even reading.