Customer Reviews

Piratica

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Like other reviewers, I found this book a little tough to get into. In fact, I probably read the first few chapters 5 or 6 times before I could really get into the book, but it is definitely worth it. The plot twist that comes up a few chapters in is genuinely surprising (it surprised me, anyway!) and makes the book infinitely more intriguing and enjoyable. The plot is extremely rewarding (after those first few chapters at least) and, as ever, Tanith Lee's exposition is beautiful.
It's interesting to read some work of hers that's aimed at a younger audience, and this book treads a fine line between what you might expect from Lee's other work and what you might expect from a pirate story. The sensual elements are more restrained, perhaps, but the characterisation is still very Lee.
I think this book should not be a disappointment for either pirate fans or Lee fans (unless you're just looking for smut, because you won't find it here), and would recommend to it to anyone who likes all things whimsical, fantastical, and piratical.

Maybe I missed the point here, but I found Piratica III, The Family Sea horribly disappointing. I'm a big fan of the previous two, and this one - textually - is just a cunningly written, but thematically I found it a full betrayal of the core values found in Piratica, and Piratica II. Family Sea is sketchy and uncohesive, with too many threads awkwardly linked, too many characters picked up, then discarded, and the ending makes me wish that the author had never written a third at all, but left it at the two. The love story between Art and Felix is abandoned without a second thought about a chapter into the book, and even the wonderful camraderie between Art and her fellow pirates is completely lacking. I want NOT to have read this book - not only because I found it tedious, but because having read it, it has now coloured and corrupted my enjoyment of the previous two. Steer clear!

This is an intriguing and well-crafted book, neatly divided into three acts, each divided into three parts which are each sub-divided into three chapters. The setting is a world similar to our own but with some subtle differences, not least of which is that the majority of pirate captains and highwaymen appear to be young girls!

The story begins with the 16 year-old heroine, Artemisia or Art for short, suddenly recovering lost memories of her childhood; a childhood spent at sea with her mother, pirate captain Molly Faith. She leaves her prim, suffocating girls' school behind and sets off to find her mother's old crew and embark on an adventure of her own. However, her recently retrieved memories are not quite as reliable as she thinks!

My admiration for this book grew as I read it. For the first three or four chapters (setting scenes, meeting characters) I was only mildly interested, but once Art discovers the truth about her memories, I was hooked. By the end of the second part, I came to regard the characters, (Art, each of the pirates ... even the parrot), with affection, really caring about what happened to them. By the third part, the adventure becomes a real page-turner.

Art isn't simply the standard feisty heroine, but an oddly noble girl, determined to follow her star ... whilst continually bewildered by enigmatic (possibly false) memories of her childhood. Her romantic interest, Felix, is also no stereotype ... and for much of the book it is difficult to understand his true motives for joining the pirates. The book's conclusion is both dramatic and satisfying, holding your attention until the very last page.

There have been several pirate stories published of late ... also the film, 'Pirates of the Caribbean'; however, this is without doubt my favourite. Although more fantastical and less grittily realistic than some books, it cleverly manages to convey a much more convincing flavour of life at sea.