Customer Reviews

Powder Monkey: Adventures of a Young Sailor

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

 

 

A good bit of entertaining reading for anyone, student or adult, wanting to get an insight on the deplorable conditions of life at sea back in the days of cannons and tall ships. Life during the days when the caste system was alive and well in the so called civilized western world. I would recomend this book as a read to any school age student wishing to see beyond the so called glory of life on the high seas that goes beyond Master And Comander.

Sam, the 13 year old main character, fits snug into whatever condition tossed upon him. He has to do so or he dies. Or at the very least risks flogging. The British Navy really weren't very decent folks back then were they. Sailors were just rabble to be used and disposed of at will. That is the imprression I came away with after reading this book. Even young Sam realizes that escape is useless. No return to home is possible. The author does not sell the reader out in this truth.

The only reason I only gave 4 stars was because I wanted to know Sam a little better. I never felt like I was actually there with him. But then this is really more a historical fiction than a novel. So it wasn't that big of a deal. Also I kept losing track of who was who. But then perhaps that is because I am over 60 now and the brain doesn't work.

In conclusion, I highly recomend this book for anyone interested in 1800s Naval history.

When I got this book for Christmas, I thought I'd probably won't read it. But when I read the first page, I thought it was really good so I just kept on reading. I can't wait to read Prision Ship (book 2). By the way, I am twelve.

Granted, this novel is fairly juvenile, but it was written by a historian and it does catalogue how life was on a frigate during the Napoleonic wars. Call me ignorant, but after seeing "Master and Commander: The Far Side of The World", I was under the impression that the only children serving in the royal navy were midshipmen (lieutenants-in-training, such as Robert Neville in the book) however, I came to find that this was completely inaccurate. One of the most dangerous jobs aboard ship was the powder monkey position, which was most often filled most often were the fastest and smallest on ship, the children. This is the tale of one such child who is forced upon a ship. A short novel, well worth the read. Intriguing.

Mat Perrin, esq.

Young Sam Witchall convinces his schoolmaster father that he is serious in his longing to go to sea and is allowed to ship aboard a merchant brig. After a near-disastrous brush with a French privateer, he is pressed at sea and finds himself a ship's boy on the frigate HMS Miranda. Sam serves as a powder monkey when the ship goes to quarters, hence the title of the first of Paul Dowswell's young adult series of Historic Naval Fiction. (Dowswell's title is not original; there are at least a dozen novels and a household cleanser of the same name.)

In this first-person narrative, we share Sam's fear and desperation as he comes to realize that there is no escape from Miranda. Sam struggles to come to terms with his terror of battle and harsh naval discipline as well as the bullies and predators who loom out of the below-deck darkness. With the help of the older hands in his mess, he learns his duties and becomes more comfortable with shipboard routine. He realizes that his officers, while draconian, are even-handed and disinterested and can even show humanity on occasion. He steps lightly around lower deck bullies - not always successfully. Sam's fear of the great guns that he and his mates serve slowly abates through repeated drills. Sam survives his first battle and the gunnery practice pays off as Miranda destroys a Spanish frigate, only to be captured by another before she can affect repairs. Thanks in large part to Sam's intrepid actions, Miranda is recaptured from the prize crew and sails for home, only to be wrecked on the coast of Cornwall. His future rests on the decision he must make in the tiny Cornish village where he is cast ashore.

Powder Monkey is fast-paced and has enough action to engage grown-ups as well as young adults. Relationships are hugely important to early adolescents and Dowswell is true to this concern as Sam (sometimes to his surprise) works out who his real friends are. Sam's progress aboard Miranda is a high-stakes version of the classic tale of the new boy in school who prevails in the face of demanding teachers and older bullies. Considering his young audience and the fact that the story is told from Sam's point of view, Dowswell may be justified in finessing many details of ship handling, navigation, tactics and so on. Still, he has done his homework and, with only the odd gaffe, he describes Sam's duties accurately. The gunnery passages are particularly well done. He stubs his toe on English grammar and usage a couple of times as well, most amusingly when he states that "...men who are hung lose control of their bladders..." Most encouragingly, Dowswell seems to find his rhythm and voice in the second half of the book. Both the writer and his character develop a good deal through this novel, and I look forward to meeting them again in the next book.

I would recommend Powder Monkey because it is a fast paced book and packed with action. In this book there is a boy named Sam. His dream is to become a sailor. When his dad finally says yes, he goes and joins a merchant ship and gets pressed. Getting pressed is when you are forced to go somewhere against your will. In this case he is pressed onto a war ship. He doesn't like it, so he thinks about rebelling against the crew. A sea Daddy is a person that takes care of you on a boat. Luckily Ben A sea Daddy saves him from rebelling.

I loved this book. It is historical fiction. I would recommend this book for reading ages 10-18 because of intense violence and hard words. This is the first book in a 2 book series. If you are going to read this book you should be looking forward to violence.

By Chris

Powder Monkey is a fairly good book that, in my opinion, has a horrible ending. It is a good book, with enough twists and turns in the plot so that it is good, but not too lengthy. However, the last half started falling apart. I personally would prefer it if they put a period after Mr. and used quotation marks instead of apostraphes.

Potentially, it could be great, but it simply needs a true ending and the actual end to the battle... they fight for 3 minutes, tops, hand to hand and end up surrendering.