Customer Reviews

The Reaper

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

 

 

This is a bang up job as far as the beginning of a naval series is concerned. It isn't weighed down with a ton of sail handling detail and digressions about nature like O'Brian (not that he isn't great). I put it more in the Hornblower, Bolitho, Ramage school of sea fiction. This is the first in a projected series about two brothers, one an admiral, the other a midshipman, in the Royal Navy in 1775. They fight pirates, meet beautiful women, and blow folks to kingdom come. You know the drill. Anyway, if you like swashbuckling stuff this should suit you.

During my high school years, among my favorite reads were Don Pendleton's The Executioner series and all of those yellow-spined sci-fi/fantasy novels published by DAW. The two things all of those novels had in common were that they rarely topped two-hundred pages, and they were fun. In the breadth of a weekend of reading, Mack Bolan could clean the Mafia out of Memphis or Elric of Melnibone could recover the runesword Stormbringer. As time went on, it seemed like the likes of Tom Clancy ousted Pendleton and Elric's throne was usurped by Robert Jordan megabooks.

However, much to my delight, the short adventure novel isn't dead. One fine example that reminded me of when reading was <u>fun</u> is The Reaper, the first book of the Fighting Anthonys series by Michael Aye. It is the tale of British naval officer Gilbert Anthony and his war against West Indian piracy just prior to the American Revolution. Along with the assistance of his loyal crew, including his half-brother Gabriel and the mysterious Dagan, Anthony cleans out the Caribbean.

Published by Broadsides Press, the book has been likened to "if Louis L'Amour had written an Age of Sail novel." While the genre lies within the straits of Patrick O'Brian and C. S. Forester, the author's style reminds me of Glen Cook with an occassional squall of Flashmanesque humor and a gust of supernatural thrown in for good measure.

If you're the type of person who thinks Talk-Like-A-Pirate Day should be a year round event, The Reaper should definitely be on your reading list.

Most people who start a series of naval fiction in the age of sail take as their protagonist a young midshipman or lieutenant. Then, over the course of the development of the series, we see the protagonist develop into a better officer and rise in the ranks. Michael Aye has done something different. His character starts as a post captain fresh from a major victory. There would seem to be little room for upward mobility with a start like that but the book is worth reading.

Captain Anthony is assigned to suppress piracy in the Caribbean. He does so at a time when the stage is being set for the American Revolution. Tensions are running high but conflict has not yet broken out. The pirates are everyone's enemies and the captain proves to be an effective suppressor of their trade.

The book is extremely fast paced and enjoyable to read. Some to the situation and solutions seem to reek too much of coincidence but it is a fun read. I look forward to more.

This is a reasonably entertaining story in the genre of fighting sail. The problem is in the production of the book itself. Here's yet another example of a book which seems to have had no proofreading whatsoever. Typos abound, and on occasion words are simply used incorrectly.

Here's an example from page 134:

"Here, here," they all said in unison as they drained their glasses.

That mistake is made consistently throughout the book. The fourth lieutenant's name is usually spelled Witzenfeld, but occasionally it becomes Witzenfield. Bungles like these bring the reader up short and sadly interrupt what is otherwise a good seafaring tale.

I opened "The Reaper" with enthusiasm, and I was not disappointed with the story. Michael Aye gives the reader plenty of action and a different viewpoint on the Revolutionary War. I would, however, like to see him flesh out his characters more and present more details of life aboard ships, as well as action in battle. It was almost as if he wanted to get through the story quickly so he could get on with the next. But I DID like the book!
One other thing. The publisher evidently proofed the book with no more than a spell check program. I encountered several words misused, and punctuation was frequently incorrrect. Hire a person who's familiar with correct English grammar, folks!

I've just finished the 3 books in this series, Reaper, Seawolf and Barracuda. They were small books and as such, were a very quick read. The stories were fine: colorful characters, rip-roaring battle action (set in the years leading up to, and then during, the American Revolution - or should I say "insurrection" :-) ) - they reminded me a lot of the Bolitho series.

The Anthony family has a distinguished naval tradition, which the current generation is determined to uphold. The Reaper begins with the current Lord Anthony, a famed Admiral who had made his reputation as "Fighting James Anthony" at Cape Finisterre and Quiberon Bay, on his deathbed revealing to his son and heir, Gilbert Anthony, the news that he has an illegitimate brother, Gabe. Gil, who has recently distinguished himself as captain of the Recourse, vows to accept his brother as an Anthony, and takes the lad, who has two years as a middie under his belt, into his heart. Upon Lord Anthony's death, Gil is given the Drakkar, a 44-gun frigate and with Gabe along as midshipman, is assigned to chase pirates in the Carribean.

The jacket promises "fast-paced sea adventure" and that is exactly what is delivered.

Now for the less-than good news, which accounts for my assessment of 3 rather than 4 stars. Be prepared for an onslaught of spelling and grammatical errors. The editor failed the author miserably when it came time for proof-reading. While a typo here and there usually doesn't faze me and would not merit a mention in a review, they became very distracting in these books. For example, in "Barracuda", I encountered this:

"A group of off watch seamen had fashioned fishing lines and one had caught a nice size red snapper. As he was pulling the fish in a barracuda flashed by. His body like silver daggers as he bit the snapper into, leaving the fisherman with only the head for his troubles."


While I cringed at the sentence fragment, what really distracted me was the incomplete preposition, which had me wondering what the 'cuda had bit the fish "into" ... it took a few seconds for me to realize that of course it was intended to be "in two".

Mistakes like these made me suspect that the book was composed via dictation rather than pen or keyboard. However, reading the acknowledgment in The Reaper disabused me of this suspicion. To be fair, The Reaper had far fewer distractions than the sequels.

I am really sorry to devote so much of my review of these fine stories to what some might consider to be trivialities. Unfortunately, the prevalence of these distractions did affect my enjoyment of the books, so I believe I had to make a mention of them. Fortunately, the stories and characters were good enough to keep me reading despite the distractions.

I've just finished this book in two days and really enjoyed it. It is written in the fashion of Dudley Pope, Alexander Kent and Charles White.

Plenty of action and romance for the "Fighting Anthonys", two (half-)brothers chasing pirates in the Caribean at the eve of the American Revolution.

I am glad I purchased this and the second book " The Sea Wolf" together, so I can continue with the story of Gil and Gabe without interuption.

Can we expect book three + ? I hope so...

Opening this book you will find yourself transported to the Caribbean, on board the Drakkar. I can see Anthony standing strong and tall, leading his men into battle with the prirates. Anthony finds himself faced with responsibilities including his command, his dying father and now the future of a half brother. I find myself cheering for Anthony as he rises to the challenge. This is a great read. I know you will agree.

Thank you Michael Aye. You have done it again with your second in the series. You do not over power me with nautical talk, but you make it very easy to figure out. If you are fascinated with the tall ships, you will love this adventure. Lots of action and very fast read. I am actually learning some history as you have done your research. I look forward to the next in the series.

The plot and charaters are very indtersting, but NO MEAT to the story. Book is too short and needs more detail. What is the day like, what are the chacaters thoughts and ideas. This book would make a good magazine short story published over two or three issues. I would not bother to purchase another book by this author.