Customer Reviews

SeaWitch (Sea Witch Chronicles 1) (v. 1)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I hear there is a trend growing to rediscover real men! Well, I found one reading the wonderfully enjoyable Sea Witch! Helen Hollick's hero, the pirate captain Jesamiah Acorne is everything a hero should be, charismatic, courageous, downright sexy but with enough flaws to be fully human.
Sea Witch brings an authentic feel of the wide oceans and the Golden Age of Piracy, it is exciting with a moving believable love story but plenty of full blooded, heart-stopping action. I cannot recommend it highly enough and am holding my breath for the next in what I hope will be a long series of Sea Witch and Jesamiah Acorne chronicles. My sister has fallen totally in love with Jesamiah too. His allure is becoming a world wide sensation.

I enjoyed this book for the fun and well researched character driven story it is. Helen obviously knows her stuff and makes the pirate period appropriate and still sexy. I could have smacked him over the head several times (men! :p) for his behavior, which makes me think he's just as most real pirates were.

The female protagonist was a good match for him and her magic was quite an interesting twist to fit in this action packed piece. It is a quick read and there are no wasted words here at all. The characters are all developed fully while the author still moves the story along at a fast clip. Very entertaining and engaging.

Recommended for folks who love historically accurate but enjoyable, rollicking fiction.

I thoroughly enjoyed my first dabble into the world of Helen Hollick's writing. The characters came alive for me and it was a good story. I didn't want it to end! I'm looking forward to the next two.

I Loved this book. It was easy to read, wonderful to follow and took you on a great ride. The characters leap off the pages and right into your home. I caught myself being scared for them, crying for them, taking up their cause. It was a wonderful escape from the normalicies of life and into the world of Pirates and romance.. I highly recommend this book...

I have been a Jack Sparrow fan almost since day 1 of the release of the Pirates of the Caribbean - the Curse of the Black Pearl. I live, breath, eat, sleep pirates. I was delighted to discover a new pirate novel for adults, but was a bit wary of reading Sea Witch - after all, my heart belonged to Captain Jack.

Well, it now belongs to Jesamiah as wel. I have to say I was a little disapointed with film 2, Dead Man's Chest. Yes, great film, good laughs, our Jack Back ... but there was something missing. Having read Sea Witch I realise what. We only see the surface of Jack - and the film is aimed at families and a younger audience. In Sea Witch we meet a real, grown up character, a man so real you can reach out and touch him. Being a novel Jesamiah has far more depth than Jack (much easier in a book to portray) Yes I still love Jack Sparrow, but my heart has been lost to the charming, enigmatic rogue called Jesamiah Acorne.
Ms Hollick - when will we be getting the next book in the series, Pirate Code, I believe it is called? Very soon I hope!

Jessie

I really enjoyed (and recommend) Helen Hollick's trilogy about King Arthur, and I love Pirates, so I had very high hopes for this historical fantasy. Therefore, I was extremely disappointed that I couldn't even get past chapter five of Sea Witch. The story and the characters seemed promising, and I know from past experience that Ms. Hollick tells a really good tale, but the writing was so badly done in this edition that I couldn't continue. I had to keep re-reading paragraphs in order to understand what was going on. It's not that I don't understand nautical language -- I have read and loved all 21 of Patrick O'Brien's Master and Commander series. Rather, badly constructed and un-edited sentences completely distracted me from the story.

The book was published by Discovered Authors and printed by BookForce UK, and this, I suppose, is the problem. It doesn't look very professional, and I'm wondering if they edited it at all because the entire book contains a jumble of nearly incomprehensible sentences containing, random, haphazardly, placed, commas, or usually no commas at all and some sentences are run-ons and many have no subject or they have incorrect punctuation here are some examples that come from just a few pages close, together, and you can see what I mean I hope:

"Mother was already in the next world, gone to God, except while she hanged the jeering mob had shouted that a woman who plunged a knife into the heart of her own husband was of the Devil's breeding and would burn in Hell." [page 11]

"Her sight enhanced by her ability of Craft she needed no telescope to put to her eye." [page 14. She might not need a telescope, but she definitely needs a comma.]

"Astern on the quarterdeck, stood their captain, smarter dressed than his crew, a buckram coat, white breeches; a red, feathered plume in his cocked hat." [page 14. Ah, there's the missing comma -- You gotta watch those sneaky fellas.]

"He had a sudden urge to look at that child properly; spun on his heel and hurried up the companionway steps to the shattered chaos of the quarterdeck, claimed the telescope from beside the ship's compass, mercifully, both still intact. Extending the tube to its full length, was about to raise it to his eye when Malachias, his face covered in blood, called his name and distracted his attention." [I did not make that up -- it's on page 25]

The entire book goes on with these awkward sentences (I flipped through to check). I'm betting that the story was truly interesting, but it was so laborious to read that it just was not fun. I'm so disappointed in this novel, but I do recommend Ms. Hollick's historical fiction.

If you like Jack Sparrow you will love Jesamiah Acorne - a hugely enjoyable read from cover to cover.

Wonderful start to a trilogy of pirates, sailing and the intertwining stories of Captain Acorne and Tiola.

The rich details and supernatural element make this an entertaining read all the way to the last page.

Pirates, oh yes, pirates. This book introduces us to Jesamiah who became a pirate when he was young, because he half-brother was a total ass (trust me, an ass, but then we also learn why during the book. In the end I even understood his madness).



Jesamiah does have standards, no rapes so that makes me like this pirate. Since pirates in the end were not very nice people. But he is a good man and when he falls in love he becomes an ever better man. Even if he loves the sea way too much.

The heroine of this book is Tiola, a white witch who escaped England so no one would find out what she is. A pirate is bad, but a witch is worse. She is really sweet and wants to help everyone from puppies to a certain wounded pirate. I am sure her witch powers will come back and bite her in the behind one day but for now I admire her strength. As for the love story, she knows they are meant to be from the moment she sees him.

This book is all about Jesamiah being out to sea, loosing ships, getting new ships and taking over other ships. He loves what he does. But after these two fall in love the book becomes more. Someone else wants her and he has power to see it happen. Then there is Jesamiah's evil brother too, oh and do not forget everyone else who do not like pirates (that is a lot of people.)

This book has a lot of adventure and romance and truth be told I have not read that many pirate novels. Ok sure harlequin ones but they are always so pretty while this one is real. Life is hard, especially for a pirate.

Conclusion:

A good historical fiction book with lot to offer. Hollick knows her history and there is also a list of words at the end for those of us who has no idea what anything on a ship is called.

The story of "Sea Witch" is rooted in the 'golden age' of piracy - around 1716 - and the action extends from the infamous 'horn of Africa' to the beaches of the well known pirate haunts in the Caribbean. If you can, for a moment, consider what Johnny Depp would be like if he was 100 per cent more charismatic you would have an idea of how good the main protagonist of the series, Captain Jesamiah Acorn, is. His command of the sailing vessel "Sea Witch" give series it's name. The main female character, Tiola Oldstaugh is a white witch and healer who saves Jesamiah from a murderous attack perpetrated by a band of pirate hunters. Ms. Hollick used an anagram of "all that is good" to fashion Tiola's name. Brilliant ! I think that Tethys - the soul of the seas who is portrayed as a living entity - (which I'm sure some seafarers would swear is true!) is one of my favorite elements of the series. Tethys has sworn that the handsome, invincible Captain Acorn will be hers. Tiola's task is to use the forces of her will and her love to prevent the sea from laying claim to her proud pirate, Jesamiah.

In 'Sea Witch' volume we are also introduced to the characters of Philippe Moreno, Jesamiah's bullying, vindictive, grasping brother and Stefan Van Overstreet, the wealthy and domineering Cape Town Dutchman who also wants Tiola as his wife - for all the wrong reasons. These main characters set the stage for what becomes a love story, a history of the pirate culture and a thoroughly engrossing story that you simply will not want to put down. I would advise that you have the entire series in your hands because as soon as one book ends you will feel the need to begin reading the next.