"The ship has four days...a week tops."
Isle of Swords, Wayne Thomas Batson's heart-pounding YA novel, puts a twist in the traditional pirate story. Captain Declan Ross captains the William Wallace, one of the sea of ships whose crews turned pirate when the British Royal Navy abandoned them to their debt. Unlike his bloodthirsty counterparts, Ross encourages mercy and honor among his men. His goal is to save up enough gold to buy his way out of the business--but with a hotheaded daughter whose greatest dream is to captain her own ship, that fantasy is in constant jeopardy. When the Wallace is forced to careen on a cay belonging to notorious buccaneer Bartholomew Thorne, they know they have to make their repairs fast in order to survive. What they don't know is that Thorne's men are closer than they think, and that the boy they find half-dead on the shoreline may carry the key to making Ross' dream come true...assuming he can remember how.
Thus begins the treasure-hunting tale everyone's inner child longs for. Our swashbuckling heroes must battle their way across vast oceans in a race to uncover a legendary treasure that could buy their freedom. With the help of Anne, his crew, the boy from the beach, and a mysterious monk, Ross sets out to salvage his future--but he gets more than he bargained for when terrible conflicts throw his character arc in a direction he could never have expected. As he works toward his goal, struggling all the while to keep his family and friends alive, the people in his life evolve alongside him. They butt heads and sharpen each other like blades against whetstones, slowly forming into the men and woman they are destined to be.
Piracy is a violent trade, and no one is more malicious than Bartholomew Thorne. Armed with a spiked cane he calls his "bleeding stick", Thorne wants nothing more than to plunder the same treasure the Wallace's crew is after. Unaffected by a moral compass, he burns, pillages, and tortures whoever he can reach on his quest for riches. There isn't anything he isn't willing to sacrifice, which is one of the things that makes him such a terrifying villain.
There is no end of action in Batson's tale. From lightning-fast pistol exchanges to epic sword duels and ship-on-ship firefights, when enemies clash, the resulting chaos is always immensely satisfying. There is some minor gore, especially when Captain Thorne is around, but nothing over-the-top. Anything truly stomach-turning is merely alluded to, not described. There is no romance, and if characters curse at all it is very mild. The prose, though stilted at times, is easy to get swept up in. While it does get preachy on occasion, the Christian themes are mostly subtle; characters pray, priests minister to pirates in the hopes of converting them, and a monk has another character read aloud from the Bible.
I would recommend this book to teens seeking a thrilling adventure featuring pirates, long-lost treasures, epic battles, and interesting characters. Although the action can get a little intense at times, there is a clear line between good and evil that isn't always present in young adult novels. The Christian aspects are present without being overstated, and are integrated well into the plot. The heroes have dramatic character arcs worth reading about, and the villain is fearsome, deadly, and intriguing. There is some mild gore and a good deal of death, plus a splash of awkward dialogue, but overall the story is sound and tasteful. Thus, Wayne Thomas Batson's Isle of Swords deserves five stars.
Piracy is a violent trade, and no one is more malicious than Bartholomew Thorne. Armed with a spiked cane he calls his "bleeding stick", Thorne wants nothing more than to plunder the same treasure the Wallace's crew is after. Unaffected by a moral compass, he burns, pillages, and tortures whoever he can reach on his quest for riches. There isn't anything he isn't willing to sacrifice, which is one of the things that makes him such a terrifying villain.
There is no end of action in Batson's tale. From lightning-fast pistol exchanges to epic sword duels and ship-on-ship firefights, when enemies clash, the resulting chaos is always immensely satisfying. There is some minor gore, especially when Captain Thorne is around, but nothing over-the-top. Anything truly stomach-turning is merely alluded to, not described. There is no romance, and if characters curse at all it is very mild. The prose, though stilted at times, is easy to get swept up in. While it does get preachy on occasion, the Christian themes are mostly subtle; characters pray, priests minister to pirates in the hopes of converting them, and a monk has another character read aloud from the Bible.
I would recommend this book to teens seeking a thrilling adventure featuring pirates, long-lost treasures, epic battles, and interesting characters. Although the action can get a little intense at times, there is a clear line between good and evil that isn't always present in young adult novels. The Christian aspects are present without being overstated, and are integrated well into the plot. The heroes have dramatic character arcs worth reading about, and the villain is fearsome, deadly, and intriguing. There is some mild gore and a good deal of death, plus a splash of awkward dialogue, but overall the story is sound and tasteful. Thus, Wayne Thomas Batson's Isle of Swords deserves five stars.
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