Naval officers who fall in love! That is the sort of pitch I am always going to be interested in.
Set during the early years of the American Revolution, the focus of this book wasn't quite what I expected. The first third of the book is centered on a terrible captain of a British ship on its way to Bermuda, which is also carrying a wealthy merchant and his ward (in reality his natural daughter). The terrible captain is cruel and sadistic and is eager to catch out his officers for offenses, especially sodomy. This is especially dangerous for Josh, who is now sharing a cabin with a lieutenant named Peter who has just joined the ship. Josh has to navigate concealing his feelings from Peter while also attempting to prevent mutiny, which Peter is narrowly able to avoid while also taking command of the ship as a result of a battle with pirates.
After the terrible captain has been removed from power due to a knife wound inflicted by one of his own crew, Josh and Peter fall in love and are noble and self-sacrificing for each other in ways that are, for the most part, incredibly satisfying. There's an incredibly brave suicide mission, an unlikely rescue, a duel to the death and a wedding, all of which are delightful. The only thing I don't love about the book is the appearance of a Wise Native American who exists more or less only to help one of them realize the true course of his life, but while that's not a trope I'm generally in favor of, it isn't so poorly done that it ruined the rest of the book for me. It brought the overall impression I have of the book down, though.
Grade: B
Set during the early years of the American Revolution, the focus of this book wasn't quite what I expected. The first third of the book is centered on a terrible captain of a British ship on its way to Bermuda, which is also carrying a wealthy merchant and his ward (in reality his natural daughter). The terrible captain is cruel and sadistic and is eager to catch out his officers for offenses, especially sodomy. This is especially dangerous for Josh, who is now sharing a cabin with a lieutenant named Peter who has just joined the ship. Josh has to navigate concealing his feelings from Peter while also attempting to prevent mutiny, which Peter is narrowly able to avoid while also taking command of the ship as a result of a battle with pirates.
After the terrible captain has been removed from power due to a knife wound inflicted by one of his own crew, Josh and Peter fall in love and are noble and self-sacrificing for each other in ways that are, for the most part, incredibly satisfying. There's an incredibly brave suicide mission, an unlikely rescue, a duel to the death and a wedding, all of which are delightful. The only thing I don't love about the book is the appearance of a Wise Native American who exists more or less only to help one of them realize the true course of his life, but while that's not a trope I'm generally in favor of, it isn't so poorly done that it ruined the rest of the book for me. It brought the overall impression I have of the book down, though.
Grade: B
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