Andy

History with Roman Catholic goggles on

Reviewed: 27-08-2020

Overall this is a useful book, but the author just can't wait to insert references to the apparent supremacy of the Roman Catholic church at every opportunity. This would be fine - if they actually appeared in the texts ;)

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Formulaic...

Reviewed: 27-06-2020

Not the usual standard I'm used to from a Simon Scarrow book. The characters were somewhat shallow, and the plot far too predictable. Mildly entertaining if you have nothing else to do, but a classic hero's journey with big signposts along the way as to what is coming next. Spoilers following, so stop reading now if you don't want to know. The major villain is 'determined to eliminate the pirates' because reasons, or more accurately based on a couple of short unconvincing exchanges with our hero that he parrots throughout the book. The minor villains are obvious and reflect characters in Scarrow's previous work. Nasty pirate number 1 is overcome, but then is quickly replaced by nasty pirate number 2. Perhaps Jonathan Keeble's (great) narration makes this even more evident for those who've listened to him perform previous Simon Scarrow books... The premise of a 17 year old becoming the leader of a pirate gang, then subsequently a 'pirate king' are absolutely laughable. The authors do address this in a couple of places, but it is brushed over and too superficial. The idea would have been stronger with development of the character over a period of years rather than months. As an ex-sailor, it was never far from my mind that our hero is a teenager that was living on the streets a few months prior to taking on marines, Optio's and various other villains with ease, while commanding dozens or hundreds of men much older and more experience than him. Not at all realistic. Scarrow was able to pull it off with Cato...but not this time. There were just a few too many holes in the plot for me. Others may disagree ;)

This narrator is terrible

Reviewed: 20-06-2020

He has no concept of cadence, only to confuse and infuriate the listener. If this is the result of an editor rather than the narrator, then I apologise...Otherwise Mr. Cromwell, bring back your previous narrators please

That music tho...

Reviewed: 20-05-2020

The music at the start of the chapters was really unnecessary. I feared initially it would go for the whole book, but was relieved it tapered off after a minutes or so. Still, a great story that kept me engaged - although I felt the narrator added some years to all of the characters.

Don't let this slide

Reviewed: 09-11-2019

The danger of a book such as this is it will fade from the public consciousness, and the threats to our ways of life will become commonplace and normalised. Snowden's account of the abuses of the state should be required reading not only for students but also for anyone entering public life.