Written by JUSTIN SOMPER.
An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Literary Cat©, International Book Reviewer.
Hello, and welcome to my latest book review featuring his week, a High Seas Pirate Adventure in Middle-Grade Fiction.
Without further ado, and with my trusty housekeeper, Mrs H, weighing the anchor in at 2kg and looking strangely like an old iron, let's make sail for a second-in-series review . . .
AUTHOR: Justin Somper
Illustrations by: TEO SKAFFA
Published by: UCLan Publishing
Publication date Paperback: 1 July 2024
Paperback 13 digit ISBN: 978-1916 747 036
UK Cover price for Paperback: £7.99
Amazon KINDLE price: N/A
Pages: 238
Age range: 8+
Any dogs or cats? Alas, no. But steal yourself for some pretty nasty encounters.
SPOILER ALERT
Yes, as to book one and this book's plot direction and characters.
Thank you to...
We are exceedingly grateful to Graeme and UCLan Publishers for offering us a chance to read not one but two of these BRAND NEW adventures for our Read & Review. As our own book is a pirate adventure, we just had to say yes. We haven't been disappointed.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, received as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we select to read, like, and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their family, friends and students will enjoy.
The plot
To get up to speed on book one, 'Pirate Academy New Kid on Deck', please CLICK THIS LINK. There is a short summary of book one in the front of book two.
The story opens with Neo Splice, one of our key characters, desperately trying to conceal himself from those who have moments before murdered his mother. Thankfully, this is a nightmare, but the actual event took place not so long ago, and Neo narrowly escaped with his life.
As the day progresses, we find the fifteen year five students of Barracuda Class eagerly speculating on who will be the five captains chosen to lead the Oceans Bound (OB) weekend. It is a test unique to year five students where they are, for the first time, let loose on the sea proper for forty-eight hours alone in a school boat. During that time, they must complete several tasks, escalating in difficulty.
In reality, of course, they are not totally alone. The school's pirate teachers and some of the senior students lay the puzzles and monitor the five teams of three as they go about the tasks. It is not just a race to the end prize, though that is part of it. No, they will be judged on how they act together as individual crews and as a set of five teams. As pirates, they are expected to uphold certain standards and camaraderie no matter what happens.
Jacoby Blunt and Jasmine Peacock, both highly adept students, are keen to be captains. Jacoby, more so, as he feels he has done enough work and is skilled enough. Jasmine is hopeful but not cocksure like Jacoby. Neo, our third lead character, is seemingly not concerned or hopeful. He is, after all, the new kid on deck.
When the five captains are announced to tumultuous applause from the whole school, it is Jasmine who gets the captaincy out of the three. Jacoby is huffy, to say the least, and won't talk to his mates.
The captains have to pick two students to be their crew. Now, this causes some issues, as Jasmine chooses Neo and Jacoby, who are, unknown to others, brothers. Neo attempts to turn down Jasmine's request as he wants to leave the academy due to a welling up of fear when afloat. Jacoby is just plain stubborn. Despite not being picked by another of the captains, his spite drives him to hold out to the point that Jasmine is about to offer the chance to another.
But, showing her true friendship, she gets Neo help with his ails. In so doing, he signs up for the OB challenge. Jacoby eventually comes around when he realises he's been an ass.
But just when things seem set, Jasmine is called to the Commodore's office. Here she receives terrible news: her uncle, a senior member of the League of True Pirates (LOT P), has escaped from a high-security prison and may be after her. As a result, she has to consider pulling out from OB.
She decides not to, but there will be risks. Hopefully, the extra security laid on will be enough . . .
As the tasks get underway, we find Jasmine, Neo and Jacoby working well; the first task is complete, and the crews are buoyant. But things, like the ocean and the weather, take a turn for the worse. And my, how quickly they change.
When LOT P agents attack and tie up the senior students that set the tasks and leave each team individually tailored clues, they take over the OB adventure.
Our three protagonists now enter into far deadlier challenges, facing almost certain death on land and at sea.
The outcome, well, that would be telling where the buried treasure is now, wouldn't it. . . .
So, what did we think, with spoilers.
So much was crammed into the pages, and the pace hardly slowed. Even the book cover is epic; vibrant action-filled, and a bit scary, with tasty hints as to what's inside.
It was lovely to see a swing in emphasis so Jasmine becomes the centre of this adventure, ably abetted and hindered in equal measure by Neo and Jacoby.
Friendship runs deep in this tale, family more so. The relevance of that, the reader discovers nearer the end.
Given the school setting, it was hard not to think of aspects of Harry Potter with this story, spiders and challenges, but it definitely isn't. Is this a kid's version of Top Gun? Nah, that's not working for me; there is far more substance and grit and sand to this.
What did come to mind, well, Mrs H's convoluted mind, was that this was like an episode of Star Trek. Lots of action and interaction between lead characters, diversity, and an adventure each week that's sure to excite. LOT P would absolutely be the Klingons and Romulans of old.
'Sea Pirates, the Next Generation' would work well. Eoin Colfer summed this up brilliantly when he described this series as "Pirates done right".
We were most definitely pleased and caught napping with the ending, which sees some characters split off on another course, whilst others have to deal with the shocking revelations of this adventure.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
An admirable (rather than admiral) action-packed sequel with a huge presence and literary magic on every page. Compulsive reading with delightful twists, epic escapes and everything worthy of a Dreamworks or Pixar adventure. We can't recommend this enough.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy of tnis not-so-buried treasure, please set course to your local bookshop. There are plenty out there (book shops and not pirates), and each shop is just waiting to serve you whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.
Justin Somper's Vampirates web page can be found HERE or type this: https://www.vampirates.co.uk/captain-somper/justin-somper/
UCLan Publishing's web page can be found HERE or type this: https://uclanpublishing.com/
Teo Skaffa's author page web page can be found HERE or type this: https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/authors/Teo-Skaffa/179183401
I hope you enjoyed that adventure. Head to the nearest tavern, and treat yourselves to a hearty flagon of rum!
And for those wishing a selfie, here it is. But this week it's not of me.
This is Caramel, a lovely stray 7yr old guy, who has been a regular guest visitor to our parish, and inside my and our neighbours homes. He is friendly, and quite content to just lounge around and watch the household activity whilst getting some petting. He has always been very polite to female cats, never sprays indoors, and is an able food and duvet tester.
To ensure continuity of care in the coming years, Mrs H and our neighbours directed him to the Redgate Farm Animal Sanctuary. There, he has had the snip and his teeth sorted as well as loads of fuss and attention. After a false start, he now awaits a forever home. Mrs H and our neighbours visit him regularly and spend time giving extra fuss and attention. He has one of the deepest, rumbling purrs we have heard.
And, we want to give a HUGE shout out to The PA from the Bionic Basil Blog, who, on learning about Caramel, put together an awesome goody bag for not only him, but his room mate, Thomas. There were ball toys, soft toys, a gorgeous flower wand toy, cat nip cushions, as well as a very special blanket.
Anyone who knows The PA at the blog will know she doesn't stint on her her goody bags. Thomas and Caramel got stuck right in to the nip and Mrs H spent ages retrieving the bags when they batted them off their respective resting places.
We'll share a picture of Thomas next time.
 |
| Caramel the cat, keen to enjoy some quiet family lap time, and some nip. |
Whatever you are doing, please have a wonderful cat filled week.
We are joining the Sunday Selfies, hosted by the wonderful Kitties Blue and their mum, Janet Blue, from the Cat on My Head blog in America. Click this sentence to visit Janet Blue's site.
Till laters!
ERin
