Scan barcode
azzageddi's review
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The book was fun, but I think I’m beginning to find the series beginning to pall. Probably read the next one, in awhile. Best to skip the author’s notes. Warning: graphic descriptions of horrific torture near the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Violence
usbsticky's review against another edition
3.0
Spoilers ahead.
This book deals with Lewrie's adventures in the Adriatic sea. He deals with the dissipated Venetians, Serbian pirates and meets up with some old friends. In this book he is commander of the sloop Jester and is sometimes paired with his friend Rodgers from the Caribbean.
Not in any particular order, here are some of my issues with Lambdin's writing:
1) The chapter with Napoleon is completely wasted. Since he's not really part of the story line, there is no need for this chapter. I understand that maybe the author wants to add some history into the series and this book but all of his writing that has anything to do with strategy is so badly written that it's impossible to understand any of it. A better author could have written the same passages/chapter, done in 1/5 of the words and made it simpler and easier to understand.
2) Please stap with the pidgen English! It's amateurish, unprofessional and difficult to understand. Better authors have been able to convey a foreigner's speech without having to resort to this type of silly writing. It slows down my reading as I have to stop and decipher it.
3) Please stop with this narrative disruption thing where you write a chapter without an explanation only to explain it later. I had no idea what was going on (where he was trying to trick the French) and Lewrie only explains it later to Rodgers (and the readers) in the following chapter. This trick device doesn't make the book more fun or better to read. Added to the author's poor writing skills, it just makes it worse. Thank goodness he's only done it once in the 7 books I've read so far.
4) Also stap it with the long dialogs. This reminds me of the long talkers who take a long time getting to the point. There is no need to write 10 pages of dialog when 2 can do the same job better.
Reading one of Lambdin's books is like eating a crab, you have to wade through or break through a lot of shell to get to the good parts. Funny enough, despite Lambdin's horrible writing skills and his inability to put idea or words on paper, I still like Lewrie and want to follow on his career. On to the next book!
This book deals with Lewrie's adventures in the Adriatic sea. He deals with the dissipated Venetians, Serbian pirates and meets up with some old friends. In this book he is commander of the sloop Jester and is sometimes paired with his friend Rodgers from the Caribbean.
Not in any particular order, here are some of my issues with Lambdin's writing:
1) The chapter with Napoleon is completely wasted. Since he's not really part of the story line, there is no need for this chapter. I understand that maybe the author wants to add some history into the series and this book but all of his writing that has anything to do with strategy is so badly written that it's impossible to understand any of it. A better author could have written the same passages/chapter, done in 1/5 of the words and made it simpler and easier to understand.
2) Please stap with the pidgen English! It's amateurish, unprofessional and difficult to understand. Better authors have been able to convey a foreigner's speech without having to resort to this type of silly writing. It slows down my reading as I have to stop and decipher it.
3) Please stop with this narrative disruption thing where you write a chapter without an explanation only to explain it later. I had no idea what was going on (where he was trying to trick the French) and Lewrie only explains it later to Rodgers (and the readers) in the following chapter. This trick device doesn't make the book more fun or better to read. Added to the author's poor writing skills, it just makes it worse. Thank goodness he's only done it once in the 7 books I've read so far.
4) Also stap it with the long dialogs. This reminds me of the long talkers who take a long time getting to the point. There is no need to write 10 pages of dialog when 2 can do the same job better.
Reading one of Lambdin's books is like eating a crab, you have to wade through or break through a lot of shell to get to the good parts. Funny enough, despite Lambdin's horrible writing skills and his inability to put idea or words on paper, I still like Lewrie and want to follow on his career. On to the next book!
More...