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A review by dinsdale
The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I thoroughly enjoyed and gave 4.5 stars to Lily Brooks-Dalton's first novel, Good Morning, Midnight which was a well written, melancholy account of an astronaut in space and an Arctic researcher coming to grips with their past lives in a post-apocalyptic future in which most and maybe all of the rest of humanity was wiped out. When I saw her second novel The Light Pirate was coming out I added it to by TBR and bought the trade paperback as soon as it appeared on the shelves. It is the November 2024 read for the Apocalypse Whenever Goodreads Group Book Club so it was time to crack it open.
I was captivated by The Light Pirate from the first page to the last. For a relatively short book at 324 pages it felt so much longer as the story telling was so rich. This is another beautifully written book in a genre I can't get enough of if done right. The novel has the same melancholic tone as Good Morning, Midnight and is also set in a dystopian near future, entirely in Florida. The narrative follows the entire life of the main character Wanda who at the book's outset is in the womb. Wanda is born in a future Florida which is battered by hurricanes and and rising sea levels which have combined to ruin infrastructure and cause flooding which becomes increasing worse and ultimately results in uninhabitable living conditions and the start of migration out of the state.
The novel is broken out in to four long chapters, "Power", "Water", "Light", and "Time"; the title of which gives a clue as to what struggles Wanda and those around her are up against. The author is not afraid to kill off main characters and this just added to the increasingly hopelessness and sadness that overwhelmed the plot. As it went on The Light Pirate became a struggle for survival and friendship, and maintaining ones humanity in seemingly desperate times. Also, there is a neat little mystery surrounding Wanda which relates to the novel's title and is never really explained.
I've seen blubs comparing The Light Pirate to Emily St. John Mandel's incredible Station Eleven and I would agree with that assessment. It also reminded me of Into the Forest by Jean Hegland. I'm giving The Light Pirate five stars. This was hard to put down and the ending will be hard to forget. I can't wait to read what Lilly Brooks-Dalton comes up with next.
I was captivated by The Light Pirate from the first page to the last. For a relatively short book at 324 pages it felt so much longer as the story telling was so rich. This is another beautifully written book in a genre I can't get enough of if done right. The novel has the same melancholic tone as Good Morning, Midnight and is also set in a dystopian near future, entirely in Florida. The narrative follows the entire life of the main character Wanda who at the book's outset is in the womb. Wanda is born in a future Florida which is battered by hurricanes and and rising sea levels which have combined to ruin infrastructure and cause flooding which becomes increasing worse and ultimately results in uninhabitable living conditions and the start of migration out of the state.
The novel is broken out in to four long chapters, "Power", "Water", "Light", and "Time"; the title of which gives a clue as to what struggles Wanda and those around her are up against. The author is not afraid to kill off main characters and this just added to the increasingly hopelessness and sadness that overwhelmed the plot. As it went on The Light Pirate became a struggle for survival and friendship, and maintaining ones humanity in seemingly desperate times. Also, there is a neat little mystery surrounding Wanda which relates to the novel's title and is never really explained.
I've seen blubs comparing The Light Pirate to Emily St. John Mandel's incredible Station Eleven and I would agree with that assessment. It also reminded me of Into the Forest by Jean Hegland. I'm giving The Light Pirate five stars. This was hard to put down and the ending will be hard to forget. I can't wait to read what Lilly Brooks-Dalton comes up with next.