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lines__lines 's review for:

A Clash of Steel: A Treasure Island Remix by C.B. Lee
4.0
 Treasure Island set in 1826 in the South China Sea with a pirate crew of queer misfits sailing for treasure and a better life – plus actual historical Pirate Queen Zheng Yi Sao as Captain Flint. 
 
With contemporary prose and an updated cast, this still feels true to the source material with the adventurous quest deciphering maps and clues. Long John Silver doesn’t have an exact analogue, but his surprisingly complex parental feelings come through with found-family bonds as well as a wild ride of birth-family feelings, and a fraught lesbian love interest. 

New Voices midway discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/wqb3w1/new_voices_book_club_a_clash_of_steel_midway/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

New Voices final discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/x1d567/new_voices_book_club_a_clash_of_steel_final/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

>Really enjoyed exploring a part of the world in a time in history that I don't know very well at all. The culture of Canton was fascinating as well as the life of fishers and black market traders at a time when much in the world was changing. Learning about the history of the Red Banner Fleet and the historical Zheng Yi Sao in the end notes was just the cherry on top! Pirate lore was never something I was super into, but still I can't believe I'd never heard of this complex but still objectively badass Pirate Queen until now - blaming Western biases for that.

>Overall, this book was a lot of fun to me! The pacing was excellent, and though we took a bit longer to get to the sea than I expected, it never felt like it was dragging. I think this book did a good job balancing some tough emotional moments with an overall feeling of adventure and discovery of freedom and identity.  As far as the romance itself, it was a touch more YA-true-lovey than is my personal preference, but it was still the kind of romance that makes your heart happy
that they are getting together - and coming out to themselves!
Though I didn't know the Treasure Island story going into this, I did follow it up by watching Muppet Treasure Island so I'd have to say that this telling does seem to capture a lot of the adventure and general shape of the story while giving us characters (and a whole culture) who would have been ignored/dismissed in the world of the original. Very much a fan of this kind of re-visiting of older stories.