Althea M. (althea) reviewed Piratica: Being a Daring Tale of a SIngular Girl's Adventure Upon the High Seas (Piratica, Bk 1) on + 774 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I was really excited when this book came out. I fully expected to totally love it - Lee is one of my favorite authors, so.. Lee and pirates? How could it go wrong?
I'm not quite sure, but somehow it does.
Set in a 'slightly parallel world' in 1802 (which basically means that place names are spelled wrong: the river Thamis flows through Lundun, for example), 'Piratica' gives us a young woman named Artemisia, who, while studying deportment at her girls' school, falls and hits her head. After this blow, Artemisia experiences a rush of memory that convinces her that before her father locked her away in the school, she was a pirate, sailing the seven seas with her captain mother, Piratica. Inspired, she runs away from school and finds her mother's old compatriots - who turn out to be members of an acting company who had put on a successful play about pirates.
Undaunted, Artemisia, taking the name Art Blastside, convinces the actors to steal a ship, and embark on an adventure in search of treasure - which, unfortunately, is already being sought by some 'real' pirates.
Lee usually excels at creating a dreamlike atmosphere in her work, but in this book, the events are more absurdist than dreamlike. It's obviously not supposed to be realistic - but somehow I wanted the narrative to have more internal logic than it did. Maybe it was just my mood.
I was also just rather annoyed by the issue of "Is Artemisia crazy or not...?" It was sort of like I kept wanting the book to just settle down into being the silly adventure romp for teenagers that it's being marketed as - but these quirks and kinks kept coming up distractingly. Which sound like it might be interesting - but I didn't find it so.
I'm not quite sure, but somehow it does.
Set in a 'slightly parallel world' in 1802 (which basically means that place names are spelled wrong: the river Thamis flows through Lundun, for example), 'Piratica' gives us a young woman named Artemisia, who, while studying deportment at her girls' school, falls and hits her head. After this blow, Artemisia experiences a rush of memory that convinces her that before her father locked her away in the school, she was a pirate, sailing the seven seas with her captain mother, Piratica. Inspired, she runs away from school and finds her mother's old compatriots - who turn out to be members of an acting company who had put on a successful play about pirates.
Undaunted, Artemisia, taking the name Art Blastside, convinces the actors to steal a ship, and embark on an adventure in search of treasure - which, unfortunately, is already being sought by some 'real' pirates.
Lee usually excels at creating a dreamlike atmosphere in her work, but in this book, the events are more absurdist than dreamlike. It's obviously not supposed to be realistic - but somehow I wanted the narrative to have more internal logic than it did. Maybe it was just my mood.
I was also just rather annoyed by the issue of "Is Artemisia crazy or not...?" It was sort of like I kept wanting the book to just settle down into being the silly adventure romp for teenagers that it's being marketed as - but these quirks and kinks kept coming up distractingly. Which sound like it might be interesting - but I didn't find it so.
Val (WarMuffin) reviewed Piratica: Being a Daring Tale of a SIngular Girl's Adventure Upon the High Seas (Piratica, Bk 1) on + 14 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Although I can't say I loved the book, I did truly enjoy it. I read it while at sea, and despite not quite being what I expected, it covered the aspects required of a story and is decently wrapped up if you choose not to read more (as it is a series).
I highly recommend for any young woman or girl interested in pirates - its another look into that world. (I do admit to being annoyed about the "parallel" setting which jogged me out of the story every time I read a name like the 'Amer Ricas'.) If you're an adult and are interested in more pirate novels, by all means enjoy this quick read, and then you can pass it on.
I highly recommend for any young woman or girl interested in pirates - its another look into that world. (I do admit to being annoyed about the "parallel" setting which jogged me out of the story every time I read a name like the 'Amer Ricas'.) If you're an adult and are interested in more pirate novels, by all means enjoy this quick read, and then you can pass it on.
