David Wesley HillRecensioni

This delightful novel tells the story of young Peregrine James, a Plymouth lad who, fleeing from a whipping for a theft he did not commit, is taken on as ship's cook on Sir Francis Drake's ship The Pelican at the start of what later becomes its voyage round the world (though this is not known to anyone on board throughout the novel). He gets into all kinds of scrapes and trouble as they travel on past the Straits of Gibraltar (giving the lie to the voyage's stated purpose of trading in spices in Alexandria), and down along the coast of Africa to the Cape Verde islands, experiencing betrayals, captures and daring escapes, sword fights and doing plenty of cooking along the way, before The Pelican and the Spanish and Portuguese ships it has captured en route set off across the Atlantic at the end of the book. There is a twist in the end for our hero, paving the way for a sequel, which I look forward to reading when it comes out - Perry is a humorous and likeable character, and the rest of the crew and officers from Drake down are all well drawn characters. Excellent stuff.

I did not particularly care for David Wesley Hill’s historical novel “At Drake’s Command.” I liked certain aspects of the book, but the farther I got into the book the more annoyed I became with what I considered to be its major flaw – believability.

The story is told by Peregrine James, a fictitious character. He is the twenty-year-old son of deceased parents, owners, and operators of a popular Plymouth tavern. Peregrine learned to cook from his mother and was employed as such by the tavern’s new owner. Learning that Peregrine (Perry) was in love with his daughter, the owner accused Perry of stealing a broach that had belonged to her and that she had given him. Victimized by false testimony, Perry was convicted of thievery. The novel opens with Perry receiving his court-ordered punishment, 24 lashes at the city’s public whipping post. Perry draws the attention of Francis Drake, about to be rowed to his ship, the Pelican, ready to embark on a mysterious mission. Drake has need of a specialty cook to entertain foreign dignitaries. Told later that Perry has demonstrated courage in receiving his punishment, Drake accepts him as a crew member. The story ends two and a half months later when Drake is about to leave the coast of Africa for the east coast of South America. Several dangerous events have happened of which Perry is an integral part.

The author does well enough the first 80 pages. I was willing to suspend belief about Drake’s acceptance of Perry’s request to join the expedition for the sake of reading what was to come and what I could learn about the factual aspects of Drake’s circumnavigation of the globe. I found Perry to be an engaging character. Convicted of a crime he had not committed, polite to his elders, honest, moral, intelligent beyond what might be expected of his station, courageous in his decision-making, he is the consummate hero.

Here is one example. Acting on his own as the ship cook’s assistant, locating the oldest barrels of meat in the Pelican’s hold to utilize first, Perry discovers that all four that he opens are spoiled. They have been stored deliberately where they would normally be opened last. Suspecting corruption, and premeditated sabotage of Drake’s mission, Perry believes he needs to alert his commander before they leave Plymouth. He knows that doing so would put at least one important ship’s officer under immediate suspicion. A young friend warns him: “God favors those with the most position and wealth.” Perry devises a way to overcome this handicap. He serves the rancid meat to the ship’s officers. Forced to explain his action, he tells them about the barrels, which they immediately investigate.

I liked the author’s characterization of Drake and his second-in-command, Thomas Doughty. Drake is entirely believable as a man of common origin who is calculating, adroit in managing any person regardless of station, decisive, and paranoid. Doughty is a gentleman callous or empathetic depending on what best serves his or Drake’s purpose. Lashing Perry to see how he receives real punishment -- Perry’s court-ordered lashing had been administered lightly -- Doughty stops after his sixth stroke. Asked by Perry why he had stopped, Doughty replies: “It was not my concern to punish you, Mr. James, but to test your courage. Having done so, I may now carry a good report to Drake. … I am a practical man, not a kind one.” Entirely unpredictable throughout the novel, Doughty intrigued me.

I was entertained also by Perry’s use of herbs and spices and food preparation to overcome encountered difficulties not related to meal preparation.

I appreciated additionally information the author provided about parts of the ship, facts I particularly wanted to know, details integrated into the story. Here is an example.

"The shrouds were rigging, six lines to a side, that provided the mast additional stability by pulling it between them. They attached to the mast just below the fighting top and fanned out downward to opposite gunwales, where they were connected to the hull by pulleys, which allowed them to be tightened or loosened."

After the first 80 pages, Perry’s extraordinary actions defy belief. A cook’s assistant, he is called upon too often to perform special duties. His behavior is too idealistic. What Doughty tells him late in the novel does not add plausibility: “Honesty is a dangerous principle when pursued without restraint. … An idealist is a person who follows his beliefs without concern for consequences.” I counted five times during the novel that Perry should have been killed. Why must a well-researched account of a significant, unique event in English history devolve into a fanciful tale of daring-do better suited as a mini-series for adventure-seeking television viewers desirous solely of vicarious entertainment? When I read a historical novel, I want to learn accurate information about the people and the time and I want also to identify with credible characters experiencing credible conflicts that illustrate insightful themes. “At Drake’s Command” half succeeds.

Enjoyable planetary adventure, reminiscent at times of some Vancian episodes in the inventiveness regarding alien species or cultures, humor, and fun-poking at some apparently decidedly universal character flaws.

A pity the female main character, though otherwise likeable is a bit too often relegated to the damsel-in-distress role.½

The Curtain Falls and Other Stories by David Wesley Hill is a collection of twelve short stories.

The connection between all of them is the genre. They all have elements of sci-fi, fantasy or both, some more subtly than others.

The first is 'The Curtain Falls'. Set in a bleak, dystopian world sometime in the future, the sun blazes ruthlessly on anyone still on the Earth's surface- mostly the poor. Anyone with money lives downtown- underground. It's power is now so strong that extreme protection must be worn whenever you venture under its rays. Incredibly powerful sunscreen, hats, goggles, gloves. Plant and wildlife has been brutally culled by its strength.

People now fear skin cancer like nothing else- to such extremes that skin grafts are commonplace and highly coveted. There's not enough supply to meet demand, as taking someone's skin involves killing them. When I say skin graft, I mean your entire body's worth of skin. Pawn shops now buy and sell body parts.

A giant cover is being built over the Earth, to try to lessen the sun's radiation. It is humanity's last hope. Without it, the Sun will get more and more powerful, until nothing can survive. The air itself will become poison.

In this world lives our young protagonist. He is never referred to by name, so I can't give you one. He lives with his mother, father and older sister. Until their mother gets sick and dies, and the shade (the cover around the Earth) falls.

The second story is "A Bad Case of the Flu". It starts off with this line, "When I woke up that morning, I wasn't there." And....hooked.

In this future, everything runs on technology. Door locks are replaced with thumb scanners. Thumbprints are used for everything. ID, to use your credit cards, to open doors, etc. Instead of usual muggers, 'thumbers' are the more general thieves. They inject you with venom and ask for your thumb in return for the antidote. If you agree, they give you a local anaesthetic, slice off your thumb, inject you with the antidote (with added soporific) and you wake up twelve hours later missing a thumb, but generally in good health. With your thumb, they can use your cards and go on a buying frenzy.

Carl Darwin is a thirty-four year old doctorate student. Most of his life is virtual. Even his classes are all on-line, so he rarely leaves the house. Unfortunately, this makes him the perfect target for Los Estados Unidos de la Sud- a group of spies/terrorists who take identity theft to the extreme. Some send out a virus that wipes all your information, and replace it with their own, to basically, legally become you. Others take it further and steal your skin, prints and eyes, so they can pass all scans and DNA tests.

Carl is luckily targeted by the first kind. He wakes up to find nothing works for him. Gets locked out of his apartment, and accused of being the spy by the police. Nothing he says can verify his identity, since it's all been altered by the spy, who has already taken over his life and is comfortable making himself at home- in Carl's apartment.

With no way to reclaim his identity, maybe it's time to create his own.

The third story is 'SQ 389". Again set in the future, we meet Lieutenant Alphonse Perusquia- better known as Loo- of the police. He is a member of the Silver Bullet Squad, consisting of himself and seven other cops.

In this reality, people have sockets on the sides of their heads, allowing them to jack into the 'Net'- an entirely virtual world, where most people spend their time. Reality is a ghost town. People shop, work, socialise, everything in it. They can manipulate the world around them, allowing them to change their appearance, and travel huge distances in a single step, as well as many other things.

Loo and his partner Hennessy are in charge of investigating a homicide. They plug in from their individual homes and check out the virtual scene of the crime. The virtual world exactly mirrors the real one, right down to the people in it, allowing them to survey the crime scene and victim without having to physically be there.

They suspect the deceased was the victim of a 'wolf'- a person who transforms themselves into a wolf in the virtual world, then tags their victim and traps them in a pocket reality that only the 'wolf' or 'lobo' can control. The 'wolf' then hunts and viciously kills its victim. Why? For the fun of it. If you die in the 'Net', you die in the real world too, and your body sustains the same injuries.

Now the Silver Bullet Squad are in charge of tracking this 'wolf' down. Loo is afraid that this 'wolf' is more dangerous than any other they've encountered. That it's lost its connection to its own humanity, and its bloodthirst is rising and unquenchable.

In the fourth story, "Dead on Departure" we meet Randall Hightower, a lawyer who has discovered his physical body has been shot while he was in the 'Net'. This story is set in the same world as the last one, and Loo makes a reappearance, though this story seems to take place before the events of the last one.

Normally, if someone dies while in the 'Net', an ME announces their death and their virtual avatar software shuts down too. On the rare occasion, the physical host dies too quickly for the program to shut down properly, and the avatar is left stranded in the 'Net'. They are known as 'ghools' (a combination of ghost and spooled data).

Now that Randall is nothing but data, he has no access to anything or anywhere. He has no identity. The moment Randall Hightower was declared dead, his avatar became nothing but unconnected information. In a day, it will start to degrade, and within the week he will be 'dead'- again.

Without a purpose, he and his loyal AI- Matthew- go on the hunt for his killer. Randall also wants to purchase storage space so he can backup his data and not die. But that costs money and while he had plenty of it alive, he has no legal access to it, because he's just strings of code now. He is nothing but a glitch. A glitch who is rapidly running out of time.

The fifth story is 'Casper the Unfriendly Ghost'. Unlike any of the other stories, this one provides us with not only a year, but an exact date of when it takes place. That being March 15, 2045.

Again set in the same world as the two previous stories, Loo returns. This time his partner is Felix Naiff- a young newcomer. Whether this is set before or after the other stories is a mystery, but in this one the two are called in on a suspected death.

They travel to the real apartment of Owen Casper- who they soon discover is a junkie. Or was a junkie. 'Junkies' are people hooked to the 'Net'. By law, a person is only allowed to spend four hours in the virtual world each day. Junkies modify the modems used to connect, and can stay in the 'Net' for an indefinite amount of time. They use feeding tubes for nutrients, muscle stimulators so their bodies don't wither, and catheters for the obvious.

Unfortunately for Owen, something went wrong in his setup. The body has clearly been dead for a while, and is decayed and bloated. Casper's avatar, however, is still in the 'Net', having been there for a month. Junkies are ofter gamers, and enter the virtual simulations of games such as World of Warcraft equivalents. If they spend too much time in the game, they can lose touch with reality and believe themselves to be the character's they create.

When Casper tries to leave the 'Net', he is met with unfortunate news and an officer who quickly gets on his bad side. No one wants to be on the bad side of a mage- or a man who thinks he's a mage and still has access to the technology in his apartment.

In the sixth story, "Burying Marmee", Phyg and Child wake up to find their Marmee has passed sometime in the night. They tell Jo Tree (Child's father) and he leaves her body on the street, to be cleaned up by one of the many other species living on the planet of Ramoravar alongside them.

Phyg and Child and not too happy with this action. Jo Tree tells them Marmee is no longer there. That her soul was her and the body is nothing but a husk. With her soul departed, the meaty home she once occupied is no longer important.

However, Phyg and Child grew up with their Marmee telling them stories of the funeral rites of her people. That's what she wanted and that's what they want to give her. The problem is money. They don't have any. But maybe they can find some charity among the numerous other residents. Perhaps one of their species has a funeral rite that Marmee would approve of and that they can afford.

So the two set off, with their Marmee in Child's red wagon, looking for a suitable service. It seems that's easier said than done, and things go from weird to weirder. Then space pirates attack.

In the seventh story, "The Price of Tea in China", Will was five years old when he pushed Jimmy the school bully out the window. When asked why, he claims Jimmy 'wasn't right', so he 'fixed it'.

An incredibly intelligent boy, he is taken to Haldane Federal School, where he gets to play games all the time, but can never again have contact with the outside world. Of course, all the games are actually tests. Holdane is a very special school. It recruits children like Will. There are no adults, only AIs, and no children older than twelve.

As his twelfth birthday draws nearer, will wants to know why. What happens when you turn twelve? He soon finds out. On the day he turns twelve, he wakes up in someone else's body, in an unfamiliar room. A prison cell. In his hand a note, that reads, 'Something's broken here. Fix it."

The eighth story is "Far From Laredo". Charles Duke blinks in one world and opens his eyes to a new one. A Laredo, Texas man from the year 1879, he is a little surprised to find himself in an unknown place, clearly hundreds if not thousands or millions of years in the future. Strange creatures inhabit this world and one of them seeks his help.

It turns out they've summoned him to help with a demon problem. Their town is located near one of the many gates of Hell, and occasionally demons can escape. Most of the locals bait demons with human flesh, then ambush them and put coercive collars around their necks- ultimately letting them control the demons. Who they then use as slaves to work on their plots.

Duke is sure that the three demons he's hired to hunt are escaped slaves, but doesn't care too much. They are demons after all. He agrees to the job, with the condition that his payment be as much gold as he can carry and that he be returned to his own world and time.

He soon discovers that wit and cunning are much more effective than riding in guns blazing.

In the ninth story, "The Good Sheriff", Charles Duke's adventures continue. Picking up when the last story left of (don't read this if you don't want spoilers of that one), Duke is again trying to find his way home. He finds a wizard who agrees to send him home if he procures one hundred grains of good. Good in this world is a physical element, but very rare.

Duke decides to take on the duties of sheriff to help earn himself some of the coveted good.

The tenth story is 'The Whispering of Flies". Glaven Cray is an imperial rider. When he gets knocked of his horse by the local drunk, he is informed that the man is harmless, but has a tale worth telling. Curious, he orders the guards to bring the man home, sober him up and get him presentable.

When the man knocked into Glaven, he was covered in flies. Not things that Glaven wants welcomed into his home. But the flies are persistent. Even after a fully-clothed bath, they still cling to the now sober man.

The man agrees to share his story for a drink, and so begins his tale. He was fifteen when the war killed his family and brought him to the refugee camps. With no money, he sought employment as a thief for a shady man. His cut was small, but more than most people had. Several other boys were in his leader's employment.

One day he was offered a job which promised riches in return for his service. He and another boy took the job and follow the mysterious man. But things aren't always as they appear. That was when the flies first clung to him.

In the penultimate story, "An Encounter with the Medeoulin", Jamie is running from his father. Through the forest he flies as his father chases close behind. How could his father move in with his mistress- the woman who pushed Jamie's mother away?

He seeks one of the 'fairy houses', where he has relatives through his mother's side, who always have their door open for him. But when he gets there, he finds an unwelcome visitor- the Medeoulin, who intends on eating both his curious family and himself. He'll have to think fast to get out of this one.

The last story is "Traveling Man'. Traveling Man follows the sounds of the drums that summon him. They lead him to a village under the curse of a witch. The family that resides there implore him to help.

The people here have many names, for their names are based on relation. First Son can also be known as Second Brother or Seventh Cousin- depending on whom is addressing him. The witch too has many names, but to Father and Mother he is known as Last Son.

Last Son was always different, and was therefore picked on. He's decided enough is enough and rules the village with his lightning. Traveling Man wants to heal Last Son, not kill him, but to do so Last Son will need to co-operate and Traveling Man will need to keep his wits, as the lightning ignites his curiosity.

An interesting mix of stories. Some continue from others and share characters, while others are stand-alone, unrelated by anything other than genre. There is a lot here to be offered. Each story has an individuality and uniqueness to it. Most are in first person POV, with some even going as far to leave the protagonist unnamed. A couple of them can drag a little, but others fly by.

They all have a unique feel to them, quite unlike any other short stories I've come across. By the time you finish the book, the beginning feels like it was a very long time ago. So much happens and there is a lot of content contained with this book's pages. The stories can even feel like full novels. The whole book is only around 200 kindle pages, but each story feels substantial.

By short story standards, these are mostly average to above average length, with the shortest at 7 kindle pages and the longest at 18 (which is on the longer side for a short story). There is so much description and variety, that they feel a lot longer than they are, but not in a negative way. Like I said, a couple can drag at times, but there's enough of an assortment here to interest most people.

They do all share the sci-fi or fantasy genre (though aimed more at the sci-fi), with many of them set in the future and/or on other planets. There's a large range of subject matter, and a huge amount of description. If you're not one for long paragraphs of description, this might not be for you, but it adds to the abnormality of the stories and creates a more detailed image of a very different world.

If I had to pick my favourites, I would probably go for 'The Curtain Falls' for its chilling and creepy ending, and 'The Whispering Flies' for its concept. A close runner up was 'Burying Marmee' for the odd mix of humour in morbid situations. I did also really enjoy the character of Charles Duke. Pulled out of his element, he instantly and easily adapts and never seems very fazed by anything. I can almost imagine his uninterested, almost bored expression. He also has a quick wit, but questionable morals.

Overall, I enjoyed some of these stories more than others, but that is often the case with compilations. There was no story that bored me or that I disliked and I was entertained by the mix of connected and stand-alone stories. Not the best short story collection I've ever read, but certainly worth reading.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the author. This is not a sponsored review. All opinions are 100% my own.½

Basically it is a coming of age story wrapped in a golden-age style like sf-adventure romp. Filled with such bizarre and wonderful ideas like the Marvelous-flying-bicycle-men, the mushroom-farmer with their culinary adventures and much more. It is -today- a fresh read. Especially for its old style story even if it borders sometimes at the sexist.
Enjoy!

For those of you who love historical fiction this just might be the book for you. David Wesley Hill has created a character that is very believable. Young Perry James is found at the beginning of the book tied to a whipping post, preparing to be whipped for a crime of which he was innocent. He convinces Sir Francis Drake to take him onboard as a cooks helper. From this point on the adventures for young Perry grow. As the adventures grow we see him mature and grow. The use of metaphors helps paint a picture that uses all of the senses to bring the reader along for the ride. I believe this was most important as the book would be difficult to understand if you did not have a vast nautical vocabulary. The writing was so artfully done that I, a landlubber, was able to picture this vast ship. I could feel the breezes blowing through my hair and feel myself being tossed as the ship’s sails billowed pulling the ship forward. The adventure of the travel keeps you on the edge of the seat waiting to see what would happen next. For this reason I was please to realize there is a second book coming. All I can say at this point is let the adventure continue.

This is a quite unique story about Pimsol Anderts, a young boy with no future on a water base agriculture world who is sent away by his step-father in hopes of a job. He is signed onto a ship called the Miraculous Abernathy for a contract of numerous years with small pay with a catch..... The expenses on board tend to keep the workers in debt for life.
The ship is run by a matriarch who by use of cloning has never left being in power for 100+ years. Pimsol by pure chance meets the next clone in line named Mirable and soon after chaos erupts in both their lives with adventure after adventure with a very unique set of characters, tribes, creatures.....
The story was hard to stop reading, and very much looking forward to the next installment. How does Pimsol finally make it off Temurlone and how does he inevitable get back together with Mirable......again......

Wonderful reading! I liken it to a cross between Simon Haynes' "Hal Spacejock" and "Hitchhiker's Guide ..." and was thoroughly engrossed. Mr. Hill is witty, attentive to detail and paints a wonderful picture of both his locations and characters. I am anxiously looking forward to the Escape from Temerlone sequel.

CASTAWAY ON TEMURLONE tells the story of Pimsol Anderts as he leaves his home to go to work on the Miraculous Abernathy to make his way in the universe. In a way, it reminds me of the HITCHIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, but because of some content, I wouldn't recommend it for kids. Some of the names, such as the Mavelous Flying Bicycle Men and the Man Mother would appeal to younger adults and have the older ones rereading the guide once more. Although, this is not something I will reread, it does offer some interesting ideas with the Man Mother.

I read the first couple of pages and thought, "Ho-Hum". Without realizing it, a few minutes later I was holding my breath hoping that the primary character would not fall into the sea. From then on, I was hooked and every spare moment was devoted to this book. An easy read but filled with facts interwoven with fiction - and truly believable. The ending? Oh, yeah.... If you like Hornblower et. al., you'd love this book.

Even a landlubber will heartily enjoy the sea-faring adventures of Peregrine James. We first meet Perry in Plymouth, England, about to be flogged for a crime he did not commit. The opening line, “It was as fine a morning to be whipped as any I have ever seen,” is typical of the wry humor that threads its way throughout the novel. Young Perry, in search of a better life, begs Francis Drake for a position on board his ship, the Pelican. Thomas Doughty, an authentic historical character who sailed with Drake, recognizes Perry as the cook from a local pub with tasty fare, and encourages Drake to take him on. Perry is told they are in route to Alexandria for trade, but even at the beginning of the journey, there are rumors that their voyage will take them thousands of leagues away from the Old World.

Clearly, the author, David Wesley Hill, has thoroughly researched Drake’s circumnavigation of the globe from every angle. The historic characters are painted in vivid detail, so that we encounter Drake as an inspiring leader of men and accomplished pirate, sometimes dressed in a sailor’s simple garb, sometimes flourishing velvets and silks. As young Perry learns his way about the ship, training as sailor and soldier, Hill describes every aspect from the sleeping quarters to the cannons, to the rigging, so that even those completely unfamiliar with ships get to vicariously experience life at sea.

Peregrine James is a charming lad, whose earnestness and sincerity constantly lead him into adventure and misadventure. There are pirates and Spaniards, Moors and harems, magicians and hangings to keep you entertained through this fast-paced and often amusing voyage. Frequently, Perry uses his talents as a cook to survive potential disasters, such as “inventing” pepper spray when he is cornered in the ship’s hold. Hill is as knowledgeable about cooking as he is about Drake’s historic journey and, shall we say, uses this knowledge to add flavor to the story line and character development.

At Drake’s Command is the first in a planned series and ends in as literal a cliffhanger as you can imagine. Readers will undoubtedly be clamoring for the sequel.

David Wesley Hill’s novel is the first in a planned series, which follows Francis Drake’s circumnavigation of the world through the eyes of the young cook and crew-member Peregrine James. We first meet Perry in Plymouth in November 1577, where he is being publicly whipped for a theft he didn’t commit. Determined to make a better life for himself, he talks his way onto the crew of the Pelican, which under the command of Francis Drake is said to be heading off on a trading voyage to Alexandria. Thrust into the small and intense community aboard ship, Perry assists the Pelican’s uninspired cook Lancelot Garget and tries to carve out a place for himself in this small and tightly-knit community of men. As the Pelican and her companion ships head south, he finds himself learning not only how to feed this raucous company of sailors but also how to be one of them: clambering the rigging, winding the capstan, training with cannons and cutlasses, and handling his shipmates' delicate egos. It also becomes clear that their destination is not to be Alexandria, but some other place, far beyond the coast of Africa and the Portuguese islands of the Atlantic; perhaps even beyond the bounds of any map Perry has ever seen.

I haven't read much maritime historical fiction and most of my knowledge about such matters comes from watching the BBC's Hornblower series as a teenager. Hill evidently knows his stuff back to front and one of this book's strengths is the almost tangible evocation of shipboard life: he conjures up the ropes under your hands, the snap of the wind in the sails and the sea-shanties that help the men keep time (I'm pleased that What shall we do with the drunken sailor? got an airing). You come to understand the challenge of provisioning a ship with supplies that won't go off during the voyage, and how to cook a hot meal for sixty-seven men using a fire-box on the top deck in the open air. Hill has previously worked as a chef which gives his descriptions of cookery an added spark of realism: some passages, especially the cook-off between Perry and the Portuguese cook João Longo Prata, made my mouth water. In his foreword he explains how he's used the surviving documents which record the daily progress of the voyage, and his careful plotting of the route on Google Earth so that he can see exactly what his characters would have encountered on their journey. In short, everything about this novel shows how much care and attention has gone into it, and I'm sure Hill knows so much about Elizabethan seafaring that he could answer any question you might have, no matter how obscure.

The difficulty with having done a lot of research is that it can sometimes be hard to decide what to include and what to leave out. To borrow a culinary turn of phrase, I felt that the book was occasionally over-seasoned: sometimes the research didn't so much support the plot as dominate it. This was especially the case in the first few chapters, where I felt that the pace would have benefitted from slightly more ruthless editing. The decision to use deliberately old-fashioned language and grammar does give the story a kind of antique integrity, but on the other hand it can make the dialogue a little staid. Again this was most marked at the beginning: Beth Winston (whom I liked very much) must be the most articulate prostitute in English literature! Things got into their stride once the Pelican was on the open sea and we were able to focus on the relationships between the officers and crew, and between Perry and his shipmates. I have particularly vivid mental images of Garget - a gaunt, weaselly little man - and Pascoe Goddy - a good-natured bear of a fellow with very few teeth, and perhaps the odd glint of a golden molar. Drake himself, bluff and gold-bearded, comes across very well: with enough of the common touch to make his men ready to die for him, but enough force of character to make himself feared as well as loved. There were some subtle but very welcome moments of humour, too, such as Perry's efforts to translate for John Winter the unedifying opinions of a captured Portuguese sailor ("He appears to be expressing a desire to engage in conjugal relations with your mother"). And what must we make of the name of that Portuguese cook, João Longo Prata, which translated into English becomes the most famous pirate of them all: a private joke, perhaps?

Earlier on I mentioned Hornblower, and At Drake's Command has much in common with that series: notably an earnest and naive hero, determined to live by his principles. In Perry's case that means sticking to the advice given to him by Hal Audley on his departure from Plymouth ("If you would do it, do it well!"), in the face of peril, the Portuguese and the enmity of Lancelot Garget. Perry faces his challenges, from sabotaged cooking ingredients to kidnap by an Arab sheikh, with equal pluckiness and integrity and, like Hornblower, manages to emerge from every adventure with his qualities and good character intact. As I don't want to veer too far into spoilers, I will only say that this made the events of the final pages feel slightly implausible: I didn't believe that so good a judge of character as Drake would dismiss the ample evidence of his own eyes in this way; and the punishment seemed much too severe for a vaguely supposed crime. Nevertheless, I understand the importance of finishing with a cliffhanger and, while the end of the previous chapter provided a perfect fade-to-black moment, I enjoyed the piquant final twist of drama. And so we must wait to find out exactly how Perry plans to deal with his latest challenge (I imagine, sadly, that it won't be the same method adopted by Captain Jack Sparrow when in a similar predicament).

As I've said, the language makes this a more challenging read than most, but once you take that in your stride this is an absorbingly faithful reconstruction of what it must have been like to serve on one of the great Elizabethan voyages. If you're an established fan of maritime historical fiction then I've no doubt there's much here for you to enjoy; and, for those of us who only dabble in the genre now and then, there's an endearing and resourceful hero, and moments when you suddenly understand how thrilling it must have been, to sail in a time when the land over the horizon genuinely was terra incognita.

I am grateful to the author for providing a review copy of this book.

To see this review in its original context and to see more of my reviews, please visit my blog:
http://theidlewoman.blogspot.co.uk/

Being the author of At Drake's Command, I am, of course, biased as to its qualities. However, I believe I can safely assure you that it's an entertaining story and a book well worth reading.

3.9

Author's guest post at my blog:
http://bookfare.blogspot.com/2013/03/foodfic-please-welcome-guest-david-hill.htm...

Being the author of Castaway on Temurlone, I am, of course, biased as to its qualities. However, I do like this book, and I am sure other readers will enjoy it, too!