Ahoy, me matey. Ye be fittin’ ta visit Davy Jones’ Locker if’n ye don’t pick up tis book here. Aye, a good one it be.
On
Wednesday, I had the pleasure of posting an interview with author Geoff
Rodkey, but the true pleasure was reading his book DEADWEATHER AND SUNRISE (the
first book in the CHRONICLES OF EGG series). The second book, NEW LANDS came
out today, and although I haven’t read it yet, I do have a copy for future
reading (trust me, I’ll be reading soon).
There
are many things to love about DEADWEATHER AND SUNRISE, but one of my favorite
features was Rodkey’s ability to incorporate pirate jargon and mannerisms
without making them stand out. The dialogue between the pirate characters comes
off naturally without feeling overdone. Having read quite a few pirate books, I
know this is not easily done. More than a few pirate books overuse pirate lingo
and phonetic spellings too much, but not Rodkey’s tale. It grounded the reader from the outset in the world Rodkey has created, and made the journey that much more enjoyable.
Although
I’ve already referred to the book as a “pirate book” I feel it necessary to
explain that this isn’t merely a pirate tale, but a true adventure of a
fantastic voyage. If there isn’t yet a middle-grade mix of an adventure-fantasy-mystery-thriller
genre, this book should be the archetype. The pace is fast enough to capture
the typical middle-grade reader, but not too breakneck to omit the substance of
the story or the definition of the characters. We hear all the time with adventure books that the characters are too often sacrificed for the sake of the plot, but that's not the case here.
Speaking of the characters, Egbert (Egg) is a truly authentic main character that we root
for at every turn. His brother Adonis and his sister Venus (love the names) are rough around the
edges and aren’t exactly loving siblings, but this makes us root for Egg all
the more. While some might argue that the siblings aren’t quite “likeable” and
this hurts the story, I argue that the siblings are used to push readers toward Egg even
more. The same can be said of Egg’s desire to learn, and his horrible teacher
Percy, who we hate as readers. Writers understand the use of foils and dastardly characters of this mold, and Rodkey uses his characters with purpose. Not every person in real life is likeable, and so too is the world of fiction. As a writer, it's using these unlikeable characters that's the trick. It is well done in this book.
I
highly recommend DEADWEATHER AND SUNRISE, and I am eager to read the second book in the
series, NEW LANDS. Remember, it came out today (5/1), so now you can get a copy too! Here's the fantastic cover, and a bit about it:
They're going to need help. But who can they trust? Is Kira, the beautiful and heavily armed Okalu refugee, their ally…or their enemy? Is Pembroke's daughter Millicent on Egg's side…or her father's? Why on earth is the notorious pirate Burn Healy being so nice to them? And the biggest question of all: what shocking secret is Egg about to discover in the shadow of an ancient Okalu temple?
Great review. I'm really excited to get into middle grade reading soon because my son is coming of age. I'll check back here for more. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited about this series! I've heard such good things!
ReplyDeleteYou had me at "pirate" :)
ReplyDeleteI loved the Pirates in "Remarkable" in Lizzie K. Foley !
Jill A.
These look terrific! And any time there is an ancient temple on a cover, I'm in.
ReplyDelete