Pirates and Privateers - Reviews of Alain Surget's books

When King Louis XIV rules France, Louise and Benjamin de Marie find themselves orphaned and in la Salpetriere, the poorhouse of Paris. Louise would much rather engage in duels than adhere to Mother Superior’s edict that she learn to cook and sew. Even the threat of transport to the Americas doesn’t alter her mind. Benjamin, on the other hand, prefers reading books to learning to fight, which makes him the perfect target for bullies. So the twins decide it’s time to say adieu to Paris and hitch a ride to St. Malo, a port city where corsairs and pirates haunt the waterfront.

An unpleasant encounter with dragoons sends the twins to the beach, where a fisherman sees the strange tattoo on Benjamin’s shoulder. Louise has one, too, and together they tell the old man the identity of the twins’ father – a legendary pirate captain who has hidden his vast treasure somewhere in the Caribbean. The tattoos provide half a map to where it’s located.

Until now, the twins haven’t known who their father is, and now they want to find him. While the fisherman finds them work in a tavern, he also sells this information to Black Beard, who wants the treasure for himself and kidnaps the children. While imprisoned in the hold, they are visited by a mysterious marquis named de Parabas and his squawking parrot, Shut-your-trap! But dare they trust this man, who claims to know their father?

The Pirate’s Legacy is the first book in the Jolly Roger series, which was originally published in French. This ninety-four-page graphic novel is written for young pirates and pirate apprentices. Although Black Beard may be modeled on Edward Teach, this pirate is not the same as the real one, but he’s no less intimidating and dastardly. The story is fast-paced and vividly recreates what pirate life was like. Louise and Benjamin aren’t stereotyped into gender roles; this makes them interesting characters and requires them to pool their strengths to overcome their weaknesses. They will appeal to male and female readers alike; even adults will enjoy this adventure. The artwork, which is done in shades of black, blue, and white, captures the imagination and brings the characters to life. I highly recommend this story, but with a warning: There are six books in this series and they end on cliffhangers, so it’s tough to read just one. Once The Pirate’s Legacy snares you, you just have to read the next tale in the series.

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The Ghost Ship
By Alain Surget
Illustrated by Annette Marnat
Translated by Jill Lewin
Scribo, 2014, ISBN 978-1-907184-34-5, US $5.95 / CAN $6.95

While on their way to the Caribbean aboard the Angry Flea, Benjamin learns about navigation and charts from On-the-Fence while the Marquis de Parabas instructs Louise in the art of sword fighting. Neither twin is keen on chores, but no one is exempt from swabbing the deck or doing any of the other daily tasks needed to keep the pirate ship in good condition – not even the children of Captain Roc!

When a sea fog mysteriously rolls in, it brings with it a frightening apparition – the Flying Dutchman. The storm whisks the twins aboard this ghost ship with its ghastly crew of skeletons. The twins’ inventive solution to escaping their predicament lands them in the hands of the English Royal Navy, which immediately imprisons them as pirates. While in gaol, they meet Red Mary, another pirate who knows their father. In exchange for her freedom, she will lead them out of prison. But Red Mary has designs of her own, which is why Louise and Benjamin hesitate in agreeing to her plan.

Book two in the Jolly Roger series picks up right where the first book ends and is even more of a roller-coaster ride. The stakes are high, the eeriness spine tingling, and the weaving of legend with reality superb. Surget is a master storyteller who interweaves intriguing fictional characters with historical interludes to capture the imagination of young and old alike. Marnat’s illustrations add additional depth to the story. While Louise and Benjamin play pivotal roles, Shut-your-trap! steals the show. Readers will eagerly demand the next book in the series.

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Shark Island
By Alain Surget
Illustrated by Annette Marnat
Translated by Jill Lewin
Scribo, 2014, ISBN 978-1-907184-53-6, US $5.95 / CAN $6.95

The adventures of Louise and Benjamin, the children of the notorious pirate Captain Roc, continue in book three of the Jolly Roger series. It is 1660 and the Angry Flea approaches Hispaniola, where they hope to finally meet their father. But the Marquis de Parabas, the pirate who has brought them across the Atlantic, refuses to take them ashore because there are Spanish soldiers in the town. While Benjamin is content to sit and read, Louise tries to convince One-Eyed Jack and Scarface, who guard the siblings, to sail around the island where her father’s hideout is.

Before they decide one way or the other, unfriendly pirates try to board the Angry Flea. Louise and Benjamin take refuge in the captain’s cabin during the fight, but one of the enemy pirates follows them below. While the two children manage to gain the upper hand, they can’t remain where they are, so they crawl through the stern window and drop into the canoe that brought the invaders out to the ship.

As usual, though, this escape merely places the children in greater danger. They must row through shark-infested waters to reach the island, but the creatures seem to know that food is just out of reach of their jaws. When the boat strikes jagged rocks hidden beneath the water, one shark wrenches Louise’s oar right out of her hands while another starts ripping apart the boat. Once the children finally reach the safety of the shore, they find themselves marooned on the island, for the Angry Flea has disappeared. Then Louise falls down into an underground cavern and rather than answering her brother, she wanders through the tunnel. Having no other option, Benjamin follows.

Even thought the tension is slower to build than in the previous titles, it ebbs and flows like waves crashing onto the shore throughout the story. Red Mary returns and Louise and Benjamin finally learn her secret, which puts them in even graver danger. They also discover the truth about Parabas and his reasons for “helping” them. The principal pirates are well-portrayed, acting as they should without becoming stereotypical pirates. Although Louise and Benjamin seem wiser than their age at times, they remain children; this makes their characters more realistic and believable. Once again, Surget and Marnat bring to life the Caribbean world when buccaneers roamed these waters. It will be interesting to see where the Roc children’s adventures lead them next as they try to unite with their father.

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Review Copyrighted ©2014 Cindy Vallar

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The Plumed Serpent’s Gold
By Alain Surget
Illustrated by Annette Marnat
Translated by Jill Lewin
Scribo, 2014, ISBN 978-1-907184-54-3, US $5.95 / CAN $6.95

Whether found on sea or land, the Buccaneers seek gold, and this time Louise and Benjamin head for Campeche, where rumors say their father plans to attack a treasure ship. First, the Angry Flea must elude the Spanish warships. Their best chance of escape is for everyone who doesn’t have a beard to don women’s clothes – including Louise, who would much rather wear pants, and Benjamin, who is not a girl! The ruse works, but barely, since Louise’s boredom leads her to disrespect the Spaniards, who don’t take kindly to what she does.

To get Captain Roc, the children’s father, to hand over the map to his hidden treasure, Parabas insists on taking them with him and the other pirates when they land. But being pirates, they do not venture ashore as normal people do. That would guarantee the hangman’s noose around their necks. So they slash and scrape their way through the jungle. When they near the outskirts of the town, they meet Heehee, a native who informs them that Roc has searches for the gold at Kukulkan, the city of the Plumed Serpent on the Snake River.

Convinced that he should lead them to this sacred place, Heehee guides them farther inland where they find the wrecked and abandoned Marie-Louise, Roc’s ship. Fearing the worst, but hoping that he’s okay, the pirates continue their journey to Kukulkan, but once they arrive, it’s not gold or Roc that they find. Spanish soldiers ambush them and during the fight, a sacred statue is damaged, which causes an earthquake-like rumbling of the earth, silences the birds and creatures who call the jungle home, and alerts the Mayan warriors of Kukulkan to attack.

As often happens in pirate tales, the buccaneers we think are dead never really are, and both Parabas and Red Mary return. The suspense in this fourth adventure is nail-biting and you’re tempting to rush through the story just to catch your breath. But don’t! The subtle clues are important to collect in order to follow the right trail as the children, their captors, and their attackers collide deep within the Mayan jungle. But are Louise and Benjamin any safer with Red Mary and her pirates? You’ll have to wait and see in book five of the Jolly Roger series.

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Escape from Veracruz
By Alain Surget
Illustrated by Annette Marnat
Translated by Jill Lewin
Scribo, 2014, ISBN 978-1-907184-60-4, US $5.95 / CAN $6.95

After Red Mary saves Louise and Benjamin from certain death, they head for Veracruz to rescue Captain Roc. But Red Mary doesn’t trust their father, and as soon as he’s free, she plans to maroon him on a deserted island. The twins too. Until then, they’re ordered to their bunks to sleep.

But an alarm is sounded when Totonacs try to launch a surprise attack on their ship. One pirate thwarts them by revealing his relationship to one of the Indians. Since they despise the Spanish as much as the pirates, the two groups team up to free Roc. This time, Louise and Benjamin get to play pivotal roles in the plan – one that can easily go awry. When a Spanish soldier stumbles across them in a warehouse, they narrowly escape capture. While getting into the prison where their father is held turns out to be fairly easy, the problem comes when they discover there are many pirates in the jail and they don’t know which one of them is Captain Roc.

This fifth title in the Jolly Roger series is filled with action and mayhem, but some readers may find Captain Roc’s reaction to seeing his children disappointing and perhaps disturbing. He’s certainly different from what Louise and Benjamin expect. I find this story to be the one I like least, in part because there are too many “tidy” coincidences that spoil the tension and strain my ability to believe. The pirates act as their real counterparts did, though, and fans of the series will want to read this book not only to follow the twins’ latest escapades, but also to better understand what occurs in the sequel.

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Cover Art:
Prisoners of the Black Octopus

Prisoners of the Black Octopus
By Alain Surget
Illustrated by Annette Marnat
Translated by Jill Lewin
Scribo, 2014, ISBN 978-1-907184-61-1, US $5.95 / CAN $6.95

Dreams rarely come out the way one expects – a fact which Louise and Benjamin Roc soon discover after reuniting reunite with their father, the legendary Captain Roc. He and the Marquis de Parabas are allies once again and seem to want to get rid of the twins. Nor does their half-sister, Red Mary, act like a true sibling should. Louise is convinced everyone is lying to them.

When they get to Providencia Island, their father finally allows them to go ashore. He helps Benjamin look like a true pirate, but treats Louise as a girl who should be happy wielding needle and thread rather than a sword. The trip doesn’t go quite according to plan. Louise’s inquisitive nature and ardent desire for adventure throw a wrench in her father’s attempts to negotiate with a particularly slimy pirate – a vital partnership if they want to attack the treasure galleon currently docked in Carthagena. The mayhem she causes merely lands herself and her brother in prison – again. And their daring escape has dire consequences she never expects.

This next installment in the Jolly Roger series of graphic novels places readers right in the midst of a pirate haven, where it’s tough to know who’s a friend and who’s an enemy. It clearly shows the drudgery of shipboard life before throwing readers into a cauldron of trouble and danger. And the unexpected arrival of a previous acquaintance stirs the pot in anticipation of future tales of the twins’ adventures.

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