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jaironside's review
5.0
This is both a fascinating look at how the naval tradition changed during the nineteenth century and a heart pounding adventure story with a dash of fantasy.
Colyer, a young midshipman, is aboard the Daedalus when the ship is decommissioned as a naval vessel and sent chasing slaving vessels off the coast of Africa. Life is far from simple; MacQuarie , the ships captain, is gradually unravelling into obsessive madness, Spencer, the little liked lieutenant, is all for keeping the lower class crew in their place, second in command Malory is progressive and tries to mitigate the effects of the others but while Colyer is popular with the crew, he has a secret. If discovered even Malory wouldn't be able to protect him. And then there's the elusive sea serpent that the Catain insists they hunt... As they head further and further south into colder waters and isolated seas it suddenly seems that Daedalus might not be the hunter after all...
Really loved this book. All the characters are fully fleshed and believable (though you'll probably want to slap Spencer at least once!) the setting is gritty and realistic and the story will have you page turning until you run out of book. Based on real events recorded by the Daedalus, this is must read for fans of historical and historical fantasy fiction.
Colyer, a young midshipman, is aboard the Daedalus when the ship is decommissioned as a naval vessel and sent chasing slaving vessels off the coast of Africa. Life is far from simple; MacQuarie , the ships captain, is gradually unravelling into obsessive madness, Spencer, the little liked lieutenant, is all for keeping the lower class crew in their place, second in command Malory is progressive and tries to mitigate the effects of the others but while Colyer is popular with the crew, he has a secret. If discovered even Malory wouldn't be able to protect him. And then there's the elusive sea serpent that the Catain insists they hunt... As they head further and further south into colder waters and isolated seas it suddenly seems that Daedalus might not be the hunter after all...
Really loved this book. All the characters are fully fleshed and believable (though you'll probably want to slap Spencer at least once!) the setting is gritty and realistic and the story will have you page turning until you run out of book. Based on real events recorded by the Daedalus, this is must read for fans of historical and historical fantasy fiction.
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