Synopsis:
A once-legendary pirate and his loyal crew out to retake the high seas.
Captain James R. Hawk, aka Trusty Jack, and his Salty Scoundrels are do-gooder buccaneers leaving a trail of merry mayhem in their wake. Their credo: ignore the corrupt laws of the Jewel Island’s greedy regent and sail the tropical seas in search of treasure, freedom, and adventure.
But when the royal navy teams up with a powerful mage, Trusty Jack’s sordid past catches up with him. Lost love, lost lives, and a lost ship haunt the legendary pirate, none more than Marian, his once-betrothed. That’s when a cunning gnome arrives from the mainland with a daring proposal. Will Jack muster his sea dog courage and sail through the illusion-filled mists to reach a forbidden island? The ghostly horrors and powerful curse at his destination will test more than his pirate mettle. He’ll have to weigh the price of gold against the risk of peril to himself, his crew, and those he loves… and face down a haunting past trailing in his wake.
Review:
If Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swan, and Commodore Norrington were three sheets to the wind in their monthly DnD campaign, that’s what you’d get in Jonathan Nevair’s standalone pirate fantasy The Curse of Dragon Tail Island.
Fourteen years after a betrayal, Trusty Jack Hawk reemerges on the pirating scene when gnomish thief, Scarlett Tanesh, comes to him with a chance to reclaim his prized ship, Lady Luck. All it takes is breaking out some old friends from prison and a nuthouse, stealing a magical dagger to fix a broken compass, and sail through dangerous mists to find a mysterious island where the all-powerful dragon’s blood can be found. Shiver me timbers.
I mean it when I say that this book is straight out of the Pirates of the Caribbean, it truly feels like a part of that iconic film series, right down to the names of the characters, the broken compass, and the vibes. And like the first few movies, this book is just a lot of fun. You can tell Nevair had a blast writing this story.
Sure some of the pirate-speak was a little too on the nose at times, leaning a bit caricature, but Nevair has a gift for banter and dialogue. The crew, the Salty Scoundrels, are a treat. Their interactions with each other are hilarious and Nevair just drops line after line of witty comebacks and barbed shots, all laced with heart for one another. These characters fit the mold of pirate and DnD tropes to the T. And while that might cause some eyerolls, I think it was a smart move relying on tried and tested genre tropes, as it didn’t force Nevair to have to do a lot of exposition. The worldbuilding just sort of bleeds through these tropes with ease, allowing the world-specific stuff to just be front and center.
And while the action set pieces (prison break, heist, escapes, ship battles) all take up a lot of page time, it’s the quieter moments that really shine here. Amidst all this pirate action, there is a B plot of a regime change, and in the forefront is a royal-turned-healing mage who also happens to be Trusty Jack’s former betrothed. Plus there is a former lover of Scarlett who plays a role in this story. The emotional beats between these former romantic partners possibly rekindling things was really nice to read and really did offset the pirate hijinks, giving a balanced book of lightheartedness and seriousness.
The DnD races were fun adds. Your different types of elves and dwarves. Half-orcs and half-ogres. But there were some additional adds like sprites that turned up the fun. I really liked the bard Sian, who is a nocsi, which is a feline/otter-like creature who can use sea kelp to generate magic.
All in all, The Curse of Dragon Tail Island is exactly the pirate romp you’d expect it to be. Sometimes that is all you need in a read. Highly recommend this one.
*I received an advanced copy from the author in exchange for an honest review
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