Book Reviews of Sea Witch and Pirate Code by Helen Hollick

This is the first of Helen Hollick’s books I have read and on the strength of it I bought book two as well as her Arthurian series. This is a fun blend of authentic historical action adventure in the pirate era – you can almost hear the rigging creak and the wind blow – with a light touch of fantasy and sorcery.

The story is that of a rogue pirate Jesamiah and the young girl destined to be his lover, the white witch, Tiola.

Jesamiah is a engaging hero and Tiola, an at times fierce heroine. The story winds back and forth between them keeping the reader interested in both main protagonists.

Hollick is not afraid to use graphic descriptions both of the fighting scenes and the sexual encounters and manages to portray a grimey, often desperate world with believable heroes and villains. You can tell that more books were planned right from the start as there are major characters introduced who seemed designed to be recurring figures. A sense that more is yet to come is also apparent in the fantastical parts – in particular the interaction between Tiola and Tethys a goddess of the sea.

The descriptions are rich and detailed, the dialogue authentic and laced with many 17th century expressions and curses  and as such may not suit some readers not used to archaic terms. But anyone reading a historical novel is generally after the detail – the feeling that  you are living the moments with the characters and you certainly get that here and Hollick does not drown you in detail: it is more a case of being nicely immersed. As Hollick does use magic some readers who like their history unsullied by fantasy might be put off but she blends the mix so well that it does not jar and at times you forget there is fantasy involved at all.  It just feels natural to me.

Well recommended.

We first met Jesamiah Acorne in the superb first novel in this series – Sea Witch (Sea Witch Series). IN this sequel we return to the story of the pirate and the witch.

Jesamiah just wants to marry Tiola and live out his years on his beloved ship but fate has other things in store. To begin with Tiola’s husband will only divorce her if Jesamiah goes to Hispianola and finds some barrels of precious Indigo. War with Spain looms and it turns out that the Governor of Nassau wants Jesamaiah to go to Hispaniola anyway to find a missing spy.

Jesamiah is thrust into the middle of not just a war between Spain and England but also both the mission to discover who is a spy (who can be trusted and who not) and a rebellion against the governor of Hispaniola.

Jesamiah needs all his luck and guile as well as courage to get out all this alive. Along the way we find out a little more about his past. The end is dramatic, exciting and just very well written.

For me this is better than the first book and I recommend it for anyone who loves a good pirate romp.

Why would you not like it? Well if you don’t like Historical Fiction or don’t like elements of fantasy in your fiction then this might not be for you but the level of authenticity in recreation of period which reflects the depth of historical research by the author is so impressive I would urge you to give it a go.

I gave both books 5 stars.