The Curse of the Dragon Tail Island, by Jonathan Nevair
The Book
Synopsis:
Set sail with the Salty Scoundrels in this swashbuckling pirate fantasy—a rollicking tale of clashing cutlasses, monsters and magic, and high seas adventure.
A once-legendary pirate and his loyal crew risk uncharted waters for a chance at freedom, treasure, and glory.
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.
My Review
The Curse of the Dragon Tail Island is a standalone pirate fantasy adventure novel written by Jonathan Nevair. Not only we have a swashbuckling pirate adventure contained within this story, offering a healthy amount of worldbuilding details that make its setting to feel alive and vibrant, but also it goes a bit deeper than it is usual in the genre, mixing political intrigue and societal struggle into all, complemented with a diverse cast.
Fourteen years after being betrayed, Trusty Jack Hawk is contacted by gnomish thief, Scarlett; he had left that life, but the reward is too much to say no to this job: a chance to recover his beloved ship. Just a simple task: reunite his old crew (some of them from prison), get a magical dagger to fix a compass and navigate through the mists to find a legendary island where the dragon's blood can be found; nothing like doing the almost impossible to get rid of the rust.
A common element across Nevair's novels is the diversity of the cast, and this case isn't an exception. Not only Jack is an awesome character, a person who has been prey to his past, but who doesn't refuse the call to adventure, and at the end, a good person (as you can see by his credo), but also the rest of the Salty Scoundrels are quite interesting, especially with that touch of different fantasy races that could perfectly represent a DnD party, all with their own quirks and background. They all end up being relevant to the plot, feeling more than just filler characters in the background.
The worldbuilding kinda remembers to the classical Caribbean setting that is so common in the genre, but with fantasy elements; however, Nevair also manages to make this a more complex story, as he gradually introduces the political system and uses it to create a storyline about changing it and how all classes deserve a fairer society. The pacing is adequate, dividing the big quest into smaller tasks that serve to keep the group in movement, making the reading experience a really enjoyable one.
The Curse of the Dragon Tail Island is a fun and enjoyable novel, a pirate adventure perfect if you are looking for something in the style of Pirates of the Caribbean but with a more complex plot while still keeping the jokes. A great novel by Jonathan Nevair!
The Author/s
Jonathan Nevair
Jonathan Nevair is a science fiction writer and the pen name for Dr. Jonathan Wallis, an art historian/Professor of Art History. After two decades of academic teaching and publishing, he finally got up the nerve to write fiction. Jonathan grew up on Long Island, NY but now resides in southeast Pennsylvania with his wife and rambunctious mountain feist, Cricket.