For all the reading I’ve done in my life, I can count on one hand all the books I’ve read about pirates. To me, they all tell more or less the same story: an adventure on the high seas with rum-drinking, cursing, swashbuckling, cannon fights, and perilous quests for revenge. And especially after the runaway success of Pirates of the Caribbean, it feels like no one else can tell a more fun, epic, or engaging pirate story.
That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy pirate stories. Like any genre, I see the appeal. Pirates as we remember them have an air of legend and grand adventure unlike any other trade the world has ever seen. They sailed the world’s waters with their own code and a certain freedom from the constraints of lawful society. They could build names and reputations that struck feelings of awe or fear into their fellow buccaneers. Not to mention the constant brush with danger that made their adventures all the more interesting.
Of course, what I know about pirates comes from the larger-than-life adventures as told by Robert Louis Stevenson and Disney. Now it seems there is another author trying their hand at these tales of proud schooners and mighty captains.
Sixteen-year-old Jill Archer is a skilled fencer, having fought in dozens of tournaments throughout her life. But she is a little insecure about her skills, not being satisfied with coming in fourth place in a national tournament. One day, whilst on vacation in the Bahamas, she finds a broken piece of an old sword. It turns out the sword piece is magic, because when she falls overboard on a tour boat, she finds herself transported to the Bahamas of the 1700s, when pirates ruled the seas and danger lurked around every island tavern. Jill must learn to fit in with the pirate crew that saved her from the water, or else meet her doom at the edge of a dangerous pirate captain’s sword.
As a pirate adventure, Steel does not disappoint. If you’re looking for a story with sword fights and rivalries between pirate captains, this one’s got lots of that. It’s certainly nothing groundbreaking, but it’s easy to settle into the world of 1700s piracy since it’s so familiar.
I’ve heard readers complain that Carrie Vaughn took too many creative liberties with true pirate history in this book, but to that I say, “Who cares?” She states in her author’s note that she incorporated several aspects of real pirate life, but deliberately played with the timeline of when certain famous pirates existed and where they would be in the Caribbean just to have fun.
And seriously, what’s wrong with an author having a little fun with the stereotypes and legends we’ve all had ingrained into us from pop culture? Did people have hissy fits when the Pirates films did the same thing? A lot more people seemed sucked in by the sword fights and the lingo and the overall fun of the story. I felt very much the same with Steel, just enjoying the ride. Because who hasn’t imagined themselves on a mighty pirate ship with a sword in hand ready to fight the evil pirate lord trying to wrestle command of the seven seas?
I like how Jill falls in with something of a sympathetic crew. They are still a bunch of rough-and-tumble pirates, but they have a strict code of honor and they rescue a bunch of slaves from one ship they encounter. They are way more about the freedom of piracy than double-crossing people who do not play the piracy game, which, although not exactly true to most pirate history, is still a nice thing to picture.
Steel is one of those books where it’s more about the adventure than telling any grand heroes’ journeys. Jill, our lead, does not have any discernible personality outside of being a good fencer and she does not really go through any huge changes, as people so often say main characters should. But she is still easy to follow and her journey from insecure athlete to confident fighter is fun to watch. If anything, her arc reminds us not to take things too seriously and to keep things in perspective.
I also love stories with modern characters falling back in time. There’s something so magical about meeting people who lived in a time so far removed from ours, and watching the characters adjust to and even begin to enjoy their time travel. The world can change so completely that even a time like the 1700s can feel like an alien planet to a modern person, which, to me, will always be more interesting than traveling to a literal alien planet.
There is a little romance in here, like the cover promises, but again, the focus stays on the pirate adventure and doesn’t lean into Jill finding love with another pirate and feeling conflicted about staying behind to be with him. The book is tightly paced and focused, and I probably appreciate that most about it.
I’ve concluded that Carrie Vaughn tells standard stories but they somehow remain compelling in her style. She makes her settings just familiar enough that we settle into them right away, while still creating a fun and fast-moving adventure around her characters. Unlike Voices of Dragons, I think she takes better advantage of the pirate territory, giving us all that we love about pirates before providing a satisfying ending.
Of course, I’ve certainly read more books about dragons than pirates, so that’s just my personal experience. And regardless of what the story features, a satisfying story with a satisfying ending is good enough for me.
The Library Key 