Piratica

Piratica is set in an alternate reality, the world of seventeen-twelvety Lundon (approx 1802, London, in our world), in the Republic of Free England, where the ruling class of landsirs own large amounts of wealth and land. Quite why the book is set in this mythical time and place isn’t quite clear, since the setting adds nothing to the story, beyond giving the author an opportunity to play around with names. Nor is it quite clear why this is the Republic of Free England, since there is still a ruling, landowning aristocracy and there is little republican in the tale.

Nonetheless, the book is a ripping adventure yarn. It centres on feisty heroine Artemesia Blastside, who lives in a time resembling 19th-century England, but has a healthy dose of modern ‘attitude’. She escapes from a charm school when a bump on the head restores memories of her mother, Molly, whom she imagines was a pirate queen, a female Robin Hood of the high seas. Artemesia wants to be a pirate too and she tracks down her mother’s old shipmates. The old ‘crewmates’ claim that Molly was an actress killed in a tragic theatre accident and that the high adventures which Artemesia remembers were part of a play. Art finds this hard to believe and persuades the actor-pirates to help her steal a ship, and they set off to become real pirates, pirates who kill no-one. As their treasure seeking continues, Art realises that far too much of the play her mother supposedly acted in – Piratica – was real. And real stories come with real enemies, who pose dangers to our heroine’s life. Fortunately stories also come with (in this case somewhat less than) dashing heroes to rescue our heroine.

As a derring-do adventure Piratica will succeed in gripping young readers but there’s not really that much else to it.