I normally dismiss historical-fiction because I fear that it will be really, really boring and that I might accidentally learn something. So when I got The Fiddler’s Gun I was conflicted. On the one hand I hate history and on the other, I love pirates. I was conflicted until finally my love of pirates won and started to read the book.

It was pretty awesome.

There was the initial culture shock from reading about people who didn’t know what a large hadron collider was but then I realized historical-fiction isn’t that much different from science-fiction and was able to continue reading with no problems.

Anyway, The Fiddler’s Gun (which takes place somewhere around 1755) is about a Fin, a tomboyish girl who lives at an orphanage in America. She in constantly defying the nuns and getting in to trouble. That trouble causes her to be banished to kitchen duty where she befriends Bartimaeus, the book with a mysterious past. One thing leads to another and Fin kills some English soldiers and is forced to run away. She is mistaken for a man and joins the crew of the Rattlesnake. Luckily she feels right at home aboard a boat full of men. Then they become pirates and fight people who don’t like pirates.

Like I said, it’s pretty awesome.

I know my description above probably wont sell you on this book. But it is a very beautifully written book that is chock full of adventure, drama, and romance.

My one complant, and it’s a major one, is that after 300-ish pages of rooting for Fin to get the happy ending she deserves, I find out that this is a two book series. And the second book, Fiddler’s Green, isn’t out yet. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Anyway, I don’t think I can recommend this book enough. I went in to it with low expectations (again, historical-fiction) and, like a ship being hit with a cannonball, I was blown completely away. You should pick up a copy at The Rabbit Room or even get the Kindle version for less than the cost of a gallon of gas.

Second Opinions:

Booking Mama, Book Journey, My Friend Amy, Pick of the Literate

Thursday, June 24th, 2010 at 6:55 pm.
Filed under: Book Review.