Category: Reviews
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Review: Shackleton’s Man Goes South has a queer combination
Shackleton’s Man Goes South, while ambitious, combines fiction and non-fiction on climate change but ultimately falls short in execution and coherence.
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Review: Hell Around the Horn is a helluva journey
Rick Spilman’s novel, Hell Around the Horn, explores maritime history, character stereotypes, and resilience amid dangerous sea conditions.
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Review: DeWire Lighthouse Guide is a delight
Elinor DeWire’s book explores lighthouses in Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. territories, revealing their histories and significance beyond popular coasts.
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Review: Seattle sea captain’s memoir offers a unique perspective
Sea Travels recounts Captain J. Holger Christensen’s adventurous life and captivating tales as a mariner, told through his nephew’s narrative.
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Review: Gather the Shadowmen fictionalizes the American privateers
Benjamin Franklin’s diplomatic efforts included commissioning Irish privateers like Luke Ryan, who became a smuggler impacting America’s Revolutionary War.
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Review: ‘Betrayal’ is book 13 of the Thomas Kydd series
Julian Stockwin’s Betrayal explores Kydd’s expedition to invade Buenos Aires, paralleling historical fiascos with unfulfilled character development and a disappointing ending.
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Review: Columbia River dangers detailed in ‘World’s Most Dangerous’
The book “World’s Most Dangerous” documents the perilous Columbia River Bar and the courageous pilots navigating its treacherous waters.
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Review: Handling the Great Lakes ore freighters
Nelson “Mickey” Haydamacker shares his memorable experiences as a Great Lakes deck hand in the engaging memoir “Deck Hand.”
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Review: Breaking Ice for Arctic Oil, a Northwest Passage story
The book chronicles the SS Manhattan’s pioneering but economically unsuccessful voyage through the Northwest Passage, highlighting Arctic oil’s impact on shipping.
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Review: Hidden history of Sealab as compelling as NASA’s story
Ben Hellwarth’s “Sealab” uncovers the overlooked history of saturation diving and pioneer George Bond, paralleling its abandonment with the stagnation of American manned space exploration despite early promises.
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Review: History of America’s ‘sea soldiers’ is fascinating
The U.S. Marines, once referred to as “sea soldiers”, form one of the main fighting forces. The First Leathernecks is a hymn to the service’s earliest days. The modern image of the U.S. Marine Corps comes from World War II: young men in green camouflage fatigues storming the beaches of tiny islands in the south…
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Review: Tall ship Lynx gets the love in picture book
The book “America’s Privateer: Lynx and the War of 1812” by J. Dennis Robinson explores the history and construction of the titular ship, emphasizing privateering’s unique role in maritime education and heritage.
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Review: Julian Stockwin’s ‘Conquest’ takes the reader to colonial Africa
Julian Stockwin’s ‘Conquest’, another in the Thomas Kydd series, takes on Great Britain’s role in the struggle by European countries to control Africa. Dramatic retellings of the struggle between Great Britain and France under Napoleon often end with Nelson’s victory at Trafalgar, as if everything naval in the Napoleonic Wars that happened after the great…
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Review: Tillamook Passage gives a rare indigenous view of Oregon coast
Tillamook Passage explores Native American maritime culture through a fictional crewman’s journey during a significant 1788 trading expedition.
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Review: Julian Stockwin’s ‘Victory’ compares well to Patrick O’Brian
Julian Stockwin’s “Victory” offers an engaging introduction to Thomas Kydd’s adventures, though the hero lacks presence during key battle scenes.
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Review: ‘On Stranger Tides’? Yo-No-No!
The Pirates of the Caribbean movie series shows no signs of slowing down, though I wish someone would finally hole the franchise below the waterline. Nothing has done as much to revive the popular interest in the Golden Age of Piracy than Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, which started in 2003 with Pirates of…
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Review: Battleship Yamato was doomed from the beginning
The battleship Yamato, one of the largest warships ever to sail, was obsolete almost from the day it was launched. The bomb and torpedo-carrying airplane signaled its doom.
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2010 Moby Dick review: Yarrr… It blows!
You know a movie like 2010 Moby Dick has a problem when you have to watch the “making of” featurette to understand the story. Ok, maybe I’m being a bit harsh: the new “re-imagining” of the classic Herman Melville novel Moby Dick doesn’t entirely blow. It mostly blows. The premise of the direct-to-DVD release from…
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Review: Titanic 2 is a sea’s worth of schlock
Titanic 2, a silly B movie by The Asylum, parallels 1912’s disaster with a doomed sequel featuring inadequate effects and character development.