Title: The Pirates of Darksea

Written by: Catherine Doyle

Cover design by: Manuel Sumberac

Published by: Bloomsbury

The Pirates of Darksea must be one of the best books I’ve read this year. Max Reid’s big brother, Christopher, sends a message in a bottle to the pirate Captain Thomas O’Malley asking if he and Max could go on an adventure with him in the magical realm of Darksea.

Two years later Squawk the Parrot brings an invitation to join them on their pirate ship, The Stolen Sunrise, but Christopher is ill in hospital being treated for cancer. Max decides to go in his brother’s place in the hope he will be able to discover a magical miracle to cure his brother. When he arrives on The Stolen Sunrise, Max discovers Captain Thomas O’Malley has died and his sister Eliza O’Malley is now captain and sent the invitation.

Max befriends the cook’s sister, Ruby and together they embark on an epic quest to save Darksea from being munched by the Dreadmaker and its evil captain Red Fin who is on a mission to get rid of all the stardust in Darksea.

The characters are all well constructed and believable from Max’s motivation for leaving home to Squawk’s hilarious banter. I particularly liked the way the sibling relationship is explored from many different angles such as Ruby’s relationship with her elder brother and how he watches out for her and Max’s desire to save his elder brother taking on a big brother role. But what makes The Pirates of Darksea stand out for me is how all the main characters are being affected by grief and the effect this has on their behaviour. Catherine Doyle cleverly demonstrates how people cope with grief in different ways to how Eliza sleeps a lot and has found it difficult to take on the role of being Captain, to Max’s fear of seeing his brother so ill so is unable to visit him in hospital.

The Darksea world has also been crafted to perfection with the different islands with their magical quirks vividly described. At the launch, I bought another copy of the book as my proof copy did not have the map which for me is a major part of reading the book. Checking where the islands were and the order they were visited so I could work out The Stolen Sunrise’s route added to my enjoyment of the book.

I would highly recommend this book to all KS2 readers who love adventures.

You can read my spotlight on the launch of the proof of Pirates of Darksea here: Spotlight – Pirates of Darksea by Catherine Doyle

Take a look at my write up for the launch of the published book here: Spotlight: The Pirates of Darksea Book Launch