This is not a bad thing, as I’m always keenly on the look out for the next Patrick O’Brian, and I enjoy a naval battle possibly slightly more than the next person.

Rejected by Perry and wooed by Tangle, Peter has to decide where his loyalty really lies.Īs Speak Its Name’s reviewer most familiar with the Age of Sail, I tend to get all the books which deal with pirates and naval officers in the 17th and 18th Centuries. The story then follows Peter’s slow naturalization into the ways of the Sallee Rovers, and his growing understanding that he’s better off in a culture that allows him to love other men without censure. As they do so, the storm blows the two ships apart, leaving him surrounded by freed slaves who have no desire to voluntarily sail back to the Ajax to be reunited with their captors.Ĭommand of the galley is taken by Isam bin Hamet al-Tangueli (Captain Tangle to his crew) a famous pirate of the Barbary coast, who had been serving as a galley slave following capture by the Spanish. Peter and several of the other British sailors attempt to free the slaves and stop the galley from sinking. The Spanish abandon their vessel, leaving their slaves, chained to the oars, to sink with the ship.

During a storm, the Ajax comes to the rescue of a sinking Spanish galley. Peter makes an enemy of the Captain, who is largely incompetent but doesn’t like people who show they know it.

Both men are given commissions to serve aboard HMS Ajax, taking an Islamic envoy to talks in France. Peter Thorton is in love with fellow lieutenant Perry. Peter Thorton of the 18th century British navy must struggle to come out gay while surviving storms at sea, ship to ship battles, duels, kidnapping, and more in his quest for true love and honor. The Skyler Foxe Mysteries by Haley Walsh.2½ stars 3½ Stars 4 stars 4½ Stars 18th Century 19th Century 1920's 1930's 1940's 1950's 1960's Advent Calendar Age of Sail Alex Beecroft America Charlie Cochrane ebook England Erastes Essential Reads Fiction five stars novella Regency Reviews short stories three stars Victorian Western World War II

The Sallee Rovers by M. Kei