Wizards, pirates, monsters, and gold --- oh my!

With CORSAIR, international best-selling author Chris Bunch departs from his usual sci-fi themes to revive the pirate adventure genre. He also skillfully weaves some real human emotion into this action packed, coming of age tale.

The hero of CORSAIR, Gareth Radnor, has always been something of a dreamer, longing for adventure. His fantasies are stifled, however, by the reality of his situation: Gareth is the son of a poor fisherman in a tiny village of no import. By the time he is a teen-ager, he has gleaned enough from his father's existence to be resigned to a life of fishing and going to the alehouse, sure that he will never even leave his village. And then one terrible day, everything in Gareth's life is torn to shreds.

The Linyati slavers --- scavengers who wreak havoc amongst the defenseless --- have been making forays into Gareth's home country of Ticao, trapping and enslaving any who cross their path. The Ticao nobility are weak, terrified and refuse to do anything to aide the country people. Of course, no one in Gareth's village gave two thoughts to the war. They were so isolated that the villagers assumed the Linyati would not even bother raiding them. Then on that fateful day, returning home from fishing, Gareth is faced with chaos, destruction, and the stench of blood. The Linyati had raided his village and murdered many villagers, his parents among them. Gareth's once playful dreams of adventure become true, and he sets off to The Capital City, seeking vengeance, his uncle, and the start of a new life.    

Gareth cannot help being a teenager, however, and his uncle is not happy with his unruliness. A particularly devious prank leaves Gareth in deep trouble and on the bad side of one of the lords of Ticao. The boy must flee his home for the second time, this time for good, stowing away on a merchant ship. In short order, due to his fishing and sailing experience with his father, Gareth works his way from being a mere deck hand to a purser.

When Gareth discovers he is working for a ship that surreptitiously aids the Linyati slavers, he finally sees a chance for revenge. Gareth enlists his boyhood friends Knoll, Thom, and novice sorcerer Labala to take control of the ship, raise the black flag and sail on to the open sea. And so as commander of the sturdy Steadfast, Gareth carves a reputation as the most noble and assiduous of pirates, with a motley crew of other witty captains, gold-thirsty sailors, and vengeful ex-slaves. Never losing his thirst for Linyati blood, seeking vengeance for the death of his family, Gareth's adventures at sea are only beginning...

Chris Bunch's CORSAIR, a novel full of easy to love protagonists and fast paced writing is a must read for fans of Terry Brooks and J. R. R. Tolkien. Bunch's tireless pace creates a novel so thrill packed it is hard to put down. The action sequences are full of fun and adventure; the anticipation held by the characters is equally felt by the reader. It is definitely a mystical sensation. With CORSAIR, Bunch has opened an exciting world for fantasy novices and created an engrossing world for those more familiar with the genre.

   --- Reviewed by Rachel Anscher

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