June 2, 2023
Genre:
Historical Fiction
Series:
The New World Nautical Saga Book 1
Length:
246 pages
Book description (goodreads):
The world is Drake’s oyster…
England, 1554
Fifteen-year-old Francis Drake is realising his dream of sailing on the open seas. After training with his cousins William and John Hawkins in their naval business, he takes his first commission upon the Bonaventure.
But when disaster strikes the ship and Francis saves the men with his quick-thinking, he makes an enemy of the captain, who threatens to charge Francis with mutiny.
Francis must seek a new path to make his fortune and he joins with the Hawkins brothers to search for glory in foreign lands.
But trading on the world stage is already being dominated by Spanish and Portuguese explorers and so Francis must act quickly if he wishes to make his mark.
And as one Tudor queen makes way for another, and Spanish relations grow ever tenser, Francis Drake may soon be needed to help save his country from the threat of war...
England, 1554
Fifteen-year-old Francis Drake is realising his dream of sailing on the open seas. After training with his cousins William and John Hawkins in their naval business, he takes his first commission upon the Bonaventure.
But when disaster strikes the ship and Francis saves the men with his quick-thinking, he makes an enemy of the captain, who threatens to charge Francis with mutiny.
Francis must seek a new path to make his fortune and he joins with the Hawkins brothers to search for glory in foreign lands.
But trading on the world stage is already being dominated by Spanish and Portuguese explorers and so Francis must act quickly if he wishes to make his mark.
And as one Tudor queen makes way for another, and Spanish relations grow ever tenser, Francis Drake may soon be needed to help save his country from the threat of war...
My Thoughts:
I have read most of Field's Medieval series and was not interested in this one at first. So glad I changed my mind because I absolutely loved this book and can't wait to read the next two in the three part series.
Francis Drake is such a fascinating person and even though I know some of the story was crafted by the author, the basic facts as to how he rose through the ranks to defeat the Spanish Armada are solid. The love story between him and his wife Mary seemed plausible and her needing him to validate her as a wife and being distraught at how long he'd be away on his voyages felt very realistic.
I loved the way he was portrayed as having a sense of humor about life too and wondered if this were something the author felt he had to add because it was something written in historical documents. His interactions with his cousins, Queen Elizabeth, and his crew members made the history come alive. I actually found myself wanting more detail as to how he handled his work life during the times he wasn't at sea.
Not needing or wanting books with detailed accounts of battles, this one was again a great balance of recreating the voyages to the West Indies and Americas, the navigating of the later named Drake's Passage, and the fateful day defeating Spain's formidable navy without so much detail one gets bored. Field's books don't feel like military books but they include enough to do justice to the important parts you have to learn.
I will definitely be continuing with this series and all of his books. This is the way to learn history!
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