Jennifer W. (GeniusJen) reviewed The Castaways: The Curse of the Jolly Stone Trilogy, Book III on + 5322 more book reviews
Reviewed by Grandma Bev for TeensReadToo.com
THE CASTAWAYS is the third book of the trilogy including THE CONVICTS and THE CANNIBALS, and starts off with Tom Tin and his companions adrift at sea. They have escaped the punishment of being sent to Australia as convicts only to find themselves aboard a steamship that is running dangerously low on fuel and with no idea of where they are. They find a ship that is apparently deserted. Fearing that it may be the ghost ship Flying Dutchman, they clamber aboard anyway, perhaps on a course toward certain doom.
Then they locate two men stranded on an iceberg, and take them on board, but when Tom hears them plotting to get rid of him, he is just sure that they are castaways from the very ship they are on, and probably have killed all of the previous crew members.
In a riotous episode, the castaways take Tom and his companions prisoner and prepare to sell them as slaves. Tom and the kids manage to escape that fate and sail to England, where they meet with more adversity and imprisonment.
My only complaint with THE CASTAWAYS is that there are a number of references to episodes that happened in the previous two books, and if you haven't read them, you must use your imagination to get you up to speed on the story line.
A rollicking, fast-moving adventure that melds neatly with the facts of early shipping, pirates, the slave trade, and transporting convicts to Australia. There are characters you will love and a story that keeps you turning the pages to see what happens next, complete with a very satisfying, surprise ending.
THE CASTAWAYS is the third book of the trilogy including THE CONVICTS and THE CANNIBALS, and starts off with Tom Tin and his companions adrift at sea. They have escaped the punishment of being sent to Australia as convicts only to find themselves aboard a steamship that is running dangerously low on fuel and with no idea of where they are. They find a ship that is apparently deserted. Fearing that it may be the ghost ship Flying Dutchman, they clamber aboard anyway, perhaps on a course toward certain doom.
Then they locate two men stranded on an iceberg, and take them on board, but when Tom hears them plotting to get rid of him, he is just sure that they are castaways from the very ship they are on, and probably have killed all of the previous crew members.
In a riotous episode, the castaways take Tom and his companions prisoner and prepare to sell them as slaves. Tom and the kids manage to escape that fate and sail to England, where they meet with more adversity and imprisonment.
My only complaint with THE CASTAWAYS is that there are a number of references to episodes that happened in the previous two books, and if you haven't read them, you must use your imagination to get you up to speed on the story line.
A rollicking, fast-moving adventure that melds neatly with the facts of early shipping, pirates, the slave trade, and transporting convicts to Australia. There are characters you will love and a story that keeps you turning the pages to see what happens next, complete with a very satisfying, surprise ending.
