November 7

‘The Coming of the Whirlpool’ (Ship Kings #1) by Andrew McGahan

The coming of the whirlpool“Later, when the greatest mariner of his day and famous around the Four Isles, he was to be known by many names. He was to be called the Last of the Ship Kings, even though he was nothing of the sort. He would be called the Young Admiral and the Scapegoat’s captain. He would be called The Man Who Sailed Off The Edge Of The Earth.

But his real name, the name of his birth, was simply Dow. Dow Amber.”

Does this sound like the kind of protagonist you’d enjoy reading about? The kind of protagonist you would follow until the series comes to its bittersweet end? He certainly did it for me!

Life is dull and boring for Dow Amber in his small town of Yellow Bank, a logging town full of gruff woodcutters.  When Dow becomes a man, at the age of only 13, he was given a jacket, tent, and axe, and sent out for months on end to cut down trees with his father and his logging group. During this trip, Dow finds himself staring at the ocean, and falling in love with it. He instantly loved the ocean, and yearned for it. Dow eventually learns a dark secret, the reason behind his love for the ocean, and goes forth unto the world, to try and see the sea.

I really enjoyed Ship Kings due to its well paced plot which is rolled deep in mystery. Dow himself doesn’t understand what’s going on until he’s been informed. The way that the setting was designed kept me reading this book; Andrew McGahan did an amazing job describing the two towns in which Dow lives. He also detailed the people well and wrote them in an amazing way, all with different personalities that make them interesting as people.

Ship Kings, The Coming of the Whirlpool, took me to a different world with the amazing way that it’s been written. I felt heavily immersed in the setting and it felt as if I was really there, watching the events unfold. I give the book four out of five stars for its stellar writing and well-explored setting.

Cory, Year 9

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Posted November 7, 2013 by marjk in category Adventure stories, Student Reviews

About the Author

Teacher-librarian at Aquinas College, Southport, Gold Coast, Australia

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