Book Review: Isle of Swords, by Wayne Thomas Batson

"Does the legendary Treasure of Constantine lie in unfathomed depths, or was it hidden by a mysterious order of monks on an uncharted island?" (statement on the back cover)

That statement is enough to make anyone (or me, at least) pick up the book and start reading. Or maybe I'm just a pirate-obsessed crazy person. Hmm...
Anyway, Isle of Swords is full of all the stuff young readers like--adventure on the high seas, pirates, swordfighting, lost treasures, engaging characters, and, oh yes, more pirates. ; )
And, for those of you who enjoy those kinds of books, there are also deep Christian themes in the book. Here is the blurb on the back cover:

~ ~ ~

Captain Declan Ross searches for riches that will free him and his headstrong daughter Anne from the piracy business forever. . . .

Captain Bartholomew Thorne, an infamously ruthless pirate, seeks to destroy any who stand in the way of his finding the monks' treasure--especially Captain Ross. . . .

A young lad of about sixteen awakens on an island, alone and brutally injured, with no memory of who he is. Could the rare diamon he clutches be part of the treasure?

Wayne Thomas Batson weaves a spell-binding adventure filled with high-seas drama where battles rage, voices whisper from the tomb, a long-dormant volcano awakens, and a sea creature slithers in the deep as pirates race for hidden treasure.
~ ~ ~
That blurb introduces the main characters, tells you about the plot, and grabs your attention, all in a few paragraphs. Rather good, I say.

Here are some facts about the book in general.
344 pages
Third-person POV (though it switches from person to person every so often)
Published by Thomas Nelson
Has a list of the principal cast, and a helpful guide to the nautical terms used in the book
Link To Isle Of Swords On Amazon
Right, so. As for pros and cons... this book was the kind of book I was absorbed in from start to finish, so I didn't pay much attention to the good and bad points of it--probably because I thought it was all good. But, for the benefit of everybody else, I'll give pros and cons anyway.

~ ~ ~

Pros:
- It's about PIRATES! I mean, come on! Who doesn't like pirates?
- The POV (point of view) switches from character to character, which I love to see.
- The book has got excitement and swashbuckling adventure on nearly every page.

Cons:
- I spotted a few grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the book, but maybe that's just me being nitpicky...

~ ~ ~

Wow. I would have thought there'd be more cons. I guess not. ; ) Proves it's an amazing book, huh?

All of the characters were fun to read about, with unique personalities and backgrounds. My top three characters would probably be:

Captain Declan Ross - A red-bearded Scottish pirate; he's the captain of the William Wallace. He has a daughter named Anne, and is fair to his crew. ~
Cat - A young man who awakens on an island, alone and seriously injured, with no memory. Rescued by the crew of the William Wallace, he searchces for his identity. And, in the second book in the series (Isle of Fire), you find out that he has a dark, troubled past.
~
Jacques St. Pierre - A former French naval officer turned private businessman. He has a penchant for fire and explosives, and is a little (okay, a lot) on the eccentric side.
I like Declan for several reasons, but the main one is that he's Scottish. I'm obsessed with Scotland and Ireland, okay? Don't judge.
As for Cat, I like him because I like anybody with dark, troubled pasts. For some reason, I find them the most interesting.
Jacques St. Pierre...he's just eccentric. Which I like. It makes me laugh.

Anyway. If you're someone who didn't bother reading through this whole post (I STLL know who you are, and I STILL KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE! *evil laugh*), I'll sum it all up.

Isle of Swords is an amazingly-written novel containing high-sea drama, adventure, engaging characters, and...PIRATES! XD
Go to your nearest bookseller or library and check out a copy. Riiiiight now.

Overall, I give Isle of Swords 5 stars.

If you've read this book (before or after I post this review) please comment and let me know what you thought of it!