Blaggard's Moon part one: a story of pirates, heroes, and faith

This is PART ONE, a review of Blaggard's Moon.

PART TWO will be the first half of an interview with George Bryan Polivka, where he talks about writing Blaggard's Moon. PART THREE will be an interview with Polivka that might interest other authors out there, as Polivka talks about writing in general.

And now...onto the review of Blaggard's Moon!

I became a fan of Bryan Polivka's storytelling when I first reviewed The Legend of the Firefish in 2007. After reading Blaggard's Moon, I was left stirred spiritually and emotionally yet again. The best way I can think to put it is: Brian writes the kind of stories I like, and he writes them beautifully.

There is adventure, daring, heroism, faith, battles, heart-wrenching struggles, and characters so alive and so human, I find myself right there with them, holding my breath in their peril, and jumping for joy at their triumphs.

Blaggard's Moon is a prequel to the Trophy Chase trilogy. The cast of characters is large, and the story is epic. This isn't your typical good guys win in the end type of story. There are tremendous consequences for those characters who choose to do good in the face of evil. I think that is what makes this story so compelling, because just as in real life, the heroes don't always come home alive. Sometimes good men die, and sometimes bad men live. And that is exactly the question Blaggard's Moon presents: will you choose to do evil and live, or to do good and possibly pay the ultimate price?

It's hard for me to think of a con for this book...and since any con I can think up seems kind of trivial, I'm skipping the cons! I guess some authors just hit all the right buttons for you.

I must add this: Polivka's pirates are among the most three-dimensional bad guys I've read in a long while. Though cruel, and murderously wicked, they often surprised me in circumstances where their humanity shows through. Polivka writes his pirates in a way that teeters back and forth between humorous, mirthful buccaneers, to bloody, merciless cutthroats. It's as if he's captured the ideal pirate in every one's imagination and then slammed them together into a motley, jovial bandit living for gold, laughs, and preserving his own hide.

11 comments:

Beth Goddard said...

Looking forward to your interview! If you get a chance, add my name into the participants, too. I've posted over at bethgoddard.blogspot.com

Beth

Anonymous said...

Great review, Brandon. I'm so happy you liked the book. I did too--more than the trilogy even, and I think it's because I thought as you did, that Bryan got the pirates right. They were real people, not the usual caricatures. They found ways to hid from their guilt and distance themselves from their pain. And some of them just plain relished money and power and cruelty. None of them felt ... flimsy.

I look forward to your interview.

Becky

Brandon Barr said...

Hi Beth,
I'll add you on right now!

Rebecca,
Yeah, I was absolutely blown away by this story. The characters were very real and human, but at the same time, there was that element of fantasy throughout. And both the events in the story, and the characters surprised me again and again.

Keanan Brand said...

Great review! And I'm with you on the pirates: full-fleshed characters with distinct personalities.

I think that, in Polivka, I've found another person who raises the bar that much more, demanding more from me as a writer.

Robert Treskillard said...

Brandon,

Great reivew ... I'm not part of the tour this month, but wish I had the time. I'll be part next month with Tuck, though.

You really make me want to read this book. It's a hard thing to get the bad guys right and seem human, so that's really amazing he did that. Especially with pirates.

I'm looking forward to your two interviews.

-Robert

Unknown said...

He tells the black and white and all the various shades of grey in between...and does it well.

Brandon Barr said...

Keanen,
Thanks for stopping by! I couldn't agree more with you.

Hey Robert,
Yeah, when you get some down time, pick this book up. I highly recommend it. Polivka's story is a must read.

Eve :)
Well said, I agree!

Phyllis Wheeler said...

Three-dimensional pirates, well put!

Phyllis Wheeler
The Christian Fantasy Review

Brandon Barr said...

Thanks Phyllis :)

KM Wilsher said...

I was pretty well hooked and then this
" must add this: Polivka's pirates are among the most three-dimensional bad guys I've read in a long while."

Now I am really hooked :)
Great review!

Brandon Barr said...

Hey Gzusfreek,
Yeah, the bad guys continually surprised me...sometimes I felt a certain pirate was just flat out sick and twisted, and then he'd have moments of humanity shine through...unfortunately, his real nature would win out in the end.

The story really had several elements of tragedy, both for good and bad characters.