The Good:
- Having already played and enjoyed the game set during the late Golden Age of Piracy, it was great to be immersed into Edward Kenway’s world from the very first hilarious sentence (the whole first chapter was so good!). It was interesting to read his back-story in depth and to find out where his character and role as a pirate was established. The game touches on this and while it has been some time since I have played, I don’t think it was as in depth. One thing I noticed about Edward, was his will to do things the ‘right way’. He wanted to make an honest living and carries this through his story. This wasn’t as prominent in the game. His growth from young man into a mature man is obvious, partly from learning from experiences and understanding himself. He’s not ashamed to admit his weaknesses.
- Having the book narrated by Edward Kenway in first person POV was a fun change (as in "Dear reader" form). These types of books don’t seem to appear often and it was done really well. It was both heartbreaking and humorous to be in Edward’s head.
-For those not having played the game or knowing nothing of the series, it still serves as a vivid swashbuckling stand alone tale of a man becoming a pirate, being prompted to chose sides in the long feud between the assassin’s and the templars.
-As in the game, it is interesting how pirates and other figures of legend from history have been tied in, including: Blackbeard, Mary Read, Anne Bonney, Charles Vane, Stephen Bonnet and Woodes Rodgers.
-If you’re a gamer, you’ll probably understand that it is easy to fade in and out of the story: it was good to have these bits reconnected.
-The book was just as lethal in the action as the game.
The (not really that) Bad:
- I kept expecting Edward to spend hours making a huge pile of dead redcoats, running around the oceans sinking ships or destroying forts and leaping through tree branches over and over after a new sea shanty, but it didn’t happen.
- I didn’t feels as drawn into the world though deep descriptions, but this is understandable since Edward was narrating. I’m sure he wouldn’t care too much for describing things he wasn’t interested in or knew little about. He had more important things to do.
Quotes:
“In a world without gold, we might’ve been Heroes!”
“I could have reached him in three quick strides and slipped my blade into his spine before he had the chance to fart.”
4 Stars
Published: 2013
Read: June 2019