Corsair

by Chris Bunch

Swashbuckling captain Gareth Radnor has taken command of the Steadfast. But the young captain intends more than seeking his fortune. He wants vengeance against the Linyati slavers who murdered his family. Crewed by a motley band of adventurers, his carrack plunges through the salty waves, striking at the Linyati wherever it can.

And then he discovers something more compelling even than The Linyati aren’t human . . .

Genres: Fantasy, Pirates, High Fantasy, Adventure

100 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2012

About the author

Christopher R. "Chris" Bunch was an American science fiction, fantasy and television writer, who wrote and co-wrote about thirty novels.

Born in Fresno, California, he collaborated with Allan Cole on a series of books involving a hero named Sten in a galactic empire. (Cole married Bunch's sister, Kathryn.) He served in Vietnam as a patrol leader. He also wrote for Rolling Stone and was a correspondent for Stars and Stripes. He died in his hometown of Ilwaco, Washington, after a long battle with a lung ailment.

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bunch, Chris. Corsair. 2001. Orbit, 2002.
Chris Bunch was a prolific science fiction novelist and journalist. Corsair seems to have been meant as a series of maritime fantasies, but he died before he finished more than the first volume before his death in 2005. The hero, Gareth Radner, is a young man who dreams of leaving his fishing village and going to sea. When his village is attacked by slavers, his parents are killed, and he goes to live with his uncle who runs a trading company. He soon finds himself at sea working for his uncle, first as a ship’s purser, and ultimately as an independent corsair fighting the slave trade. There are magicians in this world, but they play a secondary role to what is otherwise a straightforward pirate adventure story, more in the tradition of Treasure Island than Horatio Hornblower. Readable. 3.5 stars.

[Errol Bartels · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, solid, but generic. Action-packed, at the expense of interesting characters, prose or plot.

[♥Xeni♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, so this book actually wasn't that bad. I read it pretty quickly (four days, and I really had no time). The action moves forward really fast... at times I was wishing for more filler: more details or descriptions etc.

Otherwise, the characters were pretty interesting. Kind of flat, but that was due to the author trying to pack so much action into the book. (If the book was written with more details, I'm sure it would have surpassed 1000 pages).

The plot was really really really good. Like really good. So much happened, but it didn't seem all that illogical. Even the idea of magic, in this world, didn't bother me. Bunch created a very interesting world, and then filled that in with a very wonderful plot.

I'm not giving more details because I don't want to spoil the story. But just know that I enjoyed this book quite a bit!

[Anne Patkau · Rating 4 out of 5]

ReRd. Pirates, guns on the high seas. Garth Radnor 15, taller than pal Knoll N'b'ry, both thin, plus Thom miss "olive-complected blank-eyed" Linyati Slavers burning out their village.

Sent to his uncle Pol, Gareth spends the next year planning tricks on guards with pals: - big smiling Labala, and pretty Cosyra. Their prank on nasty Lord Quindolphin, sending pigs through his daughter's wedding party, not knowing her nickname was "Piggy", earns them the vicious hatred of the powerful Quindolphin family. The trio flee, find pirates, fortune, jail, king, Slavers, jungle, gold, glory, dungeon again.

Finally Gareth weds high-ranking Cosyra. Knoll dies. Labala becomes strong mage.

[Lali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pirate ships with a dash of magic thrown in? How was I ever not going to like this? Enjoyable, pretty well paced. Spans quite a lot of time and doesn't dwell on anything unimportant; a lot of scenes that comprise a single paragraph, sometimes a single sentence, to do their job and keep things moving. The whole book is a bit like that; the prose is there to do its job and shuffle on. There's no real attempt at beauty or depth in the writing. But that's fine. I'm here for swords, ships, and sorcery, and it delivers that perfectly well. Couple of unexpected surprises in the worldbuilding. A lot of good use of naval warfare tips and tricks. I had fun.

[Debbie is on Storygraph · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't much care for Bunch's writing style. I also had some issues with the plot and it's clicheness at times. The pirate's life was definitely glorified and Gareth seemed to have too many modern sensibilities in a world based off of medieval times. It was a fast read, though. The ending was not satisfying at all since the Linyati slavers were still around and on the brink of war with Gareth's people, and there is no sequel out as of yet, planned as near as I can tell.

[Pierre Armel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had this book on my reading list for ages and did not expect much of it. I was quite pleasantly surprised: it turned out to be an action-packed and fun big pirate adventure with a few interesting twists. Not sure about the inclusion of magic in the world though. It did not feel as really necessary. I was a bit disappointed by the last quarter of the book, from the jungle journey onwards: it lacked the rhythm of the rest of the book. I would recommend it nonetheless.

[Michael Fierce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5.

A page-turner of enjoyable characters, sea voyages, pirates, magic, and good vs. evil.

[Brian Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

After their families had been killed or captured by Slavers, three friends find themselves a-pirating on the high seas.

A decent fantasy novel with some interesting twists, and good characters you find yourself rooting for as they go on their adventures.

[Geoff Spakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhat on the lighter side but still a nice adventurous yarn. Left me wondering what would happen next but sadly I've learned that the author has passed away so we shall never know.

Still a good stand alone read.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read. Mostly entertaining. Ending was completely awful - no closure whatsoever.

[Antonio · Rating 5 out of 5]

A GREAT FANTASY NOVEL.

[Pmhagerty · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok, so I gave up on this one. Took too damn long to get to the point. If I'm close to 100 pages into a 300pg book and it hasn't gotten to the main plot yet, too damn slow. Buh-bye.

[Barry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cliched swashbuckling nautical fantasy. Some exciting parts, some slow parts. Ok read

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books. The action is constant, the conflict develops nicely, and the characters are enjoyable

[x x x · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wandering good story

Chris crosses into very fun territory with a rollicking story. I prefer coming of age storied and this fit the bill.

[Karl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Solid heroic fantasy.