Piratica: Being a Daring Tale of a Singular Girl's Adventure Upon the High Seas

Piratica #1

by Tanith Lee

Young Artemesia, the daughter of a pirate queen, gets more than she bargained for when she escapes from a finishing school and commands her mother's old crew to take to the open seas.

Genres: Fantasy, Pirates, Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Adventure, Fiction, Historical

288 pages, Hardcover

First published February 12, 2004

About the author

Tanith Lee was a British writer of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. She was the author of 77 novels, 14 collections, and almost 300 short stories. She also wrote four radio plays broadcast by the BBC and two scripts for the UK, science fiction, cult television series "Blake's 7."
Before becoming a full time writer, Lee worked as a file clerk, an assistant librarian, a shop assistant, and a waitress.

Her first short story, "Eustace," was published in 1968, and her first novel (for children) The Dragon Hoard was published in 1971.

Her career took off in 1975 with the acceptance by Daw Books USA of her adult fantasy epic The Birthgrave for publication as a mass-market paperback, and Lee has since maintained a prolific output in popular genre writing.

Lee twice won the World Fantasy Award: once in 1983 for best short fiction for “The Gorgon” and again in 1984 for best short fiction for “Elle Est Trois (La Mort).” She has been a Guest of Honour at numerous science fiction and fantasy conventions including the Boskone XVIII in Boston, USA in 1981, the 1984 World Fantasy Convention in Ottawa, Canada, and Orbital 2008 the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon) held in London, England in March 2008. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Master of Horror.

Lee was the daughter of two ballroom dancers, Bernard and Hylda Lee. Despite a persistent rumour, she was not the daughter of the actor Bernard Lee who played "M" in the James Bond series of films of the 1960s.

Tanith Lee married author and artist John Kaiine in 1992.

Reviews

[Raymond Elmo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Storytelling is for fun. That's not what they tell you in English Lit 301. There you endure blither about 'mirroring the human condition', or capturing real life in beige dialogue on dull days, else grandiose calls to craft words into entire worlds. All very nice, if that's what you like. And yet the stone truth remains, unmoved: storytelling is for fun.

"Piratica" is told for fun; to make the reader giggle, make the teller laugh. A serious young schoolgirl is hit on the head, recalls she is a pirate queen, and sets about to gather her crew. Accompanied by a sane fellow who knows perfectly well that real pirates are thieving killers. Probably he also knows that English Lit 301 measures a story by how close it recalls 'Catcher in the Rye'.

Truthfully, I always wanted to hit Holden Cawfield on the head. Not an attitude to please his worshipers in Eng. Lit 301. Therefore, to please the Sophomore Lit professors of the world, we add the following:
"Piratica mirrors the human existential dilemma that within each breast is a soul crying out for liberation from tea and scripture, corset and curfew. In its 'arrrgh, matey' we hear the lonely angst of humanity pretending adventure, romance and liberation from society's chains. For the world of piracy is fraught with fraud, with chance, with the dread risks of tide and time. A pirate is a noble, doomed Ulysses, and his world is larger than ours, louder and more brief.

I think that about does it. I might add, that readers of this book may be tempted to take a blow to the head to find if they are also pirates, or space captains or elven lords. This book makes it look worth it. Beat that, Catcher in the Rye.

[travelmel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book for two reasons: 1) I've been meaning to read something by Tannith Lee 2) I'm addicted to the Bloody Jack series and fear it's drawing to a close.

At first I was dismayed.. she's nothing like Jacky. No fun, no silliness, all seriousness. But it was probably a good thing, really, as the comaparisons in my mind stopped pretty early on.

I'm not much of a plot discusser so I'll say this: The begining was a bit slow but... maybe lots of books are and I should just quit being critical of that. I was also afraid that it was really predictable. I WAS WRONG! Plus, plus, plus points galore.

While you can see the plot unfolding and you are definitely thinking you're on board and so much smarter it still unfolds in ways that, while ultimately piratical and so therefore slightly predictable (hello, it's a pirate story), are totally enjoyable and not at all boring or common.

I was so happy with the writing style, the characters (some of the crew were never fleshed out very well but not in a bothersome way), and the story gripped my attention and didn't let go 1/4 of the way through. While it's not hugely action packed, it was a great storyline. While I love campy, silly, and unrealistic and loathe over angsty and too serious, this book fell right in the middle. I felt like people who analyze things would feel they were being fed something worth eating and people who like fun and hate overthinking would be thoroughly entertained. Which, in my book, is a really great place to be. FIVE STARS!

P.S. I just realized there are three other books in this series. I'm not sure any sequel could be as interestingly unfoldede but I'm a sucker for hanging around with characters I love.

P.S. I AM SO IRRITATED ... I was reading other reviews and the second one down has a huge end of the book spoiler in the first lines of the review!!! How do you report these people???????????

[Lynette · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lately it seems half the books I read were written by fourth graders. I love L.A.Meyer's Bloody Jack series; I was hoping Piratica would be similar. But there is absolutely nothing well-done about this book, from the writing to the plot to the characters, everything is mediocre.

The writing is awful. Commas are apparently unnecessary. Sometimes I had to read a sentence three or four times because it was gobbledy-gook until I filled in my own commas. Take this, for example: "Out of which the bald cliff raised itself." Hello - that is NOT a sentence, yet there are fragments like that on every page, and I'm not even joking. Who on earth edited this?

And the purple prose, like, "The stars undid their doors." What exactly is that?

I couldn't have cared less for the characters. The heroine is unremarkable. She doesn't actually DO anything. I don't remember who the crew are; they all blend together. Oh, there's a black guy and some gay guys. That other pirate girl whose name I can't remember is not even threatening. No one has any real motivation for anything; Felix comes out and tells us his, but it's pretty weak. Everything else is just, "now we're going to do this thing. Now we're going to do THAT thing. Why? I dunno, it sounds good."
It's like I've just been plunked down into the middle of the story, and I have to assume all of these characters have already been developed, but they haven't been.

The story is completely implausible; not in a fun way, but in an extremely distracting way. If these pirates really are just actors, there is NO WAY they could sail that ship, especially through massive storms. And there's only 11 of them? WTF? And they're going to find this mysterious island that no one else can find?

As far as the "parallel world" bit, there is no reason for it. It's barely different from the "real" world - I think Lee just wanted to make up a few names here and there. Because really, that's it. England is England, but Madagascar is Mad Agash Scar. Oh, and they drink coffee instead of rum.

And, for a book that lacks in anything interesting, the drama is overwhelming at times. "Will we never look at land again?" someone moans after half a page's worth of sailing. There is no meat to this, just telling us this happens, then telling us that happens. The author doesn't let you EXPERIENCE it. Let me feel their despair - don't tell me after three paragraphs how hopeless they are. And Art figures things out way too quickly, without even thinking. It's ridiculous. The way she figures out the puzzle doesn't even make sense. If the birds say their part on cue, then it would have made more sense if Plunkqwette only said "beach by cobhouse" when someone said "fifteen". Grrr. Also, if you compiled everything concerning her arch enemy, it might, MIGHT take up ten pages.

Honestly, it reminds me of the kinds of stories I wrote in 8th grade, when I thought I was being all deep. (I'm certainly not saying I could do better, but then again, I'm not a professional writer.) Except that even back then, I had a better grasp on basic grammar than Lee. It's all too much: the sickeningly flowery prose that doesn't really mean anything, jumping from one thing to another with no development, one-dimensional characters. It is seriously painful to read.

Plus, this whole device of using parentheses (but she remembered this - or did she?) is ridiculous. Even when our questions are answered, it seems completely implausible.

I would stop reading right now, but I just need to figure out WTF the real story of Art's past is. I don't really care, except that the hints are driving me bonkers.

I can't believe people put this in the same league as L.A. Meyer. His writing is far superior to Lee's in every way. They aren't even comparable. If you enjoy it, fine. I don't understand why, but you're entitled to your opinion. But comparing Lee to Meyer is like comparing Stephanie Meyer to J.K. Rowling: only one of them has a firm understanding of how to move a story along, and how to develop characters. I just want this book to be over.

Finally finished - this was just terrible. The love story was so forced, and out of the blue. I don't understand how this author has won awards for other books. I waffled between one and two stars, and finally decided to give it one because it was just that bad. I will never attempt to read anything by this author again.

Updated 7/31/13: I had completely forgotten I'd read this book. I didn't even remember the things that were in my review. That's how terrible I thought this book was.

[Althea Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really excited when this book came out. I fully expected to totally love it - Lee is one of my favorite authors, so.. Lee and pirates? How could it go wrong?
I'm not quite sure, but somehow it does.
Set in a 'slightly parallel world' in 1802 (which basically means that place names are spelled wrong: the river Thamis flows through Lundun, for example), 'Piratica' gives us a young woman named Artemisia, who, while studying deportment at her girls' school, falls and hits her head. After this blow, Artemisia experiences a rush of memory that convinces her that before her father locked her away in the school, she was a pirate, sailing the seven seas with her captain mother, Piratica. Inspired, she runs away from school and finds her mother's old compatriots - who turn out to be members of an acting company who had put on a successful play about pirates.
Undaunted, Artemisia, taking the name Art Blastside, convinces the actors to steal a ship, and embark on an adventure in search of treasure - which, unfortunately, is already being sought by some 'real' pirates.

Lee usually excels at creating a dreamlike atmosphere in her work, but in this book, the events are more absurdist than dreamlike. It's obviously not supposed to be realistic - but somehow I wanted the narrative to have more internal logic than it did. Maybe it was just my mood.
I was also just rather annoyed by the issue of "Is Artemisia crazy or not...?" It was sort of like I kept wanting the book to just settle down into being the silly adventure romp for teenagers that it's being marketed as - but these quirks and kinks kept coming up distractingly. Which sound like it might be interesting - but I didn't find it so.

[Κωνσταντίνος Τσουρέκης · Rating 5 out of 5]

Το βιβλίο αυτό το ξεκίνησα στις διακοπές το καλοκαίρι και άργησα να το τελειώσω γιατί το ξέχασα στο εξοχικό πράγμα που το μετάνιωσα. Όταν ξαναέπεσε στα χέρια μου, συνειδητοποίησα για μια ακόμα φορά πως η Tanith Lee καταφέρνει με το προσωπικό της ύφος να με γοητεύει. Η Πειράτικα είναι ένα από τα παιδικά βιβλία της το οποίο είναι ευφυές. Η ιδέα του όρου πειρατής ξεπερνά το κλισέ και ζωντανεύει ξανά με διαφορετική οπτική γωνία στο μυαλό του αναγνώστη. Αξίες όπως η πίστη, η δικαιοσύνη, η αφοσίωση είναι αυτές που δεν συναντά κανείς σε πειρατικά μυθιστορήματα. Γιατί; Η συγγραφεάς περνά τα μηνύματα αυτών των αξιών με τον καλύτερο τρόπο, κάνοντας σε να ερωτευθείς την ηρωίδα όχι μόνο για τις πράξεις και τα λόγια της, αλλά για την αληθοφάνειά της. Ο σωστός πειρατής και στην ιστορία δεν ήταν αυτός που έκανε κατεργαριές και σκότωνε. Ο σωστός πειρατής είναι αυτός που πιστεύει στις παραπάνω αξίες, άσχετα αν η αγγλική δικαιοσύνη όπως χαρακτηριστικά αναφέρει η Tanith Lee δεν είναι και τόσο δίκαιη. Ειρωνεύτηκε με τον καλύτερο τρόπο αυτό που ξέρει καλά να κάνει. Τα δήθεν και τα φτιαχτά που έχουν περάσει στην ιστορία ως δεδομένα για αυτούς τους ανθρώπους των θαλασσών. Η Γκόλντι και η Αρτ Μπουρλοτιέρη χαρακτηριστικά παραδείγματα αυτής της αντίθεσης του ψέμματος και της αλήθειας. Πάμε για το Πειράτικα 2 πρόσω ολοταχώς!

[Hack · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book was really cute. it started out a bit slow, but sped up fairly quickly. i thought the main character was a bit crazy at first, but she seemed to become more real as i read more. the only part i didn't like was the continuing references to a certain play. every action in the book was compared to this play, which after a while made me want to shake the next person to make the comparison. however, in the end, the references had a reason for being in the book. overall, it was a good read (and i loved the action scenes).

[Tara Chevrestt · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just not for me. I thought it was YA and checked it from the library, but it's geared more towards ten year olds. The pirates are silly and hang out in a coffee house and drink coffee rather than rum. Kinda strange. But if I was ten, I would probably love it I'm not ten though and not in the mood for coffee drinking pirates. I didn't finish.

[Andria Potter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bloody Jack meets Pirates of the Caribbean! This was not my favorite pirate story though it was entertaining and enjoyable. I doubt I'll continue the series as I much preferred Bloody Jack. Well written and with likeable characters, I recommend this for all pirate fans.

[Lady Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have probably read this book at least a half dozen times and every time I start out by asking myself why I'm reading it; I hate the writing style. But everytime I get past the first few chapters and am so enthralled with the plot and the humour that I forget about it and enjoy the book to no end. Tanith Lee is a master at wit and humour (despite the writing style that can be grating at times). This book is highly enjoyable and I highly recommend it.

Art, at the age of sixteen, is emprisoned in a girls' boarding school. But she doesn't realize it, that is until an untimely fall brings memories of her former life flooding back. Art remembers the high seas, ships, pirates, and most of all her mother, Molly Faith - also known as Piratica. Sooner than you could blink she's escaped and rounded up the old gang (who have become walking advertisements for Pirate's Coffee). She forces them back into what she thinks is the old life. It hits her like a sack of bricks when she's forced to realize that the life she thought she remembered what really all a stage play with her mother in the lead role.

Despite that Art sets off to make her fortune Molly-style (pirating without killing or unduly hurting anyone). Enter Felix Phoenix, a young man with white hair and hauntingly blue eyes. Also mistaken time-and-again for the infamous Cuckoo Jack. On the run from the law, he unwillingly joins Art crew. He stays on for his own reasons, and unwillingly finds himself falling in love with Art. Art unwillingly returns the feelings.

So begins an adventure on the high seas filled with romance, treasure, some actors turned pirates, and Muck, the cleanest dog in England!

[Heidi · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing was not my cup of tea.

[Milliebot · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review and others posted over at my blog.

Tanith has created a semi-Victorian (Regency? I don’t know time periods, sorry!) world in the year of Seventeen-Twelvety (how awesome is that?!) which somewhat resembles the actual year of 1802. This world primarily differs from our own in how the countries are laid out and there’s a handy map in the front that I actually referenced for once. But because this is Tanith and I am a flappy-handed fangirl for everything she’s written (ugh except Greyglass -tosses if off a cliff-) I felt there was something subtle about her world that differed from an actual historic period. I can’t explain this further and likely I am crazy.

Art is fantastic. She’s bold and witty and smart and super talented at being a pirate, despite not having been one for the past six years. She could potentially suffer from special snowflake syndrome, but she doesn’t because she has to work to win over her crew and she doesn’t have the shining, sapphire eyes and porcelain doll-like features of your usual heroine. And oh, the sun doesn’t shine out of her ass. Anyway! She’s a great lead, but her crew is small enough that most of them actually (I think I’m saying this word too much in this review, but I’m too lazy to change it) feel different and developed, where they could easily have fallen to the wayside (portside?)

There’s a lot to the plot that I can’t talk about or I’ll spoil the fun, but from the moment Art rediscovers her crew and takes on her new life as a pirate, I had this underlying sense of something more. I knew something else was up and it was a nice feeling, knowing that the plot had another element that wasn’t being revealed, even though the plot was acting like everything had been revealed.

Look, I have a hard time analyzing Tanith’s work because I am super biased. But I can say, if you’re looking for a witty, semi-middle-grade-semi-teen pirate adventure with swashbuckling, a fantastically charming ragtag group of pirates, talented parrot and dog companions, a strong female lead and totally hawt boi, but no love triangles and no breaths being held unbeknownst to the holder, then Piratica may be just what you’re looking for! I can’t wait to read the other two books!

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun, atmospheric read, but certain plot and character elements got old fast.

I should start this review out by saying I've been a diehard Bloody Jacky Faber fan since I was a tween, and while this book gave me a similar feeling, it's ultimately not as strong. If you're looking at this book, I would suggest that series instead as it has more depth and nuance.

Anyway, I'll get into what didn't work for me and then end on a higher note. Our main villain is really, truly annoying. Not in a good villain way, she's just flippant and vain and inexplicably uses words like groovy and cool, even though this is supposed to be a parallel world that is very similar to the early 1700s, and there aren't many other anachronisms in the whole story. I wanted to skip every scene she was in because she was so surface level and uninteresting.

I also got tired of really having to suspend my disbelief. So many scenarios and character interactions are painfully ridiculous, and this is probably because this novel should really be classified as an elementary read, not YA. I think I would have really loved this when I was about 10, but it all gets to be a little too contrived.

Now for the good. I really loved the way Lee describes the sea and the mysticism surrounding it. Using the parallel almost-our-world-but-not conceit really worked well for this, and when the crew is on their adventure and finding new and weird things at sea you definitely get the Pirates of the Caribbean vibes lots of other reviewers mention.

As a whole Piratica is fine if an elementary reader wants a pirate story, but if you're older and want an easy pirate read I think there are better, more YA-leaning options out there.

[Olliver Sand · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extremt platt och B story till en början, tog extremt långt tid att ta sig genom första halvan men de sista 80-ish sidorna så kom boken verkligen igång. Tyvärr så har författaren tagit riktiga platser och gjort om namnet lite (London heter Lundon t.ex) för att det ska vara en "fantasy värld". Tycker att det vore bättre om hon bara hade kommit på nya namn och platser eller att hon faktiskt använde riktiga platser.

[Aiden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitley awe-inspiring

[B Malley]

Man, forgot how much I love this book (and how much I imprinted on it - it imprinted on me? - as a kid)

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good clean fun.

[Pat Cummings · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book to put into my Little Free Library, but wondered where it might fit on the range of age-appropriateness—especially because I intended to loan it first to a neighbor teen. The best way to determine this, of course, was to read it myself.

Surprise! It's a great book, and despite the story line, has little gore, with zero vulgarity and profanity. (Unless you're worried about exclamations like "Great shells!" or "Upon my father's coat!")

The cross-dressing teenage girl Artemisia (Art), who sets out to convert her crew of actors into real pirates, is a genuine sweetheart. The acting troupe she carries along in her wake are truly interesting characters themselves, and the young artist she robs at their first encounter, then later kidnaps to the West (or "Blue") Indies and carries onward to the Southern Indian Ocean's "Treasured Isle" (which may be Île Saint-Paul in our world), is an honestly intriguing figure who refuses to fall into the "true love" trope of any ordinary pirate romance.

The setting is global, but it is not the globe we live on. In Art's world, 1820's "Lundon" is the capital of Free Republican England (which ousted its monarch quite a while ago, erasing all hereditary titles and freeing slaves in all its colonies at the same time). The islands of the "Blue" Indies are still pirates' havens. The ocean south of the east "Africayan" coastal island "Mad-Agash Scar" is named "Capricorn Sea." Even the calendar is different; by Art's reckoning, the year in which the story's events occur is "Seventeen-Twelfty."

Some things stay the same, though. As in 1820, in the "Seventeen-Twelfty's," the same once-hereditary elites mostly remain in power, though with different titles. People are free to starve or freeze to death, though no one we meet does so. And a young woman who has the audacity to wear men's clothing and successfully captain a ship is a criminal because of that, regardless of the theft of ships and booty. It's there, though soft-peddled. For a younger reader than I am, I suspect these disturbing ideas will vanish into the tension of the tale.

I would recommend this seriously twisted plot for the reading pleasure of any advanced middle-school reader or young adult of my aquaintance, and many an adult as well. It will appeal to both girls and boys for its story; adults can enjoy the extra layer of twisted geography and history.

Outstanding!

[Trishelle Lin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this was a really fun book. A lot of sword fighting, and treasure seeking. I really thought it was great that the main character would not kill anyone even though she was a pirate.

However at the end of the book, Art Blastside is about to be hanged when Felix, the guy she loves, jumps up on the gallows, and stops the hanging with a magnificent speech, and Art, or Piratica as she is called by all her many fans, is spared!
Felix uses the excuse that Piratica never hurt anyone, she may have stolen a ship, and a few other things, but she had never really killed anyone!
She even let those she stole from keep any positions that might have some sentimental value to her victim.

This bothered me. Now I don't think anyone should be killed no matter what they do, they should be punished, but never killed. God gave them life, and it is not any ones place to take it away.

Anyway, even though Art did not kill anyone she still did a lot of harm. The owner of the ship she stole was probably hurting his finatial loss, and stealing is still a crime. I think Art should have been punished for what she did at least, and then have been repentant of what she had done.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this slow going at first, though it really picked up in the second half, once the heroine encounters her nemesis and really sets off on her quest. If the whole book had been as good as the second half, I'd have easily given it four stars.

Something that bothered me a tad is the way the book tries to deal with the ethics of piracy. The book is very careful to make the heroine and her crew nice pirates - they never actually kill anyone, and somehow they only seem to rob unpleasant people who can afford the losses. Which, of course, allows us to have a rousing pirate adventure without having to feel bad about it, but it doesn't always quite seem plausible, especially when Lee presents us with another character in the book whose family fortunes were destroyed by pirates. Still, if you can get past those difficulties with the premise, the book does offer a rousing and inventive adventure story.

[Netanella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tanith Lee does pirates! I loved it - amnesiac Artemesia who wakes up in a girls' finishing school to discover she's really the daughter of a pirate queen, and goes off to find her crew! Art Blastside, as she calls herself, is full of pirate-itude and swagger, and quickly whips her actor crew into shape and steals a ship, complete with pretty boy hostage. Ah, Tanith Lee, I'm so glad you do pirate stories as well as you do most things. Very recommended, particulary if you enjoy pirate tales.

[Celise · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the time that I read this, it was one of my favourite books. I loved the idea of a young girl rebelling against the house for charming young ladies and running off to form a crew of "pirates" aboard an old coffee trade ship. This is a hilarious story that was a good second place after watching Pirates of the Caribbean.

[Branwen Sedai *of the Brown Ajah* · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really really enjoyed this book. This is a fun-filled, action adventure story about a young girl who is very strong spirited; enough so that she becomes Capt. of a pirate crew (sort of) and becomes the most notorious and well loved Pirate Queens! If you're looking for a fun book about pirates, then look no further!

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is cooler than a non-violent,terribly cunning, utterly devious, sixteen-year-old Pirate Queen? And who in their right mind wouldn't want to read about her? This book rocks. If I were flying a flag, it would totally be a pink skull-and-crossbones (pink for a girl).

[Janelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first of Tanith Lee's books I have read and it proved to be most enjoyable. She has a poetic style that may not be easily read by some young readers, but those who can adapt to her style will enjoy a novel with a memorable plot and characters.

[Lizzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I totally loved this book! It's one of my favorites! It's one of those adventure/romance books! Just my kind of book!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rebekah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious! I love the idea of the Pirate Coffee ship!

[Vicktor Chief · Rating 5 out of 5]

A philosophical and spiritual enlightenment, a joy to read simple but deep meaning poetry.
Beautiful illustrations that draw you in at another level.

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides]

Looks interesting and amusing, but not the sort of thing I'm in the mood for right now.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't make it very far with this book - liked the premise, but the writing felt very much like someone trying way too hard to please the professor in Creative Writing 101.

[carrietracy]

The writing in this was too bad for me to continue. I returned it to the library with great relief.