Susan Creek

Maritime #2

by Douglas Wilson

Sequel to Blackthorn Winter, yet clever enough to stand on its own. Wilson's further venture into historic fiction once again captured the discerning interest of our four boys and will captivate your students, too. Set during the Great Awakening, this story provides inimitable opportunity for proving how godly boys become godly men. Illustrated by Judith Hunt.
Soft 122p

Genres: Fiction, Christian, Historical Fiction, Childrens, Middle Grade, Historical

122 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

I write in order to make the little voices in my head go away. Thus far it hasn't worked.

Reviews

[ValeReads Kyriosity · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite as good as the first one, but still fun. I think it would have been better to keep John a little younger and keep his marriage to Jenny a promise for the future. Kind of like Shasta and Aravis...but without the quarrelling. 😉 But maybe that's just what I've come to expect from the customs of the genre and not a strict necessity. The historical tie-ins were fun, especially the Whitefield angle. I'm guessing the governor was a real historical character, too, but I'm too lazy to look him up, and he's not the sort of fellow I'd consider worth the effort anyway. Besides, it's three a.m., and I want to close my eyes and pretend I might possibly fall asleep before dawn. You'd think three successive nights of NyQuil would have beaten my circadian rhythm into submission, but it laughed at me the fourth night, and has settled into a gloating smirk on this, the fifth night. It's OK. Jesus is King of circadian rhythms, and is only doing some sort of jazzy syncopation with mine. What? You don't expect tangents like this in a book review? You're clearly new around here!

[Katie W · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a fairly decent followup to Blackthorn Winter, although I didn't enjoy it as much. The points made concerning the appropriate times to fight and kill were somewhat in your face, and I'm not sure I entirely liked the "when in doubt, attack" attitude. That being said, the author uses this story to encourage honorable behavior in young men, which is appreciated. I enjoyed the elements of espionage, and the book reminded me of historical details I had quite forgotten.

[Caleb M. Powers]

Could use a couple of good try-fail cycles. Things come too easily to the characters. The foreshadowing with Curtis was nice, though.

[Sean Brothers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read. I liked the story but I do feel like it was a bit rushed. Loved the father and som teaching moments.

[Seth Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun.

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

I genuinely enjoy these boy stories. Great discussion with my son and it's really fun to have a reformed book series for boys.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

All five boys (6-12) boys are enjoying these

[Chandler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great adventure with an evident worldview, and grasp of history. This review applies to all four books in the Maritime series.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun.

[Seth · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

It’s difficult to overstate just how much better this book was than the first. You don’t need to read the first to fully understand this, though the context of the first book does establish the groundwork for this one.

Despite this work being shorter, it didn’t feel rushed or too packed in. It was paced very well and the storyline (including the plot twists and historical tie ins) were top notch. There are some different ways in which I would have laid out the surprises or revealed twists, but they are trivial gripes. This was just a fun story through and through.

This is a definite recommendation for fathers and sons to read together, but daughters could glean just as much. A perfect family-time read. I’m excited to continue the series.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second book in the series I am reading aloud to Aspen and Tommy. This one is set during the era of The First Great Awakening and introduces the preaching of George Whitfield. We enjoyed this one more than Blackthorn Winter and are eagerly waiting for Veritas Press to send us the next two books in the series!

[Peter Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was different from Blackthorn Winter, thought it involves the same family. I enjoyed the weaving of together of the religious and political changes that were taking place at that time. There were several examples of how pride can cause a man to do foolish things.

[Steve Hemmeke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read for youngsters. Mixes history of George Whitefield and other preachers, English and French politics and espionage, when it's right to fight (even kill) and when it is wrong.

Second in a series, but stands alone fine, too.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It is about two people and how they thwart a plan for war. It is a great read for fifth or sixth graders.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

same as the first one