Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Piratica #2

Return to Parrot Island

Rate this book
Art Blastside ought to be happy. She has escaped the hangman's noose, become a national celebrity, and married her true love. But life ashore is far too dull for a pirate queen.

So Art jumps at the chance to go back to sea. England is at war with the French, and the government wants Piratica and her crew to harass the enemy. But Art's legendary luck may be running out. Her chief rival, Little Goldie Girl, has sworn revenge. Powerful storms are brewing in the Atlantic. A deadly ship with a vendetta against all pirates is haunting the coasts. And Art is sailing straight into the most colossal naval battle ever fought.

Full of madcap action and limitless imagination, this dramatic sequel to Piratica is a captivating blend of adventure and romance.

320 pages, Hardcover

First published October 19, 2006

11 people are currently reading
522 people want to read

About the author

Tanith Lee

615 books1,969 followers
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.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
131 (17%)
4 stars
225 (29%)
3 stars
286 (38%)
2 stars
99 (13%)
1 star
11 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
Profile Image for Amy.
3,051 reviews620 followers
February 18, 2011
Art Blastside is back indeed!! But life isn't quite what she expected. Married to her beloved, she is the adored celebrity of free England, possessor of a fine mansion and stunning possessions...and bored out of her brains.
When the government asks her to return to the sea, this time as a "legal" pirate (privateer), she jumps at the chance. The ole' crew is rounded up...and off they go!
But Piratica is not the only one to take to the sea, Little Goldie Girl is back with a vengeance and new faces appear, as a mysterious widow woman from legends takes to haunting the seas....or perhaps she always has?
Finally, France and England gear up for the largest sea-battle in their history....

I have to say, I was rather disappointed with this book. I loved the first one, simply entitled Piratica, and hoped the sequel would prove as excellent. There is something about pirates that strike the imagination, hint at adventure and mystery and excitement. Unfortunately, this book just doesn't seem to live up to it.
Once I gave up trying to understand how the argument first began between Art and her spouse, I enjoyed the beginning. The lover's quarrel made an interesting opportunity for character development, and there were several suitably startling and interesting plot hints...
But I felt like it didn't really live up to any of them. I won't make this a spoiler, but once I hit the middle of the book I felt like slugging someone. It was so... random . And not very well done. Maybe setting up for a third book? It didn't sink my interest, though. I got irritated with every character but Felix. Even, and especially Art! None of her issues were really resolved. And good heavens, she had plenty of them! The ending perked the book up from what was a threatening one star to two, but I found the battle scene confusing and the ending difficult. If there *is* a third book coming out, I might read it for the sake of the first one. The second book, though, was rather a disappointment.
Profile Image for Taylor.
193 reviews12 followers
September 8, 2007
A fun follow up to the first one. The girls are a little older now. I love Tanith Lee's writing style. She uses parentheses in text to give ideas, alternates, and elucidations in the most charming way. I wish I could explain it better, but I don't feel I can do it justice.

I will be reading these aloud to my kid(s) as soon as interest is shown.
Profile Image for Rachel.
189 reviews
December 2, 2011
Returned unfinished. Blah blah blah. Fan-fic-o-rama. Fortunately, I have the luminous Housekeeping to attend to instead.
Profile Image for Rolly.
Author 5 books280 followers
December 13, 2019
Tengo sentimientos encontrados con esta novela, pero en general sí que me ha gustado. Tal vez, la duda que tengo reside en el hecho de que la segunda parte no solo se centra en Art y su tripulación, sino que va mucho más allá, lo cuál no deja de tener su parte positiva, porque hay mucho más contenido de barcos y de navegación.

Me encanta todos los referentes históricos reales que tiene decorados de ficción.
Profile Image for Marina.
72 reviews
October 9, 2016
Ştiţi momentul ăla în care îţi place atât de mult o carte pe care vrei să o termini, dar nu poţi pentru că profesorii îţi dau 100 de exerciţii de făcut pentru acasă? Exact asta mi s-a întâmplat şi mie, dar, din fericire şi într-un sfârşit, am reuşit să o termin. Ca să fiu sinceră, mai bine nu o făceam...
Începutul cărţii ne prezintă viaţa pe care Art o are cu soţul ei, Felix Phoenix pentru că da, a reuşit să scape de la a fi spânzurată. Şi asta doar cu ajutorul lui Felix, cu care s-a şi căsătorit. Revenind: începutul o are în prim-plan atât pe Art, cât şi echipajul acesteia de pe corabia ei "Străina Nepoftită". Relaţia dintre Art şi Felix nu este atât de fericită pe cât aş fi presupus eu şi toţi ceilalţi fani ai acestei serii. Cu toate că cei doi nu se înţeleg atât de bine, în momentul în care Art este invitată să facă parte din flota englezească pentru a pleca la război şi aceasta acceptă şi cu toate că Felix nici nu vrea să se gândească să o lase pe Art să plece, atât Felix, cât şi Art pleacă pe mare. Momentan, în aceeaşi corabie.
Pe parcursul cărţii, lucrurile devin precipitate între cei doi, motiv pentru care Felix decide că e timpul să iasă din peisaj, alături de o altă fată. Felix pleacă, iar Art încearcă să treacă peste acel moment, afundându-se în munca ei de pirat.
În continuare, autoarea povesteşte despre cum Felix reuşeşte să ajungă la bordul corabiei Micuţei Aurii, duşmanul de moarte al lui Art şi despre cum Art şi echipajul său, având corabia zdrobită, ajung pe o insulă, unde Ebad, cel mai apropiat om din echipajul lui Art de ea, este recunoscut ca fiind regele Pământului Negru, motiv pentru care oamenii care l-au recunoscut, i-au luat cu ei, instalându-i pe toţi într-un palat. Nedorindu-şi să mai stea acolo, Art împreună cu echipajul ei vor să plece, astfel că Ebad le face rost de o corabie, numită "Crin Hapciu".
După momentul în care "Crin Hapciu" pleacă de pe Pământul Negru, totul se schimbă: Art intră în lupta independenţei Angliei, iar Felix este convins de faptul că soţia lui este moartă.
Atunci când corabia lui Mary, "Văduva", apare de nicăieri, Micuţa Aurie habar nu are ce să facă. Mary i-l cere pe Felix, iar aceasta i-l dă. Mai târziu, Mary îl va da pe Felix unei corăbii numite "Triumfătorul".
Sfârşitul cărţii ne arată bătălia dintre flota englezească şi cea franco-spaniolă, triumful englezilor, cât şi reunirea dintre cei doi îndrăgostiţi (sau oare, sunt doar doi? :D).
Am spus că mai bine nu terminam cartea, pentru că, în cadrul echipajului lui Art, s-a produs o plecare în altă lume a unuia dintre membrii echipajului.
În total, cartea a fost extrem de frumoasă, chiar dacă am stat aproape o lună pentru a o termina...
Profile Image for Milliebot.
810 reviews22 followers
April 12, 2017
Sequels are always hard to talk about, but I’m going to do my best to avoid a lot of plot points.

I was excited for more Art and Felix…and Ebad and Honest…and Dirk and Whuskery (they are the bro-est of bros and possibly romantically involved, or at least easy to imagine that way, which is wonderful) and of course Plunqwette and Muck. The new crew members were too numerous and oddly-named for me to really absorb any of them, so at times it was hard to picture what was going on when new faces were involved. There’s also another female pirate, Mr. (Belladora) Bell, who adds a little tension between newly married Art and Phoenix. Goldie Girl is back as a low-key villain as well, and we meet a new face, Mary Hell.

The drama in this book mainly revolves around Art and Felix realizing they have different visions for their lives together and Art’s desperation to return to sea upsets Felix, especially because she’s involved herself in a war where casualties are inevitable. The couple also seems to have a lot of moments where they don’t understand each other, or really even stop and try to, and I think this added some realism to their relationship. Despite spending the first book together, they didn’t get to know all that much about each other and it makes sense that they might now question if they really are a good match.

Art is less of a wunderkind this time around – she’s unsure of herself and her judgments and she finds herself making mistakes. She thought she could avoid the war and somehow get back to the crew’s old adventures, but instead, finds herself in situations where she might have to break her rule about never taking a life or sinking another ship. Again, I think this gives Art more depth.

We get more perspectives in this book too, aside from just Art. Of course, there’s Felix again, but we get a look at what’s going on with the English naval officers, Parliament (which is actually called the House of Talking or something similar, lol) and even Muck!

I also want to add that the English naval ship names had me laughing. Here are some standout examples (playing on the idea that something happened when the captains, or whoever, were christening their ships, interrupting true names): Lily Achoo, Is That A Wasp, Ow Blast, I Knew I Shouldn’t Have Had That Last Sausage. Is That A Wasp gets me laughing the most because I can picture myself going to name a ship and then suddenly noticing a nearby bug. The end battle was a bit hard to follow because so many ships were involved and I really only cared about Art’s.

This is a solid sequel and if you enjoyed the first book, I recommend you keep reading.
Profile Image for Kai C.
492 reviews24 followers
August 7, 2011
I feel like the author could have done a little bit better with the writing and the shift between charters on the second book. I really loved the first one for the main character Art but the sequel was a bit of a disappointment. Art in this one was just not as strong and more so a wimp. I feel that maybe the author wanted us to realize the Art has feeling and isn't just some tough chick. That the author wanted a more realistic situation at hand. That Art's code and lifestyle was really not something that could exist at war. But it was disappointing because in the first book i felt like Art could really be a wicked fox and accomplish anything. It was much harder to get over, especially seeing how the other strong female character Goldie had as crumpled in to a pathetic state. Also i really do not understand how this book came be called the return to Parrot Island when in fact a lot of the book takes place at sea and few parts on land. In truth I think there was no one who return to the island. This book was more so about the war between Great Brittan and the French/Spanish. the battle scene might have been good but like i said Art wasn't acting clever or brave or anything like the first book, really all she was a quiter. *SPOILER*****---------------------What is up with her having to be pregnant? I think that was a little to soon and i think if her carrying a child was what made her all wimpy is a VERY LARGE LAME excuse! i will read the third but i hope it wont be as disappointing as this.Piratica II: Return to Parrot Island gets a 3 out of 5 stars.
Profile Image for Lady Knight.
838 reviews44 followers
June 26, 2010
Art Blastside is back and this time the tables are turned. Art and Felix have gotten married and live in a huge mansion granted them by one of Felix's father's former friends. Art is miserable and longs for the sea, so when offered the chance to become legal pirates (privateers - only preying on Franco-Spanish ships) she takes it - despite Felix's protests. So she and her crew reboard the Unwelcome Stranger along with some additions.

Felix and Art do nothing but fight and it eventually leads to his stalking out and telling her it's over. Art is miserable but determined to forget him. That is until she learns she's pregnant, then it takes everything she has just to keep herself and the baby alive.

In between the fights between Art and Felix, the war rages on; The Widow is also on the prowl for pirates to kill. Goldie is still around as are some members we thought lost forever. Ebad becomes a king, and a million other things happen.

Overall this is a great book. A perfect sequel that sees the relationship between Art and Felix evolve and beautifully sets up for the third book.
Profile Image for Megan.
1,152 reviews6 followers
August 9, 2024
Disappointingly not as good as the first book. This book was messy and didn't seem to have a good grounding in a plot. I didn't like most of the characters, including Art and Felix. Having their argument last for the whole book was annoying and seemed like a poor way to keep the suspense between them. The pirates didn't do hardly any pirating or adventuring, just lots of floating around and talking. The bad guys were the same ones as the last book and they didn't really even seem to do anything to our protagonists. And the big twist at the end was lame

A disappointing follow up book to Piratica. 2.5/5 stars.
Profile Image for Cindywho.
956 reviews4 followers
November 21, 2011
Tanith Lee has an interesting fanciful way with words, from Fringlish, to off-kilter alternate world place names to ship names. Art heads back to the sea, but the plot somehow plodded and though I'm used to Lee's heroines being on the cranky side, she just isn't very interesting. Muck was good fun though.
Profile Image for Trip.
231 reviews5 followers
March 27, 2009
The tone of this book is strange. On the one hand, you have naval battles and creepy ghost-hunting pirate ships, but on the other hand you have the entire population of England dressing up as pirates and ships named for exclamations people made just as they were christening them. Peculiar.
Profile Image for Ariane Tomlinson Ashby.
41 reviews2 followers
January 19, 2013
I didn't actually finish it... From the beginning, it wasn't as good as the first. I quickly lost interest and honestly have no desire to read the third after seeing its reviews. I'd be incredibly disappointed I think.

That's what I get for being a hopeless romantic I suppose.
98 reviews2 followers
January 19, 2020
Not as good as part 1. Nice relaxing reading, entertaining, but I don't think I would reread it. The surprises which were to be found in part 1 are kept away, the plot excited me less. Still a nice read on the side.
Profile Image for Gatorgal21.
134 reviews
April 30, 2009
this book was really hard to get into, and kind of boring in parts. But the idea is so refreshing and unsexist, and the characters are so lovable and funny, that the book was still pretty good
Profile Image for Chandra.
172 reviews17 followers
April 17, 2011
Where the first one was fun, this one leaned a bit towards the so-silly-its-actually-pretty-dumb category.
I mean, mostly, it was still fun. It was just a little even dumber.
Profile Image for Shilo Quetchenbach.
1,774 reviews65 followers
August 19, 2013
Slower to start than the first book, but once it got going it kept my attention. An enjoyable light read, with lots of puns and silliness.
Profile Image for Ray ✩.
49 reviews2 followers
November 12, 2024
dodatkowa ★ za zakonczenie, bo to byla moja ulubiona czesc tej ksiazki
512 reviews5 followers
January 19, 2025
Fun but the drama of Art and angelic is exhausting. They are so teenagers. Damn.
Profile Image for Nyssa.
1 review3 followers
September 30, 2008
As the second in a series, it didn't quite live up to the first book. However, the characters are well drawn, and the action is consistent, moving you through the book. (I was so relieved to read a book that didn't putz around the first 300 pages and then have a quick action sequence at the end, as if to make up for the fact that nothing happened the other 300 pages.)

This book also had a different flavor from Tanith Lee's other books... it lacked the grandeur and evocative language that can be found in the "Claidi Journals" series, or her Unicorn series.

SPOILER ALERT!!




Not one to censor, I was a bit alarmed by the 16 (is she 17 now?) year old heroine becoming pregnant. Her character is married, is a sea captain, is otherwise very mature, and it is easy to forget that she is only 16. However, the fact remains that she IS 16, and a pregnancy - even if the book is set in 1812 - is a bit disturbing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
45 reviews2 followers
January 12, 2010
The first one I found really amusing but this one I got kind of annoyed with. It was well done but the fact that she was trying to keep it a middle school aged book was obvious. If you want to write a book for 10-14 year olds don't write about the naval battle at Gibraltar. And that one pirate just won't die! He got shot and fell off a cliff in the first book! Just let him be dead. And the fact that they are pirates that attack ships in a pirate fashion but none of the ships fight back and at the risk of sounding repetative and morbid hardly anyone ever gets hurt. (Thought: Really must stop taking advise from the Middle Schoolers.) Anyways I still love the characters especially Salt Walt (or was it Salt Pete) and his chicken.
Profile Image for Goldie Marie.
100 reviews26 followers
August 3, 2007
I loved it just as much if not more than the first. It illed me a little inside to hear of Piratica and her Felix arguing.
42 reviews4 followers
March 2, 2008
I was so glad Piratica had a sequal! This is a great book and a worthy sequal - more great writing.
Profile Image for Ashley.
18 reviews
June 21, 2009
Pretty good..kinda confusing in some parts :)
3 reviews
May 8, 2015
Efter den första fantastiska boken var detta en mindre besvikelse. Men det kanske bara var fel tidpunkt för att läsa den här.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.