Isle of Swords by Wayne Thomas Batson

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Submitted by Vrenith 
(Mar 22, 2011)

When Anne finds a young man, wounded and deserted on an island, her father takes him in. He soon recovers, but not everything. He can't remember who he is, and why he has the pouch that Anne found with him. With the new nickname Cat, he sets off with Declan Ross, Anne's father, a monk, Anne, and the rest of the crew to find the treasure of the Isle of Swords.
Once again, Wayne Thomas Batson has outdone himself and proved himself an excellent author! I love his style, his characters, and plot. This book is epic. I usually don't like pirate books, but this book was way better than any I've ever read. I highly recommend this to anyone, and I hope they'll take the time to read htis wonderful book.

Mr. Batson has done it again. He has created an adventure with believable characters, amazing battles and has weaved a Christian perspective into it all. Filled with pirates and monks, this series takes you across oceans searching for treasure and secret hideouts. The story follows Declan Ross, his daughter and a mysterious boy, Cat, on thier quests for truth. I would defenatly recommend this to anyone looking for a great read.

I picked up this book skeptical of pirate books that claimed to be Christian, but I was proved wrong. Captain Jack Ross his crew, and his feisty daughter, Anne, are thrown into an adventure and quest to acquire a wonderful treasure hidden by monks. With shipwrecks, an evil pirate, adventures on the high seas, and a great Christian message, this book is a great read for fiction lovers. I loved this book with it's characters full of personalities and the adventures of pirates. It weaves the story in a way that keeps you turning the pages.

Isle of Swords is a pirate fantasy book written by author Wayne Thomas Batson. The setting of this book is the William Wallace, the Robert Bruce, and the Isle of Swords, where the three nails used to crucify Christ are located. The setting also includes many of the Caribbean islands, as well as the Azores. Each setting is masterfully done with wonderful details. From my reading of the book, the theme of Isle of Swords is living up to, or in this case, living down, your father’s reputation. It also is redemption, for in Cat’s case, he was the son of a ruthless pirate and strives to change that. Again, Wayne incorporates Christianity into the story, having the main focus be the nails that killed Jesus, and having Padre Dominguez make Anne read Romans and the 23rd Psalm.
The plot of this book is, as always, well thought out and amazingly transformed into words. It starts out with Cat waking up on a desert island, not remembering anything about who he is or where he came from. The book then takes up to the William Wallace, Captain Declan Ross’s old brigantine. He lands on one of Bartholomew Thorne’s cays to repair the boat, and sends Anne, his daughter who longs to be a pirate, off to get some plantains. Instead, she makes two discoveries: one, she finds Cat, almost dead on the beach, and two, she sees Thierry “The Butcher” Chevillard’s ship. She races back to the ship with Cat in tow, and alerts her father, allowing them time to prepare for a battle. The Wallace wins, and sets off to St. Celestine, for supplies, and there they acquire a very valuable playing piece: Padre Dominguez, who has the only map to the Isle of Swords. Then they head to Ross’s friend, Jacques St. Pierre at his fort at Misson. Anne and Cat are left onboard, so Anne sneaks off with Cat to explore the deserted town. They are captured by the British Navy and force Jacques to blow up his fort. They then proceed to the ship where Anne and Cat are punished for sneaking off. But, once they are punished, Cat, Anne, and Jacques all become crewmen of the William Wallace. After Misson, Ross heads to the Caicos, where Jacques has another fort, and he leaves Cat and Anne on board. But while they are on the Caicos, Thorne attacks the Wallace and takes Anne and Padre Dominguez captive! Ross does everything in his power to retrieve them, which inevitably will take him to the Isle of Swords. At this point, Dominguez has been killed, the map has been taken, and it seems like there is no hope. But Cat found a map on the inside lining of his bag, which he has had since he awoke on the cay. The climax of the book occurs in the holy keep when Ross’s men are forced to choose between Thorne and death. However, Cat comes to the rescue and saves Anne, Declan, as well as Jacques. In the end, Thorne is in prison and Ross and his crew are heroes on England. But, the night before Thorne’s trial, a tidal wave sweeps through England and Thorne is found missing!
As is standard with other books by Wayne Thomas Batson, the characterization is done wonderfully. Each character is described in depth and fully. He gives life to the characters by the way they speak and act. Overall, this was a very enjoyable book and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested.

Anne Ross, while gathering food finds a boy who doesn’t remember his past or his name.
He claims to not be a pirate but yet has all of the skills required to be one, with the few possessions he has will he be able to help Captain Declan Ross find the treasure to free the captain from piracy forever?