Ship of Fire [Hardcover]

Grade 7 Up-Thomas, 17, is a surgeon's apprentice with a master who is prone to gambling away their money. When the surgeon on Sir Francis Drake's flagship suddenly dies, his master, William, seizes the opportunity to set sail and escape his financial difficulties. Shortly after William and Thomas swear their loyalty to the crown, Thomas discovers that the medical crew has the added responsibility of spying on the Admiral himself, who is suspected of embezzling from the spoils of victory. When Drake learns that he and Thomas hail from the same region, he befriends the boy, and goes so far as to promote him to ship's surgeon when William dies, despite his lack of experience. It is easy to relate to Thomas's earnestness and innocence as he fights alongside the other sailors as they attack ships on the open seas, cares for his patients, and attempts to learn Drake's true nature. He also must decide if a life at sea is his true calling. Brimming with historical detail and ambience, this fast-paced maritime adventure will surely please devotees of the genre.
Karen T. Bilton, Somerset County Library, Bridgewater, NJ
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 6-8. In a tale that will make readers truly appreciate the state of modern medicine, a teenage apprentice surgeon sails with Sir Francis Drake on a pre-Spanish Armada strike against Spanish shipping at Cadiz. Fresh from a bear-baiting, Thomas Spyre and his learned master William Perrivale suddenly find themselves hustled aboard the Elizabeth Bonaventure, Drake's flagship, to replace a surgeon stricken with syphilis. Though well versed in the latest medical techniques, from anesthesiology (a mallet to the head) to bloodletting by leech or lancet, Thomas feels at sea in more ways than one after Perrivale is killed by an exploding cannon. Still, he rises to the occasion, and after broadsides, melees, and a nearly disastrous brush with a blazing ship, he survives his greatest test--his first major amputation. Thomas' narrative cuts off (so to speak) rather abruptly, but Cadnum still adds to his reputation for rousing historical adventures set against gruesomely naturalistic backdrops. John Peters
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"A pulse-pounding tale, vivid and visceral."