The Fox and the Fury

by Dan Parkinson

Book Overview

A rollicking saga of men at sea, from the splintering, heaving hulls of frigates locked in battle to the desperate flights of merchantmen laden with contraband. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1558172912
• ISBN13: 9781558172913
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: Pinnacle Books
• Length: 351 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Action and Humor

Patrick Dalton sails again in The Fox and the Fury with no friends except his faithful crew. Still loyal to the king despite being wrongly accused of treason, he is pursued by the Royal Navy, the British Army and a British lawman (a sort of English Inspector Javert). Fair game for colonial (whig) privateers and navy, he is also hunted by loyalist (tory) raiders because of his cargo. As if that's not enough, he runs afoul of Spanish pirates whose insane captain makes Dalton's destruction a personal project. Plenty of action, as you can imagine. Of course, setting up all these conflicts makes for a long exposition and it is 100+ pages before Dalton and his crew are afloat. Be sure to read the The Fox and the Faith first, or this may not hold your interest. Once Dalton raises his sails, however, the action is lively and carries the reader without pause to the end of the book. Parkinson give more rein to his humor than in the first book of the series, to great effect. Sometimes it's just a phrase that brings a smile ("Constance has a whim of iron."), but Parkinson also sets up extended tropes that create several charming "who's on first" moments. The sailmaker is a ringer for Benjamin Franklin and no colonial can be dissuaded from believing that is his identity, to the bewilderment of all Britishers. The language games are endless and hilarious. There are two Indians aboard who speak broad Cockney, which only one crew member, a Londoner, can understand. There is only one man who can speak German with the five Hessian deserters who serve as marines. Mix in the Spanish pirates and some French non-combatants and we get wonderful misunderstandings and translations of translations that play out like a game of telephone. After a slow start, TFATFury is a cracking good read with hold-your-breath action and wry humor. Read it.

Great Colonial subversion.

I haven't read the first of the series 'Faith', but I definitely will after reading the "Fury'.Much like O'Brien in the running undercurrent of humour; the 'cockney' Indians; the O'Riley brothers; the Hessian Marines & Dr. Franklin remind one of the hoary joke of the 'cur-tailed dog-watch' and "not a monent to lose!" in their pantomime predictability.Very enjoyable, well-written and informative to one who knows very little of the Colonial Wars (not something we Brits talk about!). This covers the same period as James Nelson's 'Revolution at Sea' saga, although I think that Mr.Parkinson has made more use of fiction here, but to good effect - none of it is beyond the realms of reality. Moreover, he has a good grasp of seamanship and conveys it well (although a map would have been useful to those not familiar with the Chesapeake Bay geography), with vivid descriptions of encounters, plus detailed navigational sequences and sail evolutions.One thing that puzzles... we are given a sketchy background to Dalton's stubborn allegiance to the throne, but it seems to me that an Irishman, falsely accused of treason (amongst other crimes) should have no qualms about fighting the British - I would have expected him to throw in his lot with the Colonials long before now.Well worth reading.****