Yankee Privateer (Lyon Family #1) by Andre Norton

Andre Norton, one of America's best loved and ever popular writers of adventure tales, presents another exciting story of men and deed on the high seas - a thrilling chapter in America's fierce struggle for independence, when boldness and courage reaped bounties for the Yankee privateers and wreaked havoc for the British.
Here is the story of a young nation, filled with the pride of freedom, bringing its war to the very shores of the mother country. This is also the story of Fitzhugh Lyon, young American scion of a powerful English family, who finds himself shanghaied aboard the Retaliation, and is suddenly thrust into the exciting life of a privateeersman; of Captain Crofts, dauntless, courageous master of his ship, sailing fearlessly into the lion’s mouth; of Watts, the ship's surgeon, a man of wit and culture among a rough-and-tumble crew; of Lieutenant Ninnes, whose bitter hatred of Fitz make them deadly enemies.
How they crossed the wartime sea, fought for their lives, were captured by the British, and finally engineered a bold and clever escape from Plymouth's notorious Old Mill Prison make for topflight entertainment.

Every so often Norton would step away from science fiction and dip her toe into historical drama. But while I prefer the former, she never disappoints when it comes to the latter.

Fitzhugh Lyon, the protagonist of the book, is a well-rounded character, a likable young man who you can’t help but be drawn into his story. I wasn’t sure I would be, but like The Opal-Eyed Fan, the story got better as you went along.

The same can be said of those who share his adventures. All have their faults, but they all are worthy companions, and add greatly to the book.

I think the book is supposed to be an YA, but I found it enjoyable enough, and deep enough, for an adult.




( Mount TBR 2024 Book Links 1-25 )

26. Just After Sunset by Stephen King
27. The Lighthouse Keeper Kindle Edition by Alan K. Baker
28. I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years Away by Bill Bryson
29. The Road Not Travelled : Alternative Tales of the Wars of the Roses by Joanne R. Larner
30. King's Fool by Margaret Campbell Barnes
31. The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton
32. Taming the Street: The Old Guard, the New Deal, and FDR's Fight to Regulate American Capitalism by Diana B. Henriques
33. Seven Perfect Things by Catherine Ryan Hyde
34. Legends by Robert Silverberg (Editor/Contributor)
35. The Eyre Affair (Thursday Next 1) by Jasper Fforde
36. Echoes of an Alien Sky by James P. Hogan
37. Dreamcatcher by Stephen King
38. The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods
39. The Hike by Susi Holliday
40. The Opal-Eyed Fan by Andre Norton
41. Queen by Right by Anne Easter Smith
42. The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan
43. Yankee Privateer (Lyon Family #1) by Andre Norton










SEP - "Story of Survival" - Read a book where the character stays strong and survives something. ⁠Surviving high school, surviving a family road trip, surviving a natural disaster, etc.

Yankee Privateer by Andre Norton (survives being shanghaid, prison, sea battles)