Book - The Silver Tide

Romeo Kennedy says goodbye to old friends as he reads the final book in the Copper Cat Trilogy, The Silver Tide by Jen Williams...

I’ve said this before but with each of the Copper Cat books I feel like I’m dropping in on old friends. So with this final instalment it was with a heavy heart I knew that the journey was coming to an end but those friends will always be in my heart.

Here is the book’s synopsis. (Please be advised there may be spoilers ahead. So if you haven’t read books one and two then what are you waiting for? Go on, I’ll wait ... Hurry up.)

Tales of the Black Feather Three and their exploits abound far and wide, and Wydrin of Crosshaven, Lord Aaron Frith and Sir Sebastian have become sell swords in demand. Having foiled powerful mages and evil magic, they now face a challenge unlike any before - In the form of Wydrin’s mother.

Devinia the Red, notorious pirate and captain of the Poison Chalice, is intent on finding the fabled treasure hidden within the jungles of the cursed island of Euriale. She needs the skills of her daughter Wydrin and her companions to get there, and our heroes cannot resist the lure of coin and adventure. But no explorer has returned from the heart of the island, and it’s not long before the Three find themselves in the clutches of peril. Deep within the island of the gods, there are remnants of forces best left undisturbed ...

Jennifer Williams uses skill and precision to craft and tell this story, as she has done with The Copper Promise, and The Iron Ghost but, in the case of The Silver Tide, Williams ties together all the knots and leads the reader into paths that you never realised you were walking on in the first place.

What I mean by that is Williams uses a sort of sleight-of-hand, the reader is following Wydrin et al and believes that X is going to happen next, but William’s story telling will throw X, Y, Z into the mix and they’re standing behind you.

That's a clumsy way of saying that I really did not know what was going to happen next, in fact I had no idea, and as I have mentioned in previous reviews I can be quite vocal when reading i.e “Oh bleddy hell! Take that you bastard. Look behind you!” etc, which certainly makes for interesting times on the bus.

But that’s what I love about this series, is the fact that I constantly feel that I’m standing right next to The Black Feather three and as they encounter all sorts, so do I.

The Silver Tide is a rather large book but, for me, that means spending a little more time in a world I adore. It is well paced and deserves to be read into the wee hours of the morn. The characters have all had one hell of a journey, each has stared death in the face and not to mention other unspeakable things.

Meeting Wydrin’s mother was an absolute delight and the reader can easily see where Wydrin gets her badass from. William’s characters are ones that the reader can really get behind, as well as some wonderful villains that the reader cannot help but appreciate, and remember.

As normal I want to tell you everything that happens but I don’t want to spoil it. I will say that Estenn and her plan is brilliant and will leave the reader gasping for breath as anything could happen and throughout the book it is best to remember that you should expect the unexpected. There are lovely references to the first two books and they are not done in a jarring or distracting way, they fit perfectly into the events that are happening and when you read it you will see what I mean.

Farewell The Black Feather Three, and know that this reader shall never forget the adventures that we enjoyed together.

The Silver Tide is out now via Headline books www.headline.co.uk

To find out more about the author visit www.sennydreadful.co.uk and you can find Jennifer Williams on the Twitter @sennydreadful

Image - Amazon